This week I am wearing my Hauora Tairāwhiti District Health Board hat. Around our table we read a lot of reports filled with technical language and pages of numbers. ASH rates, falls, targets etc. The data is very important, and when paired with lived experiences, can be powerful. Whether it’s an X-ray, visiting loved ones, ...
In late 2017, I was down in Napier visiting my aunty Helen. My cousin Ange was there too, she had been recently working in the film and television industry in Auckland. Making moves. I had always been asked about whether or not I’d want to do something substantial on TV/video, a documentary or movie kind ...
In Sept 2015 a councillor said during the public council meeting that if ‘you give Māori an inch then they’ll take a mile’. Ironic, given that’s exactly how Māori lost our land but I digress. Imagine the uproar if I had said that about women? Or about pakeha? As a councillor. In a council meeting! ...
I’ve always been a good dad. I’m good at dad shit. Being creative, making messes, playing, disciplining, planning, working hard, protecting. I wanted to fill in the gaps that I didn’t get. So I focussed strongly on individualised pathways of learning for my children, to support and affirm their dreams. We all have shit days, ...
Waru Reflections. DISCLAIMER: If you haven’t seen Waru then I suggest you don’t read any further, because this does contain spoilers! In part one, I am Mihi, I refer to myself as broken and fractured. This piece of writing is about how those fractures started and took root. I want to dedicate this to those ...
My Waru Reflections DISCLAIMER: If you haven’t seen Waru then I suggest you don’t read any further, because this does contain spoilers! Now that Waru has been out for a while, I wanted to write why it spoke to me. Because it spoke to me like nothing else I’ve ever seen. It spoke to my ...
I’m writing all of this post event, with better ‘sight’ for lack of a better word. I recently read about a technique that helps people down from anxiety. I was going to be having a hui with a whānau that included an almost 8 year old Māori boy who has some anxiety issues. I wanted ...
So I’ve been working on my internal voice stuff. It’s been exhausting. Seriously the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a long time. It came to a head a couple weeks ago. I was at the gym, punching the boxing bag, putting in some work. As the rounds ticked on fatigue set in. At ...
The Waru – Film. Made me want to: Offer help. To my struggling neighbourhood. To those solo parents whose stories I know oh so well. To the tired. The poor decision makers. The broken. Reflections of myself. Be an honourable man, to the vulnerable, for the grieving, to not overstep. Coz even if Yes is ...
For a long time I’ve hated myself. For as long as I can remember. I blamed myself for not being able to protect my siblings growing up. I blamed myself for the abuses they suffered. Not being able to stop the hidings, not protecting them at school from discriminatory teachers. I should have done more. ...