Notice of Te Piki Oranga Annual General Meeting
11.00 am – 1 pm, Friday 29 October 2021
Tokomaru, Te Awhina Marae, 133 Pah St, Motueka
Enquiries to: Anne Hobby, Tumuaki 03 543 7016
COVID-19 Level 2 rules will apply
You can build better health through Te Ao Māori
You can build better health through Te Ao Māori
Te Piki Oranga is rolling out a pilot programme, Te Ata Pūao, to help whānau take more control over their health and wellbeing through a better understanding of their cultural identity.
Te Ata Pūao has been developed in recognition of the low to medium anxiety levels people are experiencing following the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has had on jobs, security, families and mental health, especially for those in rural communities.
It will support positive changes to improve Māori health and wellbeing through a better understanding of Te Ao Māori.
Participants will develop an awareness of their whakapapa and feel more at home within Te Ao Māori. As they work through the course, participants will be supported to answer questions about their culture and whānau, and develop an understanding of how this can affect personal health and wellbeing.
Te Ata Pūao has been developed to help Māori to explore how their thoughts and feelings affect their actions in a fun, supportive learning environment. It will help participants to take more control of their own health and wellbeing as they develop a health and wellbeing plan, which they can continue to develop once they have finished the course.
The programme will run once a week for 2.5 hours a week over six weeks.
The course will be delivered in three parts, exploring culture and identity, developing a holistic approach to your health and wellbeing, and working with professional support services to make long-term improvements to health and wellbeing.
Te Ata Pūao will be delivered for tāne, wāhine and whānau, at locations in Whakatū and Wairau. For more information visit www.tpo.org.nz or phone 0800 ORANGA (0800 672 642)
Te Piki Oranga is an essential service in Level 4
Te Piki Oranga is here for your health during Level 4
New Zealand will be in Level 4 lockdown from midnight tonight for three days. In Level 4, Te Piki Oranga is still an essential service, so we will continue to operate our services this week, although differently than usual.
At Te Piki Oranga most of our kaimahi/staff will work remotely at home. Kaimahi will be taking whānau phone calls and will help ensure you can manage your health needs. Home visits will take place where necessary and safe for everyone. We will continue to help you access your GP or other health services if you need to this week.
Our kaimahi will also be ringing as many whānau as they can to ensure that they are safe and well and have what they need to self-isolate.
If you have health concerns for a member of your whānau or someone else at this time, please let us know by ringing 0800 ORANGA (672 642). We will also have a few kaimahi working at our hubs in Whakatū, Wairau and Motueka over the next three days. Any Te Piki Oranga kaimahi travelling outside of home or our office will wear our Te Piki Oranga ID to identify themselves as essential workers.
You may wish to visit the COVID-19 website if you would like more information about what you need to do in Level 4.
Arohanui to all our whānau as we go into Level 4 together – we are still here and doing everything we can to support you.
Meanwhile, we do encourage whānau to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Our COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics in Picton, Wairau, Nelson, Richmond and Motueka are continuing in Level 4, with Level 4 restrictions. We will be in touch if we need to rebook you to a different time, otherwise please come if you are scheduled to come and don’t hear from us. You can book now for you and your whānau at any of our upcoming clincis, call 0800 672 642 and press option 1 to register.
Manu Ora takes flight
Manu Ora takes flight
Today, Wairau’s new Manu Ora healthcare service is open and giving local whānau a new, high-quality and culturally appropriate way to improve their hauora. The service is a partnership between Nuku Health and Te Piki Oranga, and is supported by Marlborough Primary Health and Rangitane o Wairau.
The service’s name ‘Manu Ora’, represents a bird taking flight after achieving hauora (wellbeing).
Manu Ora is a charitable organisation with a small healthcare team dedicated to providing quality care within a kaupapa Māori model and committed to te Māori me ngā tikanga Māori. The service is subsidised for Te Piki Oranga whānau, Community Services Card holders and other whānau who meet the enrolment criteria.
‘We are committed to reducing the inequities in both access to primary health care and the health outcomes for our highest need patients in Wairau, particularly our Māori community,’ says Manu Ora's Sara Simmons.
‘We strive to create an environment that is caring, respectful, empathic and collaborative with our patients and their support networks, and supportive, stimulating and rewarding for our kaimahi (staff).’
The Manu Ora team will work closely with each other, alongside patients, to ensure every staff member can provide high-quality and ongoing care.
When a patient first signs up, they will be offered an extended enrolment appointment with a nurse and a GP from the team. Following this, a coordinated management plan will be developed and documented to ensure each patient’s health needs are met.
The Manu Ora team also aims to act as health advocates for their patients, and to go the extra mile to ensure their health needs are met.
You can book an appointment in advance or drop into the walk-in clinic (where patients are prioritised according to how urgent their medical treatment needs are).
Call Manu Ora on 03 577 5810 or drop into 219 Howick Road, Wairau.
Manu Ora’s guiding whakataukī
Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu
Me whakahoki mai te mana ki te whanau, hapū, iwi.
Kia korowaitia aku mokopuna kit e korowaitanga hauora.
Adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly and return the mana to us.
Let our future generations be embraced in good health.
A new purpose for whānau whare
A new purpose for whānau whare
When Carolynn Tipene learned of the new Manu Ora clinic opening at 219 Howick Road in Wairau, it brought back years of happy memories.
For Carolynn and her siblings, the building that houses the new Manu Ora clinic was called home for many years.
Jim and Violet Walker bought the building from Māori Affairs around 1959 and the whare was home to all nine of their children until 2016, when Violet sadly passed away.
“As a whānau we were sad to see the house go, but life must go on!” says Carolynn.
But when the whānau learned that the whare was to become a clinic providing culturally sensitive primary health care, it brought tears to their eyes. Carolynn believes her mum and dad would be so happy to learn of the whare’s new purpose.
As tamariki, the Walker’s were brought up to understand whānau ora and holistic wellbeing and Carolynn says that the whare is steeped in the values of te whare tapa whā (Māori holistic model of health).
The news of Manu Ora was an opportunity for the whānau to share their memories and Carolynn says it has brought them all much happiness.
She recalls the backyard was full of fruit trees and gardens that not only fed the whānau, but the whole neighbourhood. “Our father gardened by the moon and the flower garden was Mum’s domain. It wasn’t unusual for people to wander off the street for a closer look,” says Carolynn.
The harakeke still growing there was gifted by the whānau’s Papa, Kereama Keelan (Ngāti Porou), when his daughter Violet left her home in Tolaga Bay, as a young bride, and moved south with Jim.
Carolynn also remembers that the whare had an open-door policy; there was always kai and a bed available to anyone who might need one.
Jim leased the paddock at the back of the property (now full of houses) where he kept sheep, chickens, pigs, and a horse at one stage.
The whole neighbourhood of kids visited the house, where they created a BMX bike track (long before its time) and took bike frames from the dump and welded and built their own BMX and chopper bikes.
On behalf of her entire whānau Carolynn would like to thank Te Piki Oranga and Manu Ora for bestowing hauora and mana once again to 219 Howick Road and says “you have brought a lot of joy to the whānau of Jim and Violet Walker.”
Mobile clinic helps whānau reach their potential
Mā Te huruhuru, Ka rere Te manu
Me Whakahoki mai te Mana ki te
Whanau, Hapū, Iwi, ara
Kia korowaitiaaku mokopuna ki te
Korowaitange hauora
Tihei Mauri ora!
A stunning tui with its vibrant green and blue feathers and distinctive white throat tuft, along with a whakataukī – which loosely translated means ‘adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly’ – features on one side of Te Piki Oranga’s new mobile clinic. The other side features a landscape image of whānau enjoying one of Te Tauihu’s beaches. Inside is comfortable and cosy, with a heat pump to warm the space in winter and cool it in summer, and cups of tea are on tap.
The purpose-built ‘mobile health clinic on wheels’ hit the road on June 11 and has already supported the hauora (wellbeing) of close to 600 local whānau members, after it was used as a base for two COVID-19 vaccination clinics at Whakatū Marae.
Te Piki Oranga’s Operations and Service Delivery Manager Lorraine Staunton says a successful funding application enabled the setup of a mobile immunisation clinic but it has already become a multi-purpose clinic, with additional potential uses continuing to evolve.
As well as being used as a vaccination ‘base station’, it provides a comfortable and private space for cervical screening, a first aid hub, health promotion centre at community events and is being fitted out with telehealth technology to ensure local whānau can access specialists across Aotearoa.
Lorraine, who joined Te Piki Oranga at the beginning of the year, set about defining the requirements for the custom-built clinic. The project team, which also includes Sonia Hepi-Treanor (Te Hā / Stop Smoking) and Rameka Te Rahui (Alcohol & Other Drugs Clinician), then commissioned Chris Dufeu at CJ Fabricators in Tahunanui to oversee the build. Lorraine says, ‘Chris really put his heart into the job; nothing was too much trouble.’
At first, the plan was to build the mobile clinic from scratch. Using chalk, they marked out the imagined size of the clinic on concrete. But, with supply chain delays for many building products to consider, it soon became apparent that it would be better to explore other options.
With Chris’ help, Te Piki Oranga was fortunate to find the perfect ‘shell’: a mobile room that had already been lined, had a door and a window, and electrical wiring in place. Adjustments were made and lights, benches, storage cupboards, a sink and a small fridge were installed.
‘This gave us a headstart of about five weeks,’ says Lorraine, ‘and we were able to start using the clinic in early June.’
Nelson Marlborough Health’s telehealth team is providing support to ensure Te Piki Oranga has access to the appropriate conferencing capabilities that will facilitate appointments with specialists in other areas of the region and country.
Lorraine says that, as a country, Aotearoa is not meeting many of the health targets for Māori but the new mobile clinic will support better health outcomes.
‘It has huge health promotion potential. We’ve also bought a gazebo that we can use alongside the clinic at community events.’
Watch out for the mobile clinic in towns across Te Tauihu in the coming months. And, it is likely to be used as a first aid hub in Whakatū for 2021 Te Mana Kuratahi, the national primary school kapa haka competition. With kapa haka groups from around the country descending on Nelson for what's being described as ‘the biggest Māori event in the world’, Te Piki Oranga’s new mobile clinic could be there to support thousands of people.
Support for survivors of abuse through Te Piki Oranga
If you, or someone you know, have had an experience of abuse in care, Te Piki Oranga can now offer one-on-one support for people sharing their experiences with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
Te Piki Oranga has put in place qualified and trained community champions who can help you through the often difficult journey of sharing your experiences and telling your story.
Rameka Te Rahui is one of the Te Piki Oranga community champions who can answer your call for support, while you go through the Inquiry process.
“We’re here to help anyone through that process – deciding whether and how to take part, navigating the process and getting the follow-up care you need.
“We understand that anyone telling their story is going to go through many emotions. Talking about it can bring up a lot of grief, anger, and fear. Sometimes the hardest thing is making the first move and picking up the phone.
“We can talk with you before you make that first call to the Inquiry, sit with you while you do it, or talk with you afterwards if you need that support, so you are not left hanging there alone.”
Rameka says that sometimes this can be the start for people seeking help and treatment.
“If you’ve been living with this for a long time, sharing your story with the Commission could be the start of a healing journey for you and your whānau. There is free counselling available, and for many people, this has made it possible for them to get treatment for ongoing trauma as a result of their experiences.”
If you have an experience you want to share, the best way to get started is to call us on 0800 ORANGA (672 642), and ask to speak to one of our community champions for the Royal Commission of Inquiry. We’ll then facilitate getting you the support you need.
The Inquiry is in the process of gathering information from survivors of abuse, so it can look into what happened to children, young people and vulnerable adults in care.
The Commission wants to hear from everyone who has been affected, including:
· Those who have been directly harmed
· Those indirectly impacted by the abuse
· Witnesses to abuse
· Those advocating on behalf of another person including your own tamariki, rangatahi and tīpuna.
If the person who was abused has died, you can even share on their behalf, in memoriam.
Once the investigations are complete, the Inquiry will report to the Governor-General and make recommendations about how New Zealand can better care for its young people.
Building better health through Te Ao Māori
Te Piki Oranga is rolling out a pilot programme to help people take more control over their health and wellbeing through a better understanding of their cultural identity.
Te Ata Pūao has been developed in recognition of the low to medium anxiety levels people are experiencing following the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has had on jobs, security, families and mental health.
Programme facilitator Charles Clover says the course has been developed to support positive changes that will improve Māori health and wellbeing through a better understanding of Te Ao Māori.
“Through Te Ata Pūao, participants will develop an awareness of their whakapapa and answer questions about their culture and whānau, developing an understanding of how this can affect personal health and wellbeing.
“This is a chance for Māori to explore the complexity of their whakapapa, and look at how their thoughts and feelings affect their actions. We will show people how they can take more control of their own health and wellbeing and feel more at home in Te Ao Māori in a fun, supportive learning environment,” says Charles.
Te Ata Pūao programme will run once a week for 2.5 hours a week over six weeks, and will work through a bi-cultural health model to develop a health and wellbeing plan that participants can continue to develop once they have finished the course.
The course will be delivered in three parts, exploring culture and identity, developing a holistic approach to your health and wellbeing, and working with professional support services to make long-term improvements to health and wellbeing.
Te Ata Pūao will be delivered for tāne, wāhine and whānau, at locations in Whakatū and Wairau. For more information contact Charles Clover by calling 0800 ORANGA (0800 672 642).
Everything is an opportunity, says new Te Pou Taki
Everything is an opportunity, says new Te Pou Taki
Carl Baker took over the role of Te Pou Taki (Māori cultural adviser) at Te Piki Oranga earlier this year and has spent the past four months undertaking a cultural assessment of Te Piki Oranga’s activities.
The Pou Taki position was advertised after Sonny Alesana moved to a new role as Kōtuitui Hapori (Community Connector). When Carl saw the position advertised, he jumped at the chance to relocate to Te Tauihu to take up the role and be closer to his whānau based in Whakatū.
In this role, Carl aims to support both kaimahi (employees) and whānau. He says the purpose of the cultural assessment he’s been undertaking is to ‘make sure our activities align with what we say we’re doing’. He is looking for ways to enhance how kaupapa Māori informs Te Piki Oranga’s strategic direction and to ensure tikanga Māori (Māori custom) is implemented accurately across the organisation, starting with the leadership team.
Following this, he has his sights set on a development plan for management and kaimahi. Then he will take a ‘deep dive’ with individuals, to support them to improve their cultural development.
‘I see everything as an opportunity,’ Carl explains. ‘I’m looking at how we can progress staff along the continuum of learning and interventions we can put in place to help that shift. For example, I’m aiming to increase staff members’ overall cultural capability which will ensure Te Piki Oranga continues to transform as a kaupapa Māori health and wellness organisation.’
His previous experience, as Pou Tairangahau (cultural manager) at the Department of Conservation in Hawkes Bay, has equipped him with transferrable skills that have given him a great head start in this role as Te Pou Taki.
Māori Cancer Community Hui - Saturday 12th June, Ūkaipō
Hear the voice of Whānau Māori!
Ūkaipō, Rangitāne Cultural Centre, 1 Fell Street, Grovetown, Blenheim
Saturday 12th June 2021
Te Aho o Te Kahu is committed to working together with Māori Leaders, Stakeholders and Communities to improve outcomes!
Come have your say and help us design kaupapa Māori cancer solutions.
Kai, kōrero, kapa haka, mirimiri, rongoā, whānau workshops.
Registration: 8.30am | Mihi Whakatau: 9.10am | Poroporoaki: 3:30pm
RSVP with attendance & transport requirements.
Name: Te Hauora o Ngāti Rārua
Email: hauora@thonr.org
Phone: (03) 577-8404
Transport available from Nelson and Blenheim.
Covid-19 Vaccines: What you need to know
Aotearoa has received the first batch of a Covid-19 vaccine and has prepared roll-out plans for three different scenarios, depending on the level of community transmission.
If there is no/low community transmission, border and managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) workers will be vaccinated first. This is to reduce the risk of them getting Covid-19 and the roll out should be completed by the end of March.
Healthcare and essential workers, including Te Piki Oranga kaimahi, and those most at risk of severe illness will then be vaccinated in the second quarter of the year (from April to June). The general public vaccinations are expected to begin in the second half of 2021 (July onwards).
If there is widespread community transmission, those most at risk of severe illness—including older people, and Māori and Pasifika—will receive priority access to the vaccination.
This will be the largest immunisation programme our country has ever undertaken and a lot of work is going on behind the scenes with the Ministry of Health leading the roll out.
Te Piki Oranga’s Covid Response Manager Sarah Lee was employed last year to coordinate Te Piki Oranga’s response and coordinates Covid-19 recovery activity across Te Tauihu.
To make sure the correct information is in the community and online, she has prepared answers to some frequently asked questions about the Covid-19 vaccines to help you and your whānau make an informed decision when the vaccine becomes available. More information on the general vaccine roll out is due from the Coivd-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday 10 March.
Click here for more general information about Covid-19 and if you have any further questions about Covid-19 vaccines, please contact your local public health organisation (PHO).
Tūhono supports mothers of all ages
Our Tūhono programme has recently supported an older māmā, hapū (pregnant) with her seventh pēpi (baby), to give birth to a healthy girl, while also helping her keep her whare and support her other tamariki, as told by her Te Piki Oranga nurse.
Tūhono is an innovative Te Piki Oranga programme that provides kaupapa Māori intensive, personalised interventions for a small number of whānau, designed to develop and support the relationship between māmā (or matua) and pēpi.
One of our beautiful hapū māmā came to Tūhono not long after she discovered she was hapū with her seventh pēpi. Due to her age and the size of baby, she needed some extra support from the health system for the first time.
Our Te Piki Oranga dietician Brittani was a huge advocate and support for her throughout this journey. A referral to Sonia at our Te Hā Aukati Kaipaipa Pēpi First program proved to be a success and our māmā managed to stop smoking during her pregnancy.
We were also able to provide this māmā with a new push chair and car seat through Tūhono, pay for her many and much needed growth scans and offer emotional support through some of the daunting decisions she had to make as an older māmā.
Tūhono also played a pivotal role in ensuring the whānau were able to keep their whare by organising and funding some vital property maintenance. During lockdown and school holidays we were able to assist with kai, and scrapbooking stationary for both māmā and her five young tamariki, as getting out and about was proving difficult.
The māmā gave birth to a beautiful, healthy girl naturally, using the wrap-around team’s support and encouragement to follow her intuition.
Nau mai e te pēpi ki te ao mārama.
It’s all about kōtuitui
After five years on the Te Piki Oranga management team as Te Pou Taki (Cultural Adviser), Sonny Alesana has a new role, as Kōtuitui Hapori (Community Connector).
‘We were already doing a lot of work with the community and had also been asked by other organisations to provide cultural advice on health,’ Sonny explains. ‘In this role, it’s about Te Piki Oranga engaging with service providers to support families.’
He commenced the role in November 2020 and, since then, has been focusing on ensuring individuals and whānau can access Te Piki Oranga’s services with ease.
Being responsive
The Kōtuitui Hapori role was initially created in response to the pandemic, to help mitigate the negative social impacts of Covid-19 for whānau, but Sonny says it is about being responsive and creative to find solutions for the needs of whānau.
‘Covid-19 has been difficult for some families but there have also been positives,’ says Sonny, ‘and I like to focus on the positives. There’s employment out there but now it’s about how we prepare our whānau for those employment opportunities. It’s also about preparing others who might have lost their jobs and working out how we can utilise their transferrable skills to ensure they can transfer into other industries and jobs.’
Supporting tamariki and rangatahi at school is another focus. ‘Covid-19 really identified that, for some of our families, they didn’t have the digital equipment they needed to support their children in their education or they had the equipment but didn’t know how to use it to access student portals. We had to be creative in the way we worked.’
Sonny adds, ‘Then you have families ring you to say their child’s at home and they’re not willing to go to work. It’s about looking at how we can provide services early to avoid bigger costs in the long run. Prevention is better than the cure.’
He also sits on a gateway panel with Oranga Tamariki to ensure whānau are getting the right support when their children are being returned from care.
Looking ahead, Sonny will be working with a team of five to six other community connectors in Te Tauihu. They are planning to meet in person soon to determine what services can be offered, ensuring they are not duplicating what is already available.
Read about how Sonny connected with a local shearer, who with a new driver licence says he is ‘unstoppable.’
Sonny Alesana has a new role, as Te Piki Oranga’s Kōtuitui Hapori (Community Connector)
Whānau give back to their community and work on their wellness
Whānau give back to their community and work on their wellness
In August this year, our Wairau team started to run the award-winning Te Pae Oranga programme with the Police, with successful outcomes in the first month.
Rather than ending up in court or a cell, Te Pae Oranga is an opportunity for people 17 years and over to repair the harm their minor offending has caused their community, and to have health challenges addressed. Te Pae Oranga is credited with bringing an 11.9 percent fall in reoffending among Māori aged 17 to 24.
People who have perhaps shop-lifted, stolen a bike on the street, or driven without a license, meet with an Iwi Community Panel to talk about who they are, where they are from, and why they did it. The panel listens and uncovers any unaddressed issues, before agreeing to appropriate reparation and accessing health services for the offenders.
In its first month, the Wairau Iwi Community Panel worked with 21 people, mostly aged between 18 and 25 years old, with great success. Two examples of reparation for minor offences include a fisherman giving Te Piki Oranga 20 kilograms of fish for whānau in our Wairau community who need food. Another person has committed to assisting a local rugby club with coaching. These are positive outcomes that are appropriate to these people and their offending, and are meaningful to the community.
As well as working through how people would repair the harm they caused, the panel identified a number of undiagnosed or unsupported health problems, such as mental health or drug issues. Links have now been made to appropriate services to help them get better.
Addressing the underlying reasons for offending is an important part of the holistic Te Pau Oranga process, rather than incarceration, after which, the statistics show, it is highly likely that people will reoffend.
Te Piki Oranga has been running Te Pae Oranga for 26 months in Whakatū, with more than 200 people having successfully worked with the local Iwi Community Panel.
Essential business giving back to our community
Essential business giving back to our community
By: Brenda McQuillan, Pūkenga Manaaki CAMHS - Whakatū (CAMHS Navigator - Nelson)
Nelson Community Food Bank Trust had been running for more than 20 years. We deliver food parcels to whanau experiencing hardship in the Nelson area. We are a partnership of six organisations, BUWT, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul – Nelson and Stoke, Te Piki Oranga and Whakatū Marae.
Since the lockdown came into effect we have been four times busier, the organisation's reach had expanded beyond central Nelson. We rely on the generosity of our community. The Food Bank is staffed by volunteers and funded by individuals, trusts and local businesses. The kai in our food parcels is designed to last a whanau or individual up to three days. We purchase 80% our ingredients, including meat and vegetables. We also include donated kai and grocery items. Below is an example of a parcel for a whanau of three.
Local businesses donate goods as well, we have received honey, potato chips, cheeses, treats, vegetables, and meats. Over the past year the NCFBT delivered approximately 108 parcels per month from requests from the partner organisations.
In a normal five-day week, Te Piki Oranga, Whakatu, would request between 3 – 5 parcels. The week 01 April to 08 April, NCFBT was only delivering three days per week, Te Piki Oranga requested 17 food parcels for 53 Whanau. Overall NCFBT food parcel requests have increased by 300%.
The NCFBT has also linked in with the Civil Defence Welfare Group, NCC and TDC, we have partnered with the DHB Te Oranga Alliance, delivering over 100 parcels to whanau at Franklyn Village.
We have also partnered, temporarily, with the Homelessness Sub-group to deliver food parcels to the Homeless whanau in temporary accommodation – we have been asked to supply up to 50 parcels per week. The Civil Defence Welfare Group have donated the use of the Trafalgar Park Pavilion temporarily as we have passed capacity at our current shared premises with Nelson Environment Centre.
Sturrock and Greenwood refrigeration have donated a walk-in freezer for us to use during the increased demand. One of the realisations I have come to, is that we will never return to our previous small size, we need to expand to include Richmond, and we need to look at inviting more partner organisations to join us.
The team behind this amazing mahi are our treasurer, Megan Familton, she is carrying out the coal face mahi, packing parcels, shopping for groceries and coordinating volunteer drivers to deliver the parcels. She has been ably assisted by our previous co-ordinator, Delwyn Donaldson. Behind the scenes we have our volunteer fundraising guru, Eddie Lewis, he is a funding application machine. We have another volunteer, Vince van Beek, he crunches all our numbers and manages our stats, his job is particularly challenging at this time. And I am the current chairperson, representing Te Piki Oranga.
Successful flu vax at Ūkaipō
Successful flu vax at Ūkaipō
By: Ricky Carr, Pūkenga Kaiwhakahaere - Wairau (Site Manager - Blenheim)
Tuesday, the 12th day of May dawned, and there were several people gathered at Ukaipo (Grovetown, Marlborough) from 8.00 am onward. Rangitane staff had been preparing the Ukaipo site in the preceding days for what was to become the most successful flu vax site that Te Piki Oranga has been associated with this season.
The venue owned and operated by Rangitane is situated in Grovetown between Spring Creek and Blenheim. Event's organiser Donna Grace had been in touch with Rangitane iwi regarding this vaccine clinic, there had been one hundred and five responses to the initial invitation, and as usual, we had begged & borrowed vaccines to ensure we had sufficient stock on hand to ensure no one was turned away.
The clinic was planned to commence at 10:00 am till 2:00 pm; however, we were in the middle of our karakia at 9:30 am when the first of 150 participants started arriving.
Marlborough PHO staff; Glenis McAlpine, Ange Mills, Christine Andrews and Victoria Leo were swabbing and delivering the vaccines. Te Piki Oranga staff; Mary Johnsen, Brenda Chilvers and Viv Tuhimata - Weke were supporting with logistics and administration. The Rangitane team were headed by; Nick Chin (CEO) Taylor MacDonald, Allan MacDonald, Kereana Norton and Elsie Elkington.
At about 2.00 pm, staff were thankful that there was a lull in the car park traffic, which enabled those assembled to have a hearty lunch kindly organised by Rangitane staff.
There have been several positive comments about the organisation of this clinic and how effective this made the whole process. Our thanks to both, Rangitane, MPHO and Te Piki Oranga staff for such a marvellous outcome.
While this was the largest of the clinics held during the lockdown, two further clinics were held in April at Waikawa Marae and in the Health hub carpark in central Blenheim. Overall, there were more than 300 vaccines delivered through these mobile clinic initiatives.
