“Whakatō te kākano ko wai au. Mirimiringia ki te aroha, tipua ngākau Māori i roto i te wairua tapu”
Plant the seed so that I know who I am. Nurture it with love so that a Māori heart can grow through the Holy Spirit.
Placed at the centre of all operations, this whakatauākī (proverb) has guided the work of Te Awhi Whānau Trust since their independence from Richmond Fellowship in 1994. Arising during the devolution of Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital, Te Awhi’s CEO Laurie Hakiwai explained “we were fortunate in the Waikato because we were here during the time of the Mental Health and Addictions renaissance”. Emerging as one of few Kaupapa Māori providers in the Waikato, Te Awhi has since established strong connections across the region and continues to use the values within their whakatauākī to plant seeds in their communities and empower their tūwhānau.
Service Lead Shirley Titoko further emphasises, “It is the whakatauākī that has brought us to this point today. Everything we say and do has to always point back to the whakatauākī.”
As the embodiment of humility, Te Awhi has always placed priority on the wellbeing of their tūwhānau, “for the many years we’ve been operating, we’ve operated very much under the radar just working with our people”, says Laurie. When COVID-19 approached suddenly, both Laurie and Shirley were confident in Te Awhi’s preparation to lessen the burden for their tūwhānau, “Firstly, we made sure our tūwhānau were alright, and then the whānau of our tūwhānau – just working to grow the circles”, Laurie explained. “Te Awhi was seen by everybody that we work for as the people they needed to turn to. We had to be ahead of our own game”, Shirley added.
Supporting predominately rangatahi, both Laurie and Shirley were proud of the resilience shown during lockdown, especially in the almost absence of drugs and alcohol, “We saw a lot of creativity come out of tūwhānau during this time, learning of new ways to use their energy” explained Shirley. “While our environment was cleaning itself up, so were our whānau”.
Contrastingly, Te Awhi tūmahi held natural concerns around subsidies and the possibility of spreading the virus to their own whanau, “more than anything, we were trying to manage the anxieties of our staff during that period. Our staff were really thankful to be working. But they get just as anxious as anybody else”.
Having supported whānau for more than 25 years, looking to the future Te Awhi emphasise the need of collaboration within the sector, “we can look externally as say we need to commission and lead our own destiny, but we first must come together collaboratively and agree with what that destiny looks like. We can’t keep cutting each other’s throats, that’s what the contracting environment has created”. “It’s not about us [as individual providers], It’s about all of us” says Shirley.
When it comes to tūwhānau, “We believe that whānau are their best resource. We don’t for one moment think we are the solution, but we certainly are a support towards that solution” says Laurie. “It’s about never letting whānau go because at the end of the day, we’ve got their mokopuna and tamariki in our service, and they are an important part of who they are”.
This importance of whānau remains central at Te Awhi, and will continue to shape Shirley’s drive as it has done during her 20 years at the organisation, “We teach whānau to stand tall and proud in their own skins, because they are tangata whenua. Be proud of the mauri of your whenua and connect with it. That’s who we are.”