The Whānau Ora commissioning agency in the South Island, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, invests in a wide variety of initiatives that build sustainable whānau capability. Through programmes like Whenua Kura, Te Pūtahitanga encourages investment in whānau development with a particular focus on the farming sector and bringing whānau back to the land.

Rā Dallas, the whānau community champion for Te Whenua Hou, sees himself as the conduit between a large farming community in North Canterbury and the wider region. He is excited about the potential Whānau Ora offers in strengthening connections across whānau.

“We have a community of close to 100 people now, spread across seven operational dairy farms and five grazing farms and that’s expected to grow. As in any new community, there are people living just 60 metres apart, who don’t even know each other – that’s where I come in,” says Rā.

“I’m working hard to create an environment where our people feel more socially connected.  Sometimes it will mean reaching out to others; a cup of tea with the neighbours for instance;  or at other times it will be in reminding whānau that their greatest solutions lie within their own hands; that the collective strength of whānau is a powerful lever for change.”  

Funded by Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu through the Whenua Kura agricultural training programme, the whānau champion role looks beyond where the programme is largely based at Te Whenua Hou, the Ngai Tahu Farm property north of the Waimakariri.

Rā has met with representatives from the Oxford Trust, Waimakariri District Council and local schools as far afield as Rangiora and Swannanoa to consolidate connections for whānau.

“I want to do everything I can to help our Whenua Kura students and farming whānau to connect with each other and with their wider communities. It’s about empowering them to look after themselves and each other; it’s about encouraging them to have a say about what they need and how they want to achieve it,” says Rā.

He says a barbecue was recently organised to bring the community together and in particular thank several Argentinian staff who had been working at Te Whenua Hou.

“It was a great success, and in addition to demonstrating manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, it also encourages rangatiratanga and oranga – all key Ngāi Tahu values that we want to encourage every farmer to understand as contributing to a healthy lifestyle.

“We’ve also been working with Pegasus Health to have a Health Day on the farms so all workers can have a health check. Engaging with our Canterbury health providers in this way, enables our people to establish a trusted network so they can determine when and who they might call on for support.”

Whenua Kura co-ordinator, Letitia Goldsmith, also builds on-farm relationships especially between farm managers and staff, Lincoln University tutors and Te Tapuae o Rēhua staff.

She spends a lot of time advocating for students and building support around them.

“We have students from all over Aotearoa, and some of them come to us with no immediate family to help and support them. They’re often disconnected from their families, so we step in to take care of any immediate health and wellbeing needs they have while on farm at Te Whenua Hou.”

Letitia says experienced farmers want to share their knowledge and even make time for students to gain basic skills in activities like backing trailers and fencing.

“It’s all about creating a fun, and safe learning environment underpinned by our cultural values.”

Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu is a partnership of nine iwi - Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Koata, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Rangitāne and Ngāti Rārua – with a strong history of working with their whānau in Te Waipounamu.

For more information visit www.teputahitanga.org.