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In a small Whangārei community a group of 10 dedicated kaimahi spent yesterday filling 2000 hygiene packs with hand sanitiser, toilet paper, gloves and other items for whānau in Northland.
It's one of many actions Te Hau Āwhiowhio o Otangarei Trust have taken in the past week to support familiesduring the Covid-19 lockdown.
Toby Kaipo, Bronwyn Kaipo and Quinton Bush pack hygiene kits for whānau in Northland. Photo / Mike Dinsdale
Janine Kaipo, Te Hau Āwhiowhio operations manager, said the trust has also run drive-through influenza vaccinations and delivered prescriptions to at-risk people.
"It looks like we're doing a lot of stuff but it's a very tight bubble - pretty much like we're family. We all agreed that one bubble is our nursing staff and we're the external staff that move around. But we're a very tight bubble because there's no use running around and we're all compromised."
Kaipo said while they have given food when they are able to, their focus has primarily been on hauora (health).
A room stocked with items for hygiene packs. Photo / Mike Dinsdale
The Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency purchased supplies for small hygiene packs to go to whānau.
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Te Tai Tokerau got the first drop - enough for 2000 boxes - and yesterdayKaipo and a team of nine others spent their day putting those boxes together.
"It is a lot of work but that's fine because if you just gave them all the stuff other people have to come together to make them up so you've got more people together so we're trying to follow our Prime Minister's instructions and keep the bubbles tight."
She said the 2000 packs - which contain hand sanitiser, disposable gloves, dishwashing gloves, toilet paper, soap and more - will all go north to Whānau Ora collectives to distribute in the Far North and next week a second lot for 500 boxes will be delivered for Te Hau Āwhiowhio and Ngāti Hine to distribute.
"What we're trying to say is if you're the person going out to the supermarket, set an outside sanitiser station so before you go in the house you can wipe down.
"We're under a quarantine of sorts and we need to be practising it no matter what. We've got winter coming, we've got the flu coming, so this is going to get us hyped up to take care of each other and keeping people confined."
