Tūranga Health 

Tūranga Health’s vision of ‘building family wellness for future generations’ brings a unique approach to wellbeing.

The iwi health provider bridges health gaps for Māori in Tairāwhiti, focusing on holistic care initiatives that seek to connect with whānau in their whare or in their kāinga (community settings where whānau work, learn, live and play).

Honouring cultural identity and active community engagement are core principles of Tūranga Health’s mission. 

This year, Tūranga Health has initiated various efforts to bring events to the district and celebrate their uniqueness, importance and relevance. It is a gentle reminder to the rest of Aotearoa that Tairāwhiti is the place to be. 

These have included the Ngarimu scholarships for Māori tertiary students who reflect the characteristics and values of the 28th Māori Battalion, the live Māori TV ANZAC day broadcast from the C Company House, and the Ki O Rahi nationals. Ki O Rahi, rooted in the Māori legend of Rangitutakahina and Tiarakurapakewai, is a traditional Māori game incorporating elements from various sports, including ripper rugby and tag. The Tūranga Health team is at each event, providing logistical support, event setup, promotion, kai, coffee carts and often mobile vaccination clinics.

“If we’re going to raise our flag, we need to be visible, participating and telling the stories,” says Tūranga Health Chief Executive, Reweti Ropiha. 

“The whole custodianship starts at the front end. We thought, outside of these events going elsewhere, why shouldn’t they come to our backyard? Faces from all over New Zealand attend these events — when they go home, they speak about the Tūranga manaaki, Tūranga tautoko.” 

The organisation has also tailored its services to involve the Tairāwhiti Pasifika community, ensuring their participation in service design and delivery. The Vaka Tairāwhiti event, adapted by Tūranga Health from the ASB Polyfest, highlights this approach.

“Hosting Vaka Tairāwhiti reinforced our commitment to providing a platform for Pasifika communities to celebrate their cultural identity under their stewardship — we were just a whāriki — laying the foundations — that provided the space and pastoral support.”

Tūranga Health’s goal of fostering long-term community wellbeing was demonstrated in their support of the Mātai Medical Research Institute Whānau Day. Their presence helped expose the community to opportunities at Mātai, including nurturing local rangatahi for future health research.

“We can inform or design the research space rather than getting it done on us.

“We could groom and grow our own; potentially, they’ll come back to us, bring their skills and apply themselves, here in our backyard.”

Finally, a “young mums and their tamariki” wellbeing initiative based in Elgin will wrap around dental care, immunisations, car seats and education to generate momentum for the first and best 2,000 days of life. 

"All of the experiences we provide are whānau experiences, nurtured by the learnings of yesteryear with a preparedness to do it, pragmatism at its best,” says Reweti. 

Tūranga Health received $75,000 from the Trust in 2023/24 to support their local health and wellbeing programmes and initiatives.