Whanganui men’s support group Mana Man to launch women’s group, Mana Wāhine

Founder of Mana Man Mahanga Williams and organiser of Mana Wāhine Tracy Matthews. Photo / Bevan Conley

A Whanganui social movement initially focused on breaking intergenerational trauma in men is now looking to provide a safe space for women with Mana Man launching their Mana Wāhine ki Whanganui support group.

Mana Man was launched in 2020 as an initiative focused on changing the attitudes of men and healing families and communities by preventing violence, suicide, sexual abuse, drug use, alcohol abuse, depression and gambling addictions.

Mana Man founder Mahanga Williams said the idea for the women’s group came from people within the movement asking for a similar movement for their partners.

Tracy Matthews organised the creation of Mana Wāhine and said much of the topics that will be discussed in the women’s group will be the same as the men’s but from a another viewpoint.

“Issues that present for men also present for women but probably from a different perspective,” she said.

“Women and men think very differently, we react to things differently and I think the big thing around this is I’m not sure women or men actually understand that they don’t know what they don’t know.”

Matthews has been working as a social worker in Whanganui for over 25 years, and she said what separated Mana from other social programmes was it was more of a movement than a programme.

“It’s not a programme per se, it’s actually changing the whole trajectory and challenging your value base and then providing a sense of belonging to those values.

“There’s a difference between a programme delivery and a movement, a movement is something that you uphold, that you believe in.”

She believed everybody wanted something to believe in and everybody wanted what was best for their partners and children, but society had lost the meaning of caring for other people as it became more materialistic and individualistic.

The group was launched to allow all women a safe place to talk and establish a community with each other.

“When you’ve got a group of people who start feeling safe and feeling like they’re being listened [to] and they’re not being judged, then they’re going to start feeling like they have the courage to change some of their behaviour.”

The group will meet on Fridays from 10am to 11am at the Christ Church Community Centre at 243 Wicksteed St, with the first session happening on February 24.

New entrants can join at any time and people wanting more information on Mana Wāhine should contact Tracy Matthews at 027 274 8388.

Last year the group received $30,000 in seed funding from the Ministry of Social Development, which went towards a 12-week mentorship programme.

The 101-Mana Man Mentorship Programme (MMMP) was launched in November 2022, with the first group of men graduating from it this Saturday.

Throughout the 12 weeks, Williams said they covered many topics like what mana is and how to behave in mana-enhancing ways.

Part of this work was reframing what mana means to these men, he said.

“The impacts of colonisation has given us a view that mana is about being tough, showing no emotions, [when] it’s totally the opposite.

“Mana is when we protect the vulnerable, mana is when we become a contributor within society, mana is when we tell our children ‘we love you’,” he said.

They teach men to be vulnerable, to open up to their feelings and to reconnect mana with the protection of women and children.

They also ran sessions on topics such as jealousy, establishing healthy boundaries, and strategies and solutions to stop different forms of abuse.

The graduates will be given a shirt with the service’s new logo on it to carry in the community.