Dr Marise Kerehi Stuart (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāpuhi) was last week awarded a Fulbright scholarship which will contribute to her tuition fees for the two-year Masters of Medical Science in Global Health Delivery programme at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr Stuart, who graduated from the University of Otago as a Bachelor of Science in 2006, Bachelor of Physical Education in 2009 and Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 2014 (and is an international-level netball umpire when time allows), said the Harvard course would enable her to design and implement an innovative health programme in Te Tai Tokerau, where her grandmother was raised.
"I am very passionate about healing of (mental health) trauma, something that undermines the potential of a lot of our people," she said.
"I want to demonstrate how we can use traditional kaupapa Māori practices, such as wairuatanga, karakia, rongoa, for whānau ora, and ensure that this is available to whānau when they need it. As Māori we have the right to use our own hauora (wellbeing) practices, and it is important that the benefits of these practices are explicitly realised and supported.
"Beyond just helping us to be well, our matauranga (traditional knowledge and practices) connects with and uplifts our mauri, to help us fully realise our potential, our rangatiratanga. If we are all walking as rangatira, we as Māori will be flourishing. It is so important, now more than ever, to look to these practices that our tipuna traditionally used, which supported whānau for generations before us."
