Tihei: Family Harm Superheroes stock up on powers to forge ahead

The Te Kura Family Harm Team - Chris Karaitiana as 'Zorro' and Mel Humphries as the 'Sweet Angel' - along with a number of other heroes dressed up for the 'Super Heroes Agency Speed Dating event'.

It's a bird, it's a plane ... no, it's the Te Kura Family Harm Team - Chris Karaitiana as 'Zorro' and Mel Humphries as the 'Sweet Angel' – along with a number of other heroes dressed up for the 'Super Heroes Agency Speed Dating event'.

Te Kura is a Ngāti Kahungunu approach to Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke, which is a New Zealand Police initiative that encourages collaboration with iwi and other agencies to reduce family harm within Māori communities.

The Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi 'Te Kura' coordinators, Chris Karaitiana and Mel Humphries, thought it was time that the community agencies came together to get to know one another.

An invitation went out through the iwi email network inviting all service providers and agencies to the Super Heroes Agency Speed Dating event which took place at Clubs Hastings on June 21.

"The idea for the event came from our whānau Whangaia Ngā Pa Harakeke ki Wairoa," Humphries said.

"It was a great way to bring together agencies from across the rohe to get to know each other".

"The Super Hero dress-up theme was a bit of fun to break the ice but it didn't take much to get this crowd interacting," Karaitiana said.

"In fact, I had to pull everyone to attention with my Zorro influence when they were getting too noisy"

Those in attendance were given five minutes with each person to talk about the work they do, before moving on to the next person – just like speed dating.

Hawke's Bay Family Harm Manager Senior Sergeant Caroline Martin (or Cat Woman as she was on the day) says more than 30 agencies came along, with the majority joining the fun and dressing up. Some included Oranga Tamariki, Hawke's Bay Prison, Women's Refuges, Māori wardens, iwi organisations, Cancer Society, District Health Board, Corrections, Heretaunga Taiwhenua and the Ministry of Social Development.

Humphries (moonlighting as an angel) says the event gave everyone a great opportunity to talk about what they do in a very relaxed setting.

"Having a lot of people with a little bit of knowledge is really powerful," she said

The event was so successful that the team hope to hold another in the future.

The event wasn't only about these super heroes getting to know one another, but it was a time to have fun, enjoy each other's company and stock up on the superpowers needed to forge ahead each day, dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime, just like superheroes do.