Whakapapa brings our new Kaupapa Innovator home.
Introducing our new Kaupapa Innovator to the Healthy Families Movement.
““Whakapapa not only links people but also connects them with their ancestral land. It’s so important in Māori culture as it shows where someone has come from, linking a person to the land, their iwi (tribe), and gives them the confidence to stand in their mana (strength).””
He iti kōpara e pīoi ana te tihi o te Kahikatea - Though the bellbird
is small, it can aspire to the great height of the Kahikatea.
Healthy Families East Cape and Te Ao Hou Trust are privileged to welcome and introduce Hineani Campbell-Collier to the team as our new Kaupapa Innovator.
It’s a full circle moment to have Hineani return to the East Cape/ Te Tairāwhiti. Hineani attended part of her primary school education at Te Kura o Tōrere, reconnecting with some of our Te Ao Hou kaimahi who knew Hineani and her whānau.
Te Ao Hou Trust CEO, Linda Steel, says having Hineai return to her Ngai Tai whakapapa is an asset to our teams and communities. Linda believes that Hineani joining the Healthy Families movement is an wonderful opportunity to consolidate her education and gain hands on experience in her role as our Kaupapa Innovator.
Hineani says she is very excited to gain hands on experience as the Kaupapa Innovator for Healthy Families East Cape, and to be able to give back to the communities and iwi that shaped who she is today. Hineani’s experience, education and skills will allow her to work towards actualising transformational change in places where we live, learn, work and play and contributing to the Healthy Families East Cape team, as part of the Healthy Families movement of passionate kaimahi that are dedicated to building leadership and capacity across our Kaupapa and communities for sustained prevention.
“Kapa haka has been a part of my life since I was born. Kapa haka to me is not about winning, but about the deep connections you make with people and place. Whanaungatanga and connection to my iwi are the main drivers in my participation in kapa haka. I have the privilege of having whakapapa to many iwi within Aotearoa, however it is difficult to maintain strong connections with them all. Through kapa haka I have been able to connect to many of my iwi.”
Hineani and her whānau were welcomed to both our sites in Gisborne and Ōpōtiki. Her whānau shared their strategy for their daughter to connect with all parts of her whakapapa. Attending Te Kohanga Reo o Mangatu in Gisborne and Te Whare Aroha in Ōpōtiki, learning from an early age her Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and Ngai Tai whakapapa. Hineani continued her education this time attending Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Ara Rima, Peachgrove Intermediate and Nga Taiatea Wharekura , spending the last part of her high school education in Waikato where Hineani has whakapapa through her mother. Hineani has spent the last three years in Ōtepoti, Dunedin where she was able to connect to her Ngai Tahu ki Ōtākou whakapapa. There, Hineani completed and graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Health Science majoring in Māori Health last year.
Hineani’s whānau understood the value of whakapapa and how connecting to all parts of your whakapapa is critical to knowing and understanding who you are. It plays an integral part of a person’s overall wellbeing. They have actualised this strategy and this has strengthened Hienani’s connection to her whakapapa.
Māori health and wellbeing meanings emphasise the totality of Whakapapa as a basis for communicating health and wellbeing. Kaupapa Māori theory, and Whakapapa as a super-connector of relationships both in the spiritual and physical domains, anchored the research. Hineani’s lived experience has been grounded in connecting and practicing the importance of whakapapa. Hineani has been part of Te Kapa Haka o Te Whānau A Apanui, recently performing at the Mataatua Kapa Haka Regional competition.
Hineani has spent the last few weeks deep diving into our kaupapa, learning the ins and outs of the Healthy Families approach and way of working, and linking her expertise to Healthy Families East Cape kaupapa.
E te raukura o ō iwi, Hineani, nā mātou te whiwhi te maringa nui. Nau mai ki Healthy Families East Cape, me te Ao Hou Trust. Nau mai , hoki mai ki tō ūkaipō e hika.