Kāhu ki Rotorua: He wāhine ākona ki te kāinga, tū ana ki te āo, tau ana - A homegrown leader who dedicates her life to serving her community

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Tokoiwa āna mokopuna, e tāria ana te whānautanga mai o tana mokopuna tuarima, ā taumata mokopuna tuarua.

I whānau mai i pakeketia a Laurie i te pā taunaha o Ōhinemutu kai reira tonu tēnei autaia e ngangahu kau ana hei kanohi kitea mā te iwi. Ko tāna aronga nui a ngākau nei ko te oranga-tonutanga o ngā koeke. E mana hoki tana tūnga rangatira koia te wahine hautū o tōna ake kamupene ko Morrison Consultant Ltd.

He mātanga hāpai e aro nei ki ngā kaupapa, rangahau, aromātai, whakahaere mātauranga waihoki hai Mātanga Hāpai ahurea mā te Kawanatanga me ngā rōpū hāpori hoki. Hai tā Laurie, ehara i te mea i Māori noa ia ki te ao mātauranga, nō tana taenga atu ki ōna tau e wha tekau te rahi ka kaha akiakingia ia e tōna kuia, he mōhio nō tōna kuia, he wahine toa te āta tūhuratia.

Āna, kua mana te matakitenga o taua kuia, kua tūhuratia mai ko tētehi wahine kaha nei ki te kawe ki te waha ngā kaupapa hauora a ngā wāhine Māori
Ko te kaupapa mihini kai-moni me ngā taumahatanga ka pā kino nei ki ngā wāhine Māori te aronga o tana tohu tākuta.

I waenga tonu i ngā tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā tahi me te rua mano kotahi tekau mā wha he tauira ahau i te whare Waiora o Taupua he whare hāngai tahi nei ki te Māori Health Research ki te kura o te hauora i te whare wānanga Hangarau o Tamaki Makaurau.

Nā tēnei karahipi-tohu tākuta nui ka hua ake ko te kaupapa haukoti māuiui petipeti, ko 'Nga Pou Wahine' te ingoa. E mātai ana ki ngā māuiui ka pā mai ki ngā wahine Māori petipeti.

He wahine tuhi pukapuka ahau, ā mātauranga nei, ki tēnei whenua, puta noa te ao. Ko ' te Ropu o Te Ora – The founding years of the Women's Health League in Te Arawa' (L.Morrison, 2017) taku pukapuka hou, he mea e puta ai te reo muna o ngā wāhine Māori, ngā wāhine toa o te ao Hauora.

Nā Ann Sonnerville tēnei kaupapa i kaha tautoko.
Ko ngā whakaahua e iri ake ana ki ngā pakitara o te hōhipera ki runga o Pukeroa etahi Kuia kahurangi nā rātou hoki te tūranga tumuaki mo te Women's Health League. Nā mātou te maringa nui ko Phyllis Tangitu hei ringa hāpai mo te whakaaetanga o te hōhipera.

I pupū ake ai te wehi o tēnei kāhui māreikura i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e toru tekau mā whitu nā te whakaaro nui o tētehi nāhi o te rohe nei a Robina Cameron ki te whakaemiemi ngā wāhine Māori ki te whakawhiti kōrero ki te whakatakoto whakaaro ki te pēhi me te muku i ngā tini māuiui ka noho mai ki te iwi, ki te hapū me te whānau.
Ko Laurie te tumuaki o te wāhanga WHL i Rotorua nei.

Mēnā ka tika te wairua o te māuiui korona pea, ka whakanuia e rātou te ekenga o tēnei pahi māreikura ki tōna taumata e waru tekau mā rima a tērā tau.

Ko taku herenga ki ngā kōti whānau i Tauranga me Waikato nō te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e iwa tekau mā rua ki te tau e rua mano mā rua.

I kirimanangia ahau ki te kauawhiwhi te hunga Māori e raruraru ana i ngā kaupapa tiaki tamariki.

Nō te tau e rua mano, he pou awhina ahau ki te whakatū i te kaupapa Te Arawa Bicultural Therapy Model. Ko mātou ko Mitai Rolleston, Maureen Jehly, Maxine Rennie, Tuhipo Kereopa, Tilly Vercoe me te rātonga mātai hinengaro i Te Arawa nei. Nō te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā ono ka whakawehewehe tēnei rōpū.

He māngai whakapakari tinana hoki ahau mā ngā kaumātua. Ko mātou ko Carolyn Jones me te roopu Oranga Tinana o Ue ngā pou i kōkiringia ai te whakaaro o te Taumāhekeheke kaumātua o Te Arawa i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā iwa.

"Ko te hāpai i te wehi, te wana me te mana o te wāhine Māori kia tū rangatira ai rātou mō a rātou tamariki i Aotearoa nei koia nei tēnei i matapoporetia nuitia e ahau".

Born and bred at Ohinemutu, Dr Laurie Morrison lives on their papakainga with her daughter Marice, her children and mokopuna tuarua. Laurie has 2 daughters, 9 mokopuna and she is about to welcome her 5th mokopuna tuarua — and is still active in hapu, iwi and community affairs.

She has a particular interest in the health and well-being of koeke. These days she is self-employed, director of Morrison Consultants Ltd.

Since 2008 Laurie has worked as a consultant providing research, evaluation, academic supervision and as a Cultural Advisor for government organisations.

Laurie would not describe herself as a natural academic, she came to serious studies in her 40s, egged on by her kuia. They knew a wahine toa in the making.

And so, she is. At the heart of her studies was the health and wellness of Māori women and by extension, Maori whanau.

Laurie's doctorate was a study of the effects of pokie machine gambling on Māori women and came about after talk of establishing a casino in Rotorua.
Between 2011 and 2014 she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow working at Taupua Waiora Centre for Māori Health Research at the School of Public Health and Psychosocial Studies, Auckland University of Technology.

"The Postdoctoral scholarship enabled me to develop a culturally specific preventative intervention 'Nga Pou Wahine' - to address gambling misuse for wahine Māori."

She is published in academia, nationally and locally. Her recent publication 'Te Ropu o Te Ora – The founding years of the Women's Health League in Te Arawa' (L. Morrison, 2017) enabled her to make visible the unseen and silent voices of Māori wāhine toa with the support of Ann Sonerville.

Banners were created to go alongside Lauries book launch and were later displayed in the Rotorua Hospital with help from Phyllis Tangitu. These banners were of Kuia who were past presidents of the Women's Health League.

The league had its genesis in 1937, when a district health officer, Nurse Robina Cameron, gathered a group of Maori women to discuss how best to eradicate illnesses decimating iwi, hapu and whanau.

Laurie is currently the President of the Women's Health League in the Rotorua Branch that was established in 1954 and has a very proactive group of selfless wahine as her core group of support.

Covid permitting, the Women's Health League is looking forward to celebrating their 85th anniversary next year.

Laurie was also involved with the Family Court in Tauranga and Waikato Family Court from 1992 to 2002, contracted to provide counselling for Māori couples to resolve custody and access issues.

In 2000, she helped to set up the Te Arawa Bicultural Therapy Model roopū with Mitai Rolleston, Maureen Jehly, Maxine Rennie, Tuhipo Kereopa and Tilly Vercoe with Psychological Services in Te Arawa. "I was an active member up until 2016 when it disbanded."

A passionate advocate for health and fitness in the over 65s, Laurie, Carolyn Jones and their roopu Oranga Tinana o Ue were involved in, and initiated, the 2019 Te Arawa Kaumatua Olympics.

Her commitment to whanau, hapu and iwi mean her journey is unlikely ever to end.

"I have a passion towards identifying the potential and strengthening wahine Māori to improve their well-being, for their children to take their rightful place in Aotearoa."