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Maraea Makiha

Tēna tatou e te whānau

He Uri tenei no Tamatekapua
Ko Tuturu me Matawhaura nga Maunga
Ko Puarenga me Ohau nga Awa
Ko Tuhourangi me Ngati Pikiao nga Hapu
Ko Te Pakira me Te Takinga nga Marae
Ko Te Arawa te Tangata
Ko Te Arawa te Iwi

Ko Maraea Makiha ahau. E noho ana au ki Kirikiriroa. Kei roto au it te Rōpu Ringa Raupa
Tokorima oku Tamariki, Tokorua oku mokopuna.

My Journey with Plunket started on 7th March 2012, where I was employed as a Kaiāwhina for the Waikato area.

During my time as Kaiāwhina I facilitated groups such as Basic Child and Infant CPR, Tikanga Ririki – Māori Parenting practises incorporating Kupenga, Whilst studying towards my Bachelors of Social Work - Biculturalism in practice.

Te Tohu Paetahi o nga Whakarara Oranga with Te Wananga O Aotearoa, which I graduated from in 2014. I am also a qualified Smoking Cessation Quit coach.

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to sit in many teams such as Whānau Awhina Whānau Ora team, Whirihia team and more recently Ringa Raupa Team.

I am passionate about advocating for my people, ensuring that they are being heard, valued and seen.

Kei te whai huarahi tika a Whānau Āwhina Plunket kia pai ai te whai putanga hauora mana taurite mō ngā tangata Māori.

He tohenga tēnei e ngākau nui ana mātou ki te whai kia tutuki, e mohiotia nei e kore taea e tō mātou kotahi.

Ko ngā Kaiārahi Māori (Kaiārahi Āheinga Māori) e tautoko nei i a Whānau Āwhina Plunket ki te whakakaha i ngā whainga mahi o roto o waho i ngā roopu e tau ai te whakatauki ‘Hikoitia te kauhau’.

Ko ēnei tūranga hei āwhina, hei mahitahi i te taha i ngā Te Roopu Tumu Whakarae hei whakamana i ngā kupu kia puta te mana taurite motuhake mō ngā whānau Māori.

Ko te whakapono ka tika ngā mahi i te taha o ngā whānau, ka tika mō te katoa.

Tūtaki i ngā Kaiārahi Māori:

John Hamlin

Ngā mihi mahana, Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou
Ko Maungapohatu tōku maunga
Ko Tauranga tōku awa
Ko Mataatua tōku waka
Ko Ngāi Tuhoe tōku iwi
Nō Waimana ahau
Nō Wainuiomata e noho ana
He Pou Tikanga tōku tūnga mahi
Ko John Hamlin tōku ingoa
No reira tēna koutou, tēna koutou, tēna koutou katoa

I have worked in roles throughout my working life, from private enterprise, to government to corporate roles. Most of my working life has been in IT.

I joined Whānau Āwhina Plunket in Oct 2020 during the COVID-19 era to a completely different role. So far, I have been involved in Policies and other governance boards which has given me an insight into Whānau Āwhina Plunket.

In my role as Pou Tikanga, Cultural Advisor, it has been something that is taking time to adjust to after life in the Corporate world. I have been working on guidelines for running whakatau (Welcome) internally and demystify the whole process.

At the moment the focus is on Pro-Equity and our commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi principles. We have a set of principles and values which are being embraced within our organisation to help in how we work with each other as well as how we work with our whānau and pēpi. Keeping these in mind, Māhaki, Mānaaki, Tūhono and Māia, we can navigate the journey of Pro-Equity with a lot of support for each other.