Te Puutaatara

Te Puutaatara is a weekly three-hour talk-back programme in English, with host Jim Perry every Tuesday night from 8pm.

Tuesday 29 June 2010

The executive director of a Maori health training organisation says stigmatising smokers isn't a kaupapa Maori value.

"It's getting worse to be a smoker these days", says Moana Tane of Te Hotu Manawa Maori.

Affiliating to Te Roroa, Ngati Korokoro, Ngati Wharara and Ngati Hine iwi, she says all smokers are socially stigmatised.

"They're in the closets, they're under the tables. Nobody's owning up to it. Why? Because we have made it so uncomfortable for them."

Mrs Tane says excluding smokers is defies the Maori roles of manaakitanga.

"Is this how we treat our people? I don't think so. Not if we are really serious about improving the mortality rates of our people. We've got to be a little more compassionate here."

Instead she says Te Hotu Manawa Maori uses a strengths-based approach to empower people to quit smoking, without preaching.

"We believe in a strengths-based approach to whakamana [empower] our people."

Mrs Tane has been part of the organisation since 2007 with a background in teaching and community development.

"We like to support the community health workers within different Maori health providers ... we work with many, many health providers all around both islands where they have community health workers who are giving advice and support to our whanau in things like nutrition, physical activity and smoking cessation. We work with the workforce and we prepare them to work with whanau."

She says in the last twelve months there has been a lot of activity and discussions, so they've been approached more and more by organisations to help their workers that need help to quit smoking.

She says traditional Maori values are fundamental to improving the health benefits of Maori.

"We're a kaupapa Maori organisation. That means we believe in the use of te reo Maori, we love to meet at marae and all of our hui incorporate powhiritanga and whakawhanaungatanga."

"We are focussed on our Maori communities. That's where we place ourselves and that's who we're committed to."

"An educated iwi is an empowered iwi, an empowered iwi is a comfortable iwi. A comfortable iwi is a confident iwi"

Jim Perry (Ngati Porou) endeavours to assist with education for us all. Te Puutaatara, signalling it's time for te iwi Maori to become empowered, it encapsulates the major issues of the day and how they affect Maori.

Our veteran broadcaster has been on Maori radio for over fifteen years, with a background in mainstream and kura kaupapa education.

Contact

Producer:     Huk Jackson

09 275 9070 | 0800 4 603 603

huk@waatea603am.co.nz