July 28, 2021
Kawatiri whanau join up for flood clean up
A Westport community worker says whānau ora principles are helping the community respond to last week’s floods.
Gina-Lee Duncan says Kawatiri has had a lot of blows over recent years, including the closure of mines and the cement works and the loss of tourism because of Covid, but the flood really brought home to whānau how vulnerable they are.
The focus now is on cleaning up flood-damaged homes, and Māori are keen to lead the response.
"We see that a lot of our Māori whānau are innovative and they are collaborative, they are coming together to support each other, and they are always quick to adapt," she says.
Ms Duncan says at the moment Māori are less interested in filling in the forms needed to get help from the Mayoral relief fund and are instead working to find what is right for whānau.
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