The cap fits

The doctor: Dr Peetikuia Wainui at her graduation ceremony in May.

WHEN the velvet cap with a gold tassel was placed on her head and the doctoral scroll in her hands, Dr Peetikuia Wainui’s thoughts were of the little school at Whatatutu where her long journey to the podium began, and of her parents who toiled on the land to enable their 16 children to get a good education.

“My feelings were of a quiet wonderment and calm,” says the recently capped 65-year-old Doctor of Philosophy in Education who returned to live in Whatatutu two years ago.

“The PhD was not a dream any more — it was a reality.”

Her story began in 1950 in a small rural community 45km inland from Gisborne. Peetikuia (also known as Peeti) grew up on a farm at Whatatutu, the 11th child of 16 tamariki, ten boys and six girls, born to Sarah and Tipene Puru Wainui.

She claims mana whenuatanga through paternal ancestral ties to Nga Ariki Kaiputahi, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and Ngati Porou iwi. Tipene Wainui was a shareholder in the Mangatu Incorporation, one of the biggest Maori farms in New Zealand at the time.

Peeti was raised in the Ringatu faith and remembers a happy childhood where a high value was placed on education and hard work.

“I was very fortunate to be born of goodly parents within a loving extended family who belonged to the land,” she says.

Growing up in a large family, she learned how to work hard, helping out in the shearing shed and chopping thistles to earn pocket money.

“All the kids at school did this if not at home at the marae. There were only six children at home when I was raised, with another ready to fly the coop into the army.

“The rest had grown up and left home. And four children had been whangai’d (fostered out) to other families who did not have children or wanted another. That was a decision my father made, not my mum,” she says.

“We had a lot of community involvement and our entertainment centred on the Ringatu faith and the marae. We were encouraged to play sports. I played netball and my brother Charlie and I represented Poverty Bay in athletics.”

The future nurse became a health practitioner at a young age, gathering up spider webs from an old shed to cover cuts and abrasions and collecting kawakawa leaves for applying to bruises.

“As kids running around on the farm, we knocked ourselves around a bit even playing long ball in the fields. So we got used to looking after small injuries like that ourselves.” Peeti’s illustrious education began at Whatatutu Primary School and Waikohu College which was a school with a roll of 600 students in the 1950s and ‘60s.

A prefect at college, she was always a well-behaved, hard-working student, living the motto her mother taught her children: “Be virtuous in all that you do.” Peeti says she led by example and was a great homemaker.

Her first choice of career was to become a teacher but instead she trained as a nurse at Cook Hospital under the formidable team of Sisters Sophie Prentice, Winterburn, Neil and Butcher.

“I was a conscientious student — I knew the value of education and I wanted to achieve,” says Peeti.

She qualified as a registered community nurse in 1968 and did further training in 1988 to become a registered comprehensive nurse, a career that would last 40 years.

Peeti continued to work while she was raising her four children, doing night duty at the maternity hospital in Gisborne.

“I loved my nursing and the hours suited the family — I used to get the kids off to school and then I slept.”

Diagnosed with cancerBut at the age of just 32, a bombshell dropped on Peeti’s happy existence. She found a lump in her breast which was subsequently diagnosed as cancerous.

“That was in 1981. There was not the awareness of cancer that there is now. It wasn’t talked about openly back then. During my nursing training, cancer was a word only ever whispered — we had to say ‘ca’ because the word cancer equalled death.

“I was fortunate the cancer was caught early. I had radical surgery, a full mastectomy of one breast. There was no lumpectomy back then or partial removal surgery as an option.

“I underwent two reconstructions. The last one was pretty amazing using my own autogenous tissue from my tummy, a ‘DIEP Flap’ breast reconstruction. I was very pleased with the outcome and having gained a flatter tummy in the process.

“There was a lot of insensitivity about mastectomy in those days, hurtful comments like ‘She’s only got one tit . . . Oh, I wonder which side it’s on?’

“I became aware of my diagnosis from the neighbour who was in the doctor’s waiting room and overheard the receptionist talking about Peeti having the cancer. He was appalled. I felt more sorry for him than myself.

“As a nurse, my motto became very clear: ‘I was better off alive with one boob than dead with two’.”

Peeti was the first in her family that she knew of to be diagnosed with breast cancer. Many more were to follow — sisters, nieces and first cousins’ children.

“All have survived because they wanted to do something to stay alive for their children. They were marvellous and brave and got on with the treatment.”

Such was its prevalence in her family, breast cancer became the topic of her doctoral thesis and will also form the basis of her future post-doctoral studies.

Peeti made a full recovery and in 1989 moved to Wellington to become a senior lecturer in Maori Health and Nursing Sciences at Wellington Polytechnic and then Victoria University.

“With the Diploma of Nursing becoming a degree programme, we were encouraged towards higher education. I enrolled at Victoria University and completed a Diploma in Maori in 1992, Bachelor in Maori and Education in 1993 and a Masters in Education in 1995.”

Managing a medical centreFrom 2006 to 2010 Peeti worked as a primary health care standards analyst and managed a medical centre with Maori health outreach programmes in Newtown in Wellington.

During her time in the capital, Peeti was also involved in establishing the Kawa Whakaruruhau cultural safety programme, which was being introduced to nursing training.

“It was set up by Dr Irihapeti Ramsden who was a pioneer in Maori cultural safety,” says Peeti.

“The concept was quite controversial at the time and seen as a threat by nursing schools and health-related professionals throughout the whole of Aotearoa New Zealand.”

History was made when the programme was adopted by the National Council of Nurses.

“Students in all health disciplines now go through the programme but at the time, there was little awareness of cultural safety.”

Peeti remained involved with the programme which places students in their own communities to gain practical experience. In 2012, shei won a TeachNZ scholarship to complete a post-graduate Diploma in Teaching (secondary school) online through Victoria University, and in 2013, she was a recipient of a Te Apa Mareikura Award which recognises involvement in community health, proven leadership, effective community networks and academic excellence.

In semi-retirement, Peeti embarked on a PhD in education.

“There were three things I wanted to study for my thesis: education, being a Maori woman and breast cancer,” she says.

“After going around the mulberry bush for several years, I decided to do all three.”

She began her research at Victoria University but finished it at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi in Whakatane.

Her thesis entitled “Ko te waiu te orangatanga o te tangata; The Impact of Breast Cancer on Maori Women: Narratives of a Whanau” developed a health model for Maori women with breast cancer which can be applied to other indigenous cultures and Pakeha as well, she says.

“Statistics reveal that wahine Maori are nearly twice as likely to die from the disease as non-Maori, more likely to present with breast cancer at a more advanced stage, less likely to get regular mammograms, more likely to delay treatments and not so likely to finish drug treatment following breast cancer.

“My thesis was stimulated by concern about the rarity of reliable and evidence-based literature on the impact of breast cancer on these wahine.

“There is a great need to increase literature in this field, particularly on culturally appropriate approaches that are vital to ensure effective, safe and strong health outcomes for indigenous women with breast cancer.

“As a survivor myself, I sought an in-depth understanding of the impact of breast cancer on a whanau of wahine Maori. The research resulted in recommendations including a health and wellness breast cancer framework, Te Ngawari Mate Pukupuku U.

“The transmission of breast cancer knowledge through education is vital to assist wahine Maori to be more proactive and assertive in seeking medical breast examinations in a timely manner with their medical practitioner.”

Writing the 75,000-word thesis was an “interesting journey”, she says.

“It held my interest the whole time because it involved my own whanau who were my participants.”

Among her seven recommendations is that those nursing cancer patients should have experience of the disease themselves.

“You will never know the intensity of the loss, grief and anger unless you have been through it yourself. As a survivor and having worked with the Breast Cancer Foundation, I know how important this is — the experience gives you the empathy and aroha you need to understand your patients.”

One of the most important findings of her research was the coping mechanisms she discovered among her participants.

“The women got back in touch with their spirituality or wairuatanga, their church or their religion and this enhanced their quality of life and wellbeing. They all went back to their roots to draw strength and peace of mind.”

Her favourite place, by the riverPeeti began the thesis in Wellington but found it easier to write at home in Whatatutu.

“My favourite place to think was by the Mangatu River. I used to stop there with my books on the way home from my school bus route and think about the things we did as children — like helping Mum cart all the food across the swing bridge to the shearers’ quarters on Omapere Station.

“The Mangatu River was a significant part of our lives as we were growing up. We believed then, and still do, that the river has healing powers. My whole whanau often go there to bathe for that reason.

“Sitting by the river helped me clarify the influence of my upbringing which is a chapter of my thesis.”

The graduation ceremony in Whakatane in May of this year, when her PhD was conferred, was a momentous occasion for Peeti.

“I’ll never forget my capping. My children travelled from as far away as Australia to be at my graduation. I thought of my hard-working parents who toiled the land for shoes and clothing to keep us warm and our puku full so we could go to school to get an education.

“My father Tipene was on the Whatatutu School Committee for 25 years. He placed a high value on education. This would have been a fulfilment of his dream and my Mum’s too.”

One of the most memorable aspects of writing her PhD thesis was the encouragement she received from her family and supervisors. Prof Virginia Warriner was her internal supervisor and Dr Ann Balcombe and Peeti’s daughter Dr Lorraine Brooking were her external supervisers.

“I loved my thesis journey and the people who helped me like Cynthia Pryor, Dr Warriner’s PA. I had amazing support. That’s what you need to complete a project like this.”

The thesis is in the process of being bound and will be published as a teaching resource for schools of nursing. Peeti is now planning her post-doctoral studies which are a continuation of her PhD findings.

“I would like to become a professor next. I have a model of health I want to teach and pass on.”

The model, which could also apply to other diseases, will be tested by Maori health providers, evaluated, modified and then written up for health providers, the Ministry of Health and related agencies.

“I’m looking for a Health Research Council grant to help me with that at the moment.”

That’s not all Peeti is doing at Whatatutu. When she returned home two years ago, she looked around for something to fill her time productively . . . while completing her PhD.

“I got my bus licence in Wellington in order to drive the clinical van around the district so I decided to put it to good use and become a school bus driver.”

Driving the Whatatutu routePeeti is now a GoBus driver on the Whatatutu route, probably the highest qualified bus driver in New Zealand.

“A friend said to me the other day, ‘What are you doing driving that school bus? You’re a doctor now, for goodness sake.’ I laughed and replied ‘I am no spring chicken any more so it is all about quality of life now. It gets me out of the house and into the community. I like the children and the scenery . . . and the watercress I get to harvest when in season’.”

In between the morning and afternoon bus runs, Peeti teaches te reo Maori online via the Virtual Learning Network to six to 10-year-olds in four schools around New Zealand.

“I really enjoy the teaching. We have free broadband internet at Whatatutu through GisNet so anything is possible,” she says.

In 2012, Peeti became the proud owner of the Oil Springs Tavern at Whatatutu where she and her husband Tiopira Rauna now live.

“There’s lots of space for my mokopuna to play hide and go seek here,” she says.

Tiopira, an accountant by profession, is a cousin to Witi Ihimaera.

“While Witi is the writer of the family, Tiopira is the ‘kaikorero’ (spokesman) who speaks on their marae, Rongopai, at Waituhi, where they both come from,” says Peeti.

“Tiopira has always encouraged me to reach my goals. Now he’s retired, he’s my reliever bus driver and number one chef.”

Modest about her achievements, the grandmother of six does not think she is academically gifted or a genius.

“Success has nothing to do with a gift — it’s about pure hard work and determination,” she says. “And the Wainuis in our corner of Whatatutu are known to have some stubborn traits.”

There certainly must be something special in the gene pool because her children have all excelled academically — one daughter is a doctor twice over, a doctor of medicine and a doctor of philosophy in science, and another is about to start her doctorate in education studies. Her other two offspring are secondary school teachers and heads of departments.

In fact Peeti says she is surrounded by a small army of highly-educated people within the Whatatutu community.

Her advice to young people who may not feel confident to tackle higher academic study is this:

“Everything doesn’t fall out of the sky. There is sacrifice in all that we want to achieve. Be prepared, not just for the hard work ahead of you, but at home as well.

“Otherwise don’t waste your time or money. Be positive — where there’s a will, there’s certainly a way.

“We must never give up on our hopes and dreams. My tipuna used to say ‘Whaia e koe te iti kahurangi, i te tuohu koe, he maunga teitei’. ‘Follow the innermost desires of your heart, if ye should fail, let it be to a lofty mountain’.”