Recognised seasonal employer workers find trusted voice in Tairāwhiti

Pasifika matriarch and Tūranga Health nurse Tausilia Letufuga (back to the camera) works as part of a response team established after Cyclone Gabrielle to meet the emergency needs of 161 recognised seasonal employer (RSE) workers. Picture supplied

After their vulnerabilities were exposed during Cyclone Gabrielle, Pasifika men working in the region’s orchards, vineyards and crops are better connected to welfare and health services, thanks to Tūranga Health.

Tūranga Health continues to support recognised seasonal employer (RSE) workers nine months on from Cyclone Gabrielle, says chief executive Reweti Ropiha.

“Being able to give a stable and trusted voice to this vulnerable community is one of the good things to come out of the terrible weather events of 2023.”

The region’s RSE workers, who are all male, live mainly in shared or communal accommodation.

They come from Pacific islands such as Samoa, Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tonga, and the Solomon Islands.

When Cyclone Gabrielle hit, they had the same needs as many people — food, water, cash, and communications — but very few people to help them.

They also needed winter clothes and bedding and recreational items.

Mr Ropiha says Tūranga Health stepped up and activated a response to meet the emergency needs of 161 workers.

“We used our existing relationships with the companies who employ them and funnelled staff and supplies quickly out there.”

Tūranga Health staff also worked with the Pasifika Medical Association Group, which flew in Pasifika doctors and a physiotherapist allowing RSE workers to receive medical check-ups.

The checks happened at RSE workers’ accommodation, and at Tūranga Health’s Manawaru hub in Elgin.

Staff from Te Whatu Ora and the New Zealand Police were also recovery partners.

Now, nine months on, Tūranga Health continues to work with the workers and the wider Pasifika community, focusing on improved access to dental care, health services, and opportunities for gathering as a community.

“We’ve also carried out research into the region’s Pasifika community and are using this data to address other identified gaps in health and welfare services.”

Mr Ropiha has tabled Tūranga Health’s 2023 annual report during the iwi organisation’s annual general meeting and emphasised “it was a year of two halves”.

“The first six months between July and December 2022 gave us a chance to reignite services that had been impacted by the pandemic, and consolidate what we had learned in the vaccination space.”

But the game changed in the second week of February 2023 when the cyclone hit.

“Our mahi was like that of our Covid-19 response. We were able to pivot quickly.”

In the first four days after Cyclone Gabrielle, Tūranga Health contacted 816 whānau and offered support; cooked 1000 meals; delivered 230 kai parcels; made 50 medication deliveries; and transported 56 whānau to a preferred location or to healthcare.

In collaboration with other organisations, it helped relocate two generators, eight Starlink receivers, and one ATM machine around the region.

Then, just weeks later, the organisation was back into hosting its large drive-through whānau vaccination events offering Covid-19, influenza, childhood and hapū māmā vaccinations in one place.

During one day alone in April, Tūranga Health administered nearly 10 percent of the country’s total Covid booster immunisations in just four hours.

“Not bad for a small iwi health organisation in a region battered just weeks before.”

Tūranga Health’s annual report is available at turangahealth.co.nz/annual-reports