Graduation : Tipu Ora Charitable Trust

  • Tariana Turia
Whanau Ora

Tuatahi me mihi atu au ki a koutou kua huihui mai nei, te reo o te kaikaranga, nga kaikorero o te paepae, me nga manu tioriori me te hunga kua huihui mai.

Tuarua, me tukuna au aku mihi ki a Tuheitia me te Kahui Ariki e noho mai ra ki Waahi i raro i te kapua pouri. Haere atu koe Whatumoana.

Ratou ki a ratou, tatou ki a tatou, tena koutou, tena koutou.

I have a very good feeling about being here today.

In 2005 I had the privilege of launching the Tipu Ora National Certificate in Hauora at Houmaitawhiti Marae in Rotorua.

In my address to you then, I welcomed the thirty students who had enrolled in the programmes as leaders in whanau : leaders who will restore health and wellbeing to our whanau for the rest of their lives.

I remember that day – and indeed those times – with great warmth.  

We were on a pathway leading to our own transformation.

We were the revolution within our midst.

And now here we are, once more, looking back over the last six years – and counting the successes – 360 students who have completed the Tipu Ora Training Programme and are shaping and leading our whanau in a multitude of settings.

I want to acknowledge Pihopa Kingi – your distinguished chairman; and Kingi Porima – trustee of Tipu Ora – who are both with us today.

And I want to also pay a special tribute today to the vision, the determination and the sacrifices made by Inez Kingi who will forever be known as the original dream weaver behind Tipu Ora.

I mihi to Inez today, for her belief in us – for her unstinting faith in our whanau as capable of being the architects of their own futures.

We have to remember that when Tipu Ora was first set up in 1989, families were being offered the choice of being referred to providers; to programmes; to services.

Tipu Ora created another choice – to focus on iwi, hapu and whanau as fundamental to achieving our visions.

I have always loved your logo – the combination of koru forming the basis of the manawa – each koru representing the embrace of matua; the blossoming growth of our children; the tender shoots symbolising nga uri whakaheke – our future generations.

And I have to ask, if we place our focus outside of the whanau; who else will look after our future?

Contracts can expire; staff turnover can impact dramatically on continuity; but whakapapa can never be be cut – our connections to one another are the very essence of who we are. 

Today then is our opportunity to celebrate the vision of Inez, of Pihopa, of Dr Jacqueline Allan, of the late Bishop Manuhuia Bennett – the first Chair of the Trust – and all of the students who have received tohu in the past – and those we celebrate today.

At this special event today, we honour six students graduating with the National Diploma in Hauora Maori– level six – and seventeen students with the National Certificate in Hauora Maori – level 4.

Graduation is a time for you as students to also recognise the investment made by your whanau to support the journey you have been on.  This is not to say the journey ends here, there are new ones just ahead of you.

And I want to congratulate you, as whanau, on the achievement of your tauira here today; they could not have done it without you.

The stresses that students face are real... long days and nights spent researching, writing, editing, it’s not easy.

And of course on top of this mahi, life continues.

There’s the marae wananga that you’ve been asked to support. The iwi hui that Nanny asked you to take her to.  Or the Trust Board hui to attend to.

There’s whanau come up from home, that need a place to stay  .

And when you’re a parent you carry the extra responsibility of making sure you’re where your tamariki want you to be.

Where the whanau need you to be.

This is life as we know it – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

But what Tipu Ora has given you is a set of new eyes to see the world around you.

You have learnt from the richness of Maori models of health in our more traditional times and today.  

You have acquired a stronger body of knowledge in tikanga Maori in Hauora practices relating to whanau, hapu and iwi.

In many ways, this is about restoring and reviving our ways of being that have sustained us mai ra ano.  It is about building the spirit, supporting our whanau to drive their own situations.

I am really thrilled that so many of you work for the collectives of providers associated with Whanau Ora – and in fact that Tipu  Ora is a member of the Te Arawa Whanau Ora Collective.

You have personally, professionally, culturally, philosophically made the conscious decision to invest in whanau as the principle source of strength; of security and of identity.  

And I want to share a story with you told by my sons.

One day my boys were off on a mission to buy a car when they drove past a man rummaging through the rubbish bin; presumably looking for the butt of a cigarette to get them by.  

As they looked in the rear vision mirror they recognised the man as one of their whanaunga – they shook their heads in shame and kept driving.

But when they reached the next intersection they looked at each other again and promptly did a U-turn and went back to pick him up and take him for a kai.

When my boy told me this tale he told me how he’d cried –cried that he and his brother would think of their relation in this way.

Whanau Ora is about the reawakening in our lives, of our connections to each other; the special relationships we have access to in our own whakapapa.

It makes whanau health and wellbeing a matter of everyone’s concern – and in the broadest possible way – recognising the interconnectedness of health, education, justice, employment, housing, income as aspects of our every day life.

The key question we must ask ourselves is are we ready to take the U-turn, to look after those of our whanau who need us at this time of their lives.

Are we ready to place whanau first – to place priority on whanau doing it for themselves  - not relying on the state or even on Maori providers – no matter how well intentioned – to create the change for themselves.

I want to commend each and every one of you for picking up the challenge of whanau – to uphold a wellness model – to focus on outcomes.

Many of you have travelled far and wide to do this training.  

You have come from as far as Dunedin in the South and Kaitaia in the North; you have come together from many diverse disciplines; you are dealing with a wide range of DHBS; you entered this programme with many levels throughout the health workforce.

But there is one clear force which binds you together; and that is your determination to walk alongside of whanau.

And I am compelled to draw on the words from one of the waiata of the wonderful Moana Maniapoto : “gotta walk the talk of my ancestors; walk the talk of my tipuna’.

You make us all proud – you lift our spirits – you provide us with the hope that our future is in good hands.

I wish all of you an exciting and challenging journey ahead, as you graduate today, ready for all that life has to offer.

Tena tatou katoa