Memorial honours Dr Nan de Sylva as first GP of Te Waipuna Health Centre

Te Waipuna Health Centre's first GP Dr Devika (Nan) de Sylva has been honoured in a memorial service at Te Oranganui. She is pictured (right) with administrator Marie-Louise Hudson (left) and practice nurse Charlene Tapa at the opening of Te Waipuna in Castlecliff. Photo / NZME

Te Waipuna Health Centre’s first GP Dr Devika (Nan) de Sylva has been honoured at a memorial service in Whanganui following her recent death.

She joined the practice when it opened in 1993 and remained there for 17 years.

It is part of Te Oranganui Trust, an iwi-governed organisation to improve access and service delivery of health services to Māori in the Whanganui region.

She and her husband Dr Tony de Sylva, both paediatric doctors, came to New Zealand in 1989 after leaving their home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, because of the civil war.

Tony de Sylva first worked at the Whanganui Hospital as a locum and then applied to become a fulltime paediatrician.

Nan de Sylva mentioned to Dame Tariana Turia that she would be willing to help if she were ever to set up a clinic.

A short time later, she was asked to become part of Te Waipuna and Te Oranganui whānau.

“At that time, I didn’t know that plans were already in the pipeline for such a facility,” she said in an article published in 1993.

However, at the time, joining Te Oranganui Trust was not a popular decision.

“There are a lot of people in the community who are not quite sure what sort of set-up we have here because it is a new concept,” de Sylva said.

“The majority of GPs in Whanganui do not think a separate Māori health clinic is necessary. They think that Māori people should not be treated as a separate entity. They feel they are culturally sensitive enough.”

Nan de Sylva felt a kinship with the Māori community which had similarities with her own people.

“I am genuinely interested in the health of Māori people,” she said.

“In Sri Lanka, family is all important, cousins, aunts, grandmothers etc and so we have a lot of similarities in that way with the Māori people. We have a whānau as well.”

The de Sylvas raised their children, daughter Sonali and son Sanjay, in Whanganui.

The Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009 and the de Sylvas left Whanganui in 2010 to return to Colombo, hopeful they could live there in peace and give back to the Sri Lankan people.

“Whanganui is a very special place and our children loved growing up here,” Nan de Sylva said in a 2010 interview with the Whanganui Chronicle.

A memorial was held in her honour on Friday, May 30, at Terrace House where Te Oranganui is now based.

“Dr Nan will be remembered for her strength, conviction and resilience. She was a shining example for not just our organisation, Te Oranganui Trust, but for our whānau, iwi, and the wider Whanganui community,” Te Oranganui Trust said.

“She touched many lives, and her recent passing serves as a beacon for us to rally and farewell her in a way befitting of the highly esteemed and respected colleague, friend and mentor that she was.”