Ngā Kākano Foundation use Maramataka to mark Mental Health Awareness Week

From left, Lee Chand, Dylan Middlemiss and Angel Kete putting down the hangi.

The traditional Māori lunar calendar, Maramataka, was used to guide some of primary health provider Ngā Kākano Foundation's Mental Health Awareness Week activities.

The calendar is used to guide planting, harvesting, fishing and hunting. Maramataka translates as 'moon rotating'.

''We celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week with the theme 're-imagine wellbeing' by enjoying the fruits of Maramataka with other community groups such as Fairhaven and Te Puke Alternative Education, our staff and participants on our koeke programme for the elderly and children and young people with the Ngā Kākano Auahi Tua Papa Oranga Ora Programme,'' says alcohol and other drugs practitioner Ripeka Armstrong.

Activities such as kapa haka, waiata and traditional preparation of food such as hangi were all ways Ngā Kākano Foundation celebrated the theme with it a common factor in the range of programmes, says manager Ruth Swinton.

''At Ngā Kākano [premises] we had the elderly folk do their singing and doing their action songs.''

Some of those who attend the programme have chronic health issues.

''One lady said 'even though I need oxygen to breathe, I can still do an action song and sing' and another lady who has had a stroke said she loves being in a group that supports her to make her well. That's what they have taken as contributing to wellness.''

At the other end of the age spectrum the alternative education students decided to use Maramataka and look at the traditional way in which foods like a hangi are prepared.

''They looked at how you have to come together to get the end product, which is a feast,'' says Ruth. ''That was the way in which they contributed to wellness and they also celebrated their own achievements.

''Another group has been involved in painting murals and that's been focused on wellness as well.''

Ruth says the Mental Health Week theme automatically aligned with Ngā Kakano's programme.

Ripeka says the week of special activities was very successful.

''Because a lot of our kids haven't done a hangi before and might not even know how to boil a jug, they had to go from the very beginning of getting the food and preparing it, so that was a huge learning experience for them.

"It was just as important to celebrate their success and this milestone on their journey because some of them are very vulnerable.''

Ruth says being part of a collective group and being accepted is important.

''We all want to be accepted,'' she says. ''We all have identity and sometimes we struggle with that, particularly if we are different, but if we come together and look at what brings us together, that's how we feel accepted and supported.''