Help Day Success May Spread Across North Taranaki

Tuesday, 21 January 2025, 9:42 pm
Article: Craig Ashworth - Local Democracy Reporting

Ngāti Mutunga says a summer fun day to showcase services for whānau is shaping up as a blueprint for iwi across north Taranaki.

On Saturday Ngāti Mutunga set up a Service Expo Community Day on the Urenui sportsground so more than 30 organisations could publicise their offerings, alongside food trucks and a kids zone.

Organiser Larnee Wallace said the iwi wants to empower whānau by connecting them with valuable information and support – and up to 300 people turned out for the fun and info.

The pou whiringa matua for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Mutunga said even before Saturday’s success other iwi of Tokomaru waka had been considering similar events.

Wallace said many people don’t know about available help, others are embarrassed to ask for help, or face barriers like petrol price hikes.

“Our rangatahi, our marae, our iwi, our hapū: It just makes me really happy when I can see whānau thriving and having an opportunity to learn what's out there and what can help them.”

Organisations offered help with home ownership and financial education, trades training, local environmental monitoring and improvement, banking, legal advice, health, healthy homes and much more.

It was also a day for whakawhanaungatanga – uri of the tribe cementing bonds.

Kuia Tiahuia Abraham - known widely as Aunty Chicken – said kids needed to know who’s who.

“That's our responsibility as kaumātua, as kuia, is to take our mokopunas to these events, so they get to know their whakapapa and who their other cousins are, whanaunga are.

“And you know, they can go to school every day and only when they get to something like this they realise that their mate at school is their cousin, is their whanaunga.”

For her moko Michael Graham and his pal Tamarau Sionetama that wasn’t all good – too many aunties and nannies keeping an eye they reckoned.

They liked collecting stamps from each tent and hunting out hidden painted rocks, and especially crashing into each other in the inflatable sumo ball suits.

“The place giving you a ball for doing 10 push-ups and jumping, taking the balance,” added Michael.

“I like grabbing all the lollies,” said Sionetama.

It wasn’t just whānau making connections – from banks to foodbanks organisations were also linking up.

Amy Olsen wanted to tell workers from other agencies about Waitara Foodbank Pataka Kai getting into education about growing kai and cooking classes.

“So I've done a lot of kōrero with the other community groups. Those things are coming up and they can send people on to us,” said the pātaka manager.

“Working together is way better than trying to do it by yourself. If we're all interconnected it makes it a lot easier for us and the clients.”

Olsen said the iwi’s Service Expo day made it easier for people to find out about the foodbank’s
food parcel delivery and other options for help.

“A casual environment like this, for them to come to and talk to us about our services, is a nice way to do it.”

Rodney Baker chairs Urenui and Mōkau Rural Healthcare, offering help including free medical care from Ōnaero down to Awakino, and inland to Ōhura.

“We all understand that whānau pūtea is precious to them, so we want to develop free health care, look after the whānau.

“It doesn't have to be profit. All we're after is healthy people looking after each other.”

Māori driven, the service is available to all.

“If you live within the rohe, we'll look after you. We're all one big whānau… our communities are too small, too individualised, we need to come together as one.”

He said some were too embarrassed to ask for help.

“Kōrero within your whānau, if you're whakamā, find someone who will speak for you… someone who will open up to people and open the door for you.”

“It's all available to whānau, we just got to reach out or meet the right people and it's there for you.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

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