Ko Wai Tātou?

Miriam Coffey

 

Tēnā koutou katoa, Kia orana katoatoa

I te taha o tōku pāpā

Ko Taranaki te maunga

Ko Tokomaru te waka

Ko Pungarēre to awa

Ko Te Atiawa te iwi

Ko Ngāti Tu Heke Rangi te hapū

I te taha o tōku Māmā

Ko Ngāti Pōna ki ngā Kuki Airani te awa

Ko Miriam Coffey taku ingoa.

The aim of my role of Māori Liaison is to tautoko whānau katoa in Mental Health, whatever that may look like. To support our DHB colleagues so that they are able to work more efficiently and in a culturally-appropriate manner. I refer whānau to agencies in the community where they are able to receive the awhi they need. Because of our cultural connection, I find that whānau are more open and accepting of our service.

I was born here at Hutt Hospital, the second of six children. I went to Epuni School, Taita Intermediate and then Taita College. I have always lived in this community, however have had great pleasure in travelling abroad. I have been lucky to have visited many countries around the world.

I have two handsome and loving sons, five beautiful mokopuna and two adorable mokopuna tuarua. I am immensely proud of them all.

I have lived in my own home in the delightful village of Petone for the last 30-odd years. I enjoy spending time with my whānau, which includes a network of close friends.

I am also passionate about spending time in my garden and entertaining at home.

 

Mark Kubiack

 

Ko Tainui te Waka

Ko Tararua te maunga

Ko Ōtaki te awa

Ko Ngāti Raukawa te Iwi

Ko Ngāti Kapumanawawhiti me Ngāti Huia nga hapū

Ko Te Pou O Tainui te marae

Ko Peter Hakaraia tōku koro

Ko Ivy Meta tōku kuia

Ko Willy Kubiack tōku matua

Ko Margret Nehuata Urutakai Kubiack tōku whaea

Ko Mark Kubiack taku ingoa.

I am blessed to work in the Whānau Care Services at Hutt Hospital as one of the Pou Āwhina Hinengaro in the community.

My work is mainly in the mental health and addiction area, supporting whānau in the community on their journey of wellbeing. I work with the clinical mental health teams, supporting them to look after whānau. I also visit whānau on the wards.

As I work under the holistic health model of Te Whare Tapa Whā, my work varies greatly from supporting with transport to appointments to finding housing, food or employment or education. I connect whānau to counsellors or programmes that can benefit their wellbeing.

I have been a father since I was 19 and now I feel, as a 57-year-old, it is second nature for me to support or look after people. Also watching my whānau manaaki people growing up, instilled the concept in my own character making me feel like I am born to do it.

I have a beautiful whānau being my wife, Shellz, of 25 years, four tamariki, and three moko.

I have always been into fitness putting my children through sports and myself playing most codes, eventually using boxing as my main medium of training and sport. To enhance my own performance and to have the knowledge to help my whānau, I went back to school and graduated with an NZ Diploma in Exercise Science. This led to work as a personal trainer and owning my own training studio. The knowledge has been invaluable in my mahi today - helping with physical issues or at least having an understanding in this area. I am an avid Warriors supporter, one of the since-1995 crew, so enjoy watching the NRL and local games.

 

Rawiri Hirini

 

No te Taumata o Tutamure ki nga hiwi o Remutaka,

Rere te awa o Waipaoa ki Te Moana nui a kiwa, tai ki Te Whanganui a Tara ki Te Awakairangi ma runga nga waka o Horouta, Takitimu me nga waka o nga tangata o te Tiriti.

Tipu mai Te Aitanga a Mahaki ratou hoki a Ngati pakeha. No reira,

E nga mana e nga reo, mihi atu, korero mai, nei te whanau Hirini e pepeha, a, ko Rawiri tenei. Tihei Mauri Ora!

Kia ora everyone my name is Rawiri, also known as Ra.

A father of three, a loving partner, the youngest son of seven boys to a strong loving pakeha mother and a hard-working Maori father, grown locally here in the Hutt, schooled in Te reo me ona tiikanga.

To sum up my diverse working background is to speak of one of my values, Service.

My background of service is social work, from youth work, family violence prevention and tikanga Maori training, to then serving in the NZ Defense Force.

A change in circumstances had me take up a role in the exercise sector working at Les Mills as a group fitness instructor and coaching at a local crossfit gym.

Wanting to prioritise my skill for Māori, I had taken a role at our local PHO, Te Awakairangi Health Network as a Healthy Lifestyle Coach in Health Promotion.

Seeing a gap of Māori models of practice and perspective in this sector, I was appointed to Te Kaiwhakarite Māori role which has led me here to HVDHB in a similar role, the Pou Tikanga Māori.

I host the Te Kawa Whakaruruhau Māori Cultural Safety Training Programme. You can read more about the programme here.

 

Shavana Ashford

 

Ko Ruapehu te Maunga

Ko Whanganui te Awa

Ko Aotea te Waka

Ko Nga Poutama te Hapu

Ko Matahiwi te Marae

Ko Te Ati Haunui A Paparangi te Iwi

Ko Shavana Ashford ahau

My role is the Manaaki Whānau in the Whānau Care Services at Hutt Hospital.

I was born and bred in Palmerston North before moving to Auckland to complete my Bachelor of Science. I now reside in Lower Hutt with my partner and three-year-old. I am currently studying towards my postgraduate diploma in public health at the University of Otago. I love to keep myself active through playing touch, netball, running and walking with my whānau.

I work with our whānau that are admitted into Hutt Hospital. I support them on their journey while they are on the wards to ensure their needs are being meet, keeping communication lines open with the clinicians and to help with discharge so that whānau have that wrap-around support in place for when they go home.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working within Māori health and look forward to being able to share my skills and continue to grow. Being a young Māori mama, I feel passionate and empowered to be Māori working within the health sector and hope I can be a rolemodel and encourage our rangatahi to join me.

 

Carrie Maniapoto

 

Ko Maungaharuru te maunga

Ko Tangitū te moana

Ko Tangoio te marae

Ko Ngāi Te Ruruku ki Tangoio te hapū

Ko Tākitmu te waka

Ko Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa te iwi

Ko Carrie Maniapoto ahau

Kia ora e te whānau, my role of Māori Workforce Development Lead allows me to connect with many people across the organisation and in our community, which I love. My role is very much driven by our Māori Health Strategy, Te Pae Amorangi.I am currently also the acting Team Leader for our Manaaki Whānau Roles.

I have worked here at Hutt Valley DHB for 12 years in various roles. My sister is a Registered Nurse, and my mum is a health board telephonist so it’s a bit of a whānau affair for us.

I was born and bred in the hills of Wainuiomata where I live to this day with my two children, Wairangi and Mia, my husband Marshall, and our grey hound Lexie. We love the Wainuiomata Community Whānau and have no plans to leave.

I am currently studying Tikanga Māori through Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, which I am really enjoying. Hubby and I love working out and spending as much time as we can with whānau. Hubby is from Whānganui so we travel back there often.

 

Sharelle Ratu

 

“A muri ake, kia mau ki teena, kia mau ki te kawau maaroo”

Ko Horohoro te Maunga

Ko Mokau te Awa

Ko Tainui te Waka

Ko Tānehopuwai te Marae

Ko Ngāti Apakura ki Maniapoto te Iwi

Ko Sharelle Ratu ahau

I work in the Whānau Care Services Hutt Valley as Manaaki Whānau. My role entails supporting and advocating for whānau during their time in hospital and connecting them to the appropriate services in the community who further support them after they have been discharged.

I also work alongside DHB clinical staff, supporting them to relate, engage and support whānau Māori in a culturally appropriate way.

Initially I came through Whānau Care Services Hutt Valley as a Social Work student. After finishing my degree, I interned through a scholarship with Kia Ora Hauora before becoming a permanent part of the team. You can read more about my journey here.

I grew up in Wainuiomata where I currently reside today. I am very family orientated, a lot of my time is spent with my whānau, my husband and two tamariki. Most weekends you’ll find us outside, exploring the ngāhere and enjoying a good dive or fish when the weather is on our side. I am a keen indoor netball player who also enjoys some good down-time with my mates.

I am proud to be Māori and enjoy all the benefits of working alongside whānau Māori on a daily basis. I am driven by providing the best care and support for our people and look forward to utilising my skills and experiences to empower whānau Māori so they can experience better health outcomes.

 

Nikita Hunter

 

Ko Tararua te Maunga

Ko Punahau te roto

Ko Kawiu te marae

Ko Mūaupoko te iwi

Ko Nikita Hunter ahau

I was born in Wainuiomata where I was surrounded by my cousins and often picked on! We then journeyed over to Australia for my dad to play league. We moved back to Aotearoa spending some time in the sunny north of Kerikeri. Before settling in Taitoko where we were able to reconnect with our whakapapa and marae, led by our beautiful Maria Lomax.

I spent a year at Hato Hohepa in Napier before completing college at Horowhenua. When my twin girls were born seven weeks early my passion for nursing started and I begun studying my Nursing degree when the girls were one year old. We now have four amazing tamariki.

As a registered nurse I have always worked with our pēpi, tamariki and whānau starting on the paediatric wards of Wellington and Hutt Valley. I then moved out to the community working as a Public Health nurse in our Kura.

My journey to eliminate the inequities our whānau face has lead me to the Whānau Care Services at Hutt Valley DHB. I now sit within the role of Integration Lead Māori Health. This has moved me from that one whānau at a time approach to helping instil within our systems the visions of Te Pae Amorangi and Pae Ora.