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He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.
What is the most important thing in the world?
It is people, it is people, it is people.
In 2021, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand - Waitaha Canterbury, more commonly known as the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB), started a project to improve the way people experience mental health and addiction services. The goal was to engage widely with service users, whānau, communities, and providers to use their expertise to inform future direction.
In partnership with Ngāi Tahu Iwi they had developed two workstreams – one led by Māori via Purapura Whetu Trust and the other led by Lived Experience Partners supported by Mental Health Education and Resource Centre (MHERC).
Purapura Whetu Trust is one of the largest community based kaupapa Māori mental health services in Ōtautahi, offering a wide range of supports to Māori and non-Māori. Purapura Whetu has teamed up with Poutini Waiora, community based kaupapa Māori mental health services in the West Coast, and together are delivering on the Māori workstream which was named the Kā Pou Whenua project.
E huri tō aroaro ki te rā, tukuna tō ataarangi ki muri i a koe.
Turn and face the sun and let your shadow fall behind you.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, Engari, he toa takitini.
My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.
Waiho i te toipoto, Kaua i te toiroa.
Let us keep close together, not wide apart.