The healing power of hōiho

By Trina Toma – Pūkenga Manaaki (Whānau Navigator) for CAMHS

Earlier this year, one of the tamariki working alongside Trina in Te Piki Oranga CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) team attended a ‘Being with Horses’ equine therapy course.

Here is her pakiwaitara:

Torin learning horsemanship skills with Poppy.

Ko Torin Lum, nō Ngāti Tūwharetoa ia e whitu ana tau (aged seven years old).

Torin attended Being with Horses, a form of therapy developed by Julie Smith. Julie is a social worker and equine therapist who uses the hōiho as a therapy tool.

Torin was very comfortable in the presence of the hōiho right from the first time he met Poppy, the head mare of Julie’s therapy horse herd.

When they met, Poppy instinctively knew that Torin was needing some extra manaaki and aroha due to the sudden changes in his whānau unit. You can see in the photo how she is draping her head around Torin to give him a big awhi.

Torin listened and followed the instructions from Julie confidently. He learnt how to care for the hōiho, to groom them and how to read their body language so he could identify what the hōiho were wanting or feeling.

Torin learning horsemanship skills with Poppy.

Torin also identified when he needed to manage his own kare ā roto (emotions) from how the hōiho were reacting to him. He was able to reassure the hōiho with his kōrero and tone of voice. This interaction also created a space for Torin to relate his own kare ā roto with that of the hōiho.

Torin worked with another hōiho, a minature pony called Alfie. Torin created an obstacle course and learnt how to lead Alfie through it. The pony was a bit nervous about going through the course but Torin guided him with his positive kōrero and manaaki that Alfie needed.

Torin was proud of the skills he had learnt and the connection he had made with the hōiho, proudly showing these to his mum.

This form of therapy has allowed Torin to reconnect, regain his mana and heal with the hōiho. The hōiho are now a connection to his whakapapa.

Ānei te whakataukī Kaua e wareware ko wai koe, kia a kaha koe ki tō whakapapa.

 Remember who you are, your strength is your genealogy.

Leading Alfie through an obstacle course.

Trina’s pepeha

Trina’s whānau: From right, Tiana, Kaylie, Trina and Lance Toma (hoa tāne). Trina says, “I could not bring the taonga in my mahi to our Pā Harakeke without my whānau. Tāku whānau, tōku manawa, tōku pounamu (my whānau, my heart, my treasure).”

E ngā kaumātua, e ngā whatukura, e ngā mareikura tēnā koutou katoa i te wāhanga o kōanga,

Kei Pā Harakeke i tēnei ao hurihuri tēnā koutou katoa,

Ka tū mai te ātua ko Rongo mā Tāne, nau mai a Hine Raumati.

I te taha o tōku māmā

Ko Ngātokimatawha tōku waka

Ko Tapapa tōku awa

Ko Hokianga ā Kupe tōku moana

Ko Mangamuka tōku marae

Ko Ngāpuhi tōku whare tūpuna

Ko Ngāpuhi tōku iwi

Ko Kohatutaka, Te Uri Mahoe ōku hapū

I te taha o tōku pāpā

Kei te rere te toto nō Ingarangi Nui nō Pāniora ki tōku tinana

Ko Lance Toma tōku hoa tāne

Ko Tiana rāua ko Kaylie ā māua tamahine

Ko Trina Toma tōku ingoa

He Pūkenga Manaaki ki hinengāro hauora ki Pā Harakeke tāku mahi ki te tari ki Motueka.

E ki ana te whakataukī ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo te tuakiri tangata, tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako.

Your voice and my voice are expressions of identity. May our descendants live on and our hopes be fulfilled.

Nō reira ki ngā hāpori ki ngā kōhanga tēnā koutou katoa.

Realising potential: A CAMHS success story

Realising potential: A CAMHS success story

By John Hart – Wairau CAMHS/Mental Health Navigator

 Little did I know on first meeting with this young blue eyed blonde hair cheeky Māori boy what an impact and how he would grow on me.

My first memory of him is while playing basketball was that he wanted to punch me in the face I roared at him "surely in gest” he just looked back at me confused.

We played basketball twice a week sometimes for 3 hours a day, one v one B-ball so he could claw back some of the points I would fluke against him. Little did he know at the time from early on I could see he had determination but no focus or work ethic towards training.

He had fallen through the cracks of mainstream education system with very little to no chance of getting back in the school gates. In his own words lately, he was just in need of some structure and routine and for others to just understand how he processed everything.

From an Xbox influenced lifestyle of Grand Theft Auto and bad choice of mates he started out in boxing and basketball to establish direction and focus. He started in alternative education program after being out of school for a couple of years and not fitting in mainstream system. he participated with Dawn Chorus in Picton as well as mentoring at Te Piki Oranga. He trained 4 to 5 times a week at Kai Toa Gym/boxing gym as well as weights at the gorilla pit at the stadium plus regular 5 km runs. He then jumped headfirst into the cactus program winning a trophy for being positive having leadership skills as well as encouraging others among other qualities.

He had started to mature and not needing to follow like before, becoming a leader amongst his peers. He now understood it's not about making people like him to make friends .It was about liking himself and becoming the best version of himself in the knowledge that others will like him too. With new career path choice and a heavy training regime and new goals he had found his new groove. 

A new boxing coach additional positive mentors and support from whanau and new friends in his life. With new life experiences and goals and playing Basketball with a passion he walked onto the court with a red top on ,once upon a time that would never have happened as red was a forbidden word in his vocabulary. This was the moment when I thought he had reached the pinnacle and things couldn't get better. We played basketball on a Wednesday night with a loose collection of kids who like the game didn't have much to do mid-week. He walked onto the court like a Giant with the glow of an NBA player.

Learning to dive and hunt, shooting a deer, nutrition advice, shredding pounds to make weight ready for his first fight in the ring. From that date on and clocking up another 4 fights and 5 silvers later. His next goals are to finish the dingle foundation program this year and join the military next year 2023.

He has come a long way from fight club to a role model, we are all proud of him.

Calling in the dolphins to support mental health and wellbeing

Wild dolphins brought big smiles to the faces of tamariki and rangatahi towards the end of last year, during a special boat tour off the coast of Waitohi (Picton).

Te Piki Oranga’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Wairau arranged the special tour through local wildlife tour company E-Ko Tours, which provides the opportunity to encounter several species of dolphins including dusky, bottlenose, common, and the rarer hector’s dolphins, as well as orca.

Recent research shows that cetacean species (whales and dolphins) have achieved a level of social-emotional sophistication not achieved by other animals, including humans. In addition, the hypothesis of biophilia—which recognises that human beings need to commune with nature in order to thrive—and the success of other animal-assisted therapy approaches, inspired the initiative.

Mātauranga Māori provided a model for the journey; the children learnt about the relevance of whales and dolphins to Māori, their own whakapapa connection to the dolphins who guided their ancestors to the area, and increased their environmental awareness of, and knowledge about, ways to protect the whenua (land), moana (sea) and taonga (dolphins).

The Te Piki Oranga organising team, which included Paola Montarnaro, Karena Martin and John Hart, conducted ancient Hawaiian and Māori ceremonies to help prepare the children for their interaction with the dolphins. This included blowing the Pumoana (shell trumpet) to call them in.

‘The trip out to the dolphin sanctuary did not take long and, as the journey progressed, the group began to engage more fully with the kaupapa,’  says Karena.

When the pod arrived, they brought with them their babies, some as young as two days old. The dophins surrounded the boat and made direct eye contact with the children, responding to the group’s signals, sounds and waiata with joyful and social behaviour. Both the children and adults alike greeted them with delight. 

John Hart, Te Piki Oranga Pukenga Manaaki (Whānau Navigator), says, ‘The captain said that our efforts and calling our Tipuna Taniwha (water spirit ancestors) brought the dolphins in close and we enjoyed their company for a solid hour of laughs and excitement.’

Paola Montarnaro, Te Piki Oranga CAMHS Mental Health Clinician, adds: ‘The children were able to see and experience their social interaction from a very close distance and let the dolphins perform their healing magic. Once back on land, we could see smiles and a sense of peace and ease, even in the expression of the most reluctant participants. It was a very special and profound therapy session.’

Paola says CAMHS selected E-Ko Tours because they strive to be good kaitiaki (guardians), by using profits from their tours to fund conservation projects that contribute to the sustainability of both whenua and moana.

‘It was amazing to observe the positive changes brought about from the interaction with the dolphins,’ says Karena. ‘The trip back to Blenheim was filled with lively discussion about what had been seen and experienced.’

Mātauranga Māori provided a model for the day

Pumoana calls the dolphins

Here the dolphins come

Wairau basketballers, on a path to greater hauora

Wairua CAMHs Rangatahi Basketball Team Finish 3rd Year of playing together

It’s well known that rangatahi who stay active and participate in sport, are less likely than their sedentary peers to smoke, drink or take other health risks. Basically, there’s less time to get into trouble!

Over the last three years, John Hart, Whānau Navigator in our Wairau office has encouraged rangatahi supported by Te Piki Oranga’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHs) mentoring programme, to get involved in playing sport, in particular basketball. During this time, he has put forward a team in the Marlborough Basketball Associations Winter League.

John says: “Most of the players don’t play any other team sports, so being involved in basketball is a great vehicle for greater hauora.”

The players are aged between 12 and 16 years of age, and play in a senior mixed competition on Wednesday evenings over the winter months and often bring their friends along as ring-ins.

Two of the players are from the original team from three years ago and one of the team’s youngest players has been asked to trial for a under 13 rep team!

With the winter season now at an end, the team has secured additional funding from Kaitoa Charitable Trust for the summer league. And the team are taking things seriously by moving into the gym for boxing and cardio training, as well as playing fun games.

The team has been possible because of support from the Marlborough Violence Intervention Project, Marlborough Lines, Te Piki Oranga and the Kaitoa Charitable Trust.

Thanks to these organisation and John’s dedication our rangatahi benefit in many ways.  The team has been given the opportunity to get out and use their energy positively, find their competitive sides and change their values for the better. They have been able to grow positive friendships, improve their social skills and better their hauora.

One noticeable comment from the bench was that “bullying is not acceptable within this team.” What a wonderful lesson to learn in such a positive and fun environment.