In this issue

Editor's Note

Our theme for this issue of OnMAS is equity – something that’s been high on the public agenda this year, particularly as it relates to healthcare.

Health equity lies at the heart of the MAS Foundation’s work, and in this issue, our new joint Heads of Foundation – Dr Julie Wharewera-Mika and Mafi Funaki-Tahifote – talk about their vision for the Foundation, while Foundation Trustee Sharon Shea considers how to reconcile Māori and Western models of healthcare. Also on the theme of healthcare equity, we talk about the difficulties the homeless face in accessing healthcare and how this is being addressed by the volunteers at the monthly dental clinic at Wellington’s DCM.

Elsewhere in the magazine, we feature a story of survival and regeneration from the shores of Lake Ōhau, where MAS Member Mary Miller’s home was destroyed in a bushfire last year before being rebuilt in only four months.

This issue also continues the story of our first 100 years, with a look at the role our Members have played in the direction taken by MAS over the years. You can also watch our history online in a documentary series that traces our history and explores how it overlaps with broader developments in New Zealand society. Visit mas.co.nz/centenary.

We hope you enjoy this issue of OnMAS. If you’d like to provide feedback or suggestions for future stories – or you would like to switch your subscription to a digital only version – please email us at onmas@mas.co.nz.

Tā te Kaiwhakatika tuhipoka

Ko tā mātou tāhū mō tēnei whakaputanga o OnMAS ko te mana ōrite, ko tētahi mea ko kitea rawatia e te marea i te tau nei, ina koa e hāngai ana ki te ratonga hauora.

E noho ana te mana ōrite i te hauora ki te pito o ngā mahi a te Tūāpapa MAS, ā, i tēnei whakaputanga, ka kōrerohia e ngā upoko o te Tūāpapa – e Tākuta Julie Wharewera-Mika rāua ko Mafi Funaki-Tahifote – tō rāua whāinga mō te Tūāpapa, i a te Kaitiaki Tūāpapa, a Sharon Shea, e whai whakaaro ana ki te whakatairite i ngā tauira ratonga hauora o te Māori, me ērā o te Pākehā. Me te hāngai tonu ki te tāhū o te mana ōrite i te hauora, ka kōrerotia ngā taumahatanga ki te hunga kāinga-kore i tā rātou toro ki te ratonga hauora, ka mutu, me pēhea hoki tēnei e whakatikaina e ngā tūao, ki te hui niho ā-marama ki te DCM ki Te Upoko o te Ika.

Ki wāhi kē i te makahīni nei, ka whakanui i tētahi kōrero o te mōrehutanga, me te whakarauoratanga i ngā tai o te roto o Ōhau, i turakina ai te kāinga o tētahi Mema MAS, a Mary Miller, i tētahi ahi-ngahere i tērā tau, i mua i te hanga anō i ngā marama e whā. 

Koke tonu ana ki tēnei whakaputunga, ko te kōrero o tō mātou rautau tuatahi, me te aronga ki te whakaaweawe a ō mātou Mema i te ara i whāia e MAS i ngā tau kua taha ake. Ka āhei hoki te mātakitaki tūihono i tō mātou hītori ā ki tētahi terenga pakipūmeka, e toru ōna wāhanga, e whai ana i tō mātou hītori, me te tūhurahura i tāna hāngai ki ngā whanaketanga whānui i te hapori o Aotearoa. Toroa a mas.co.nz/centenary.

Ko te tūmanako ka pai ki a koe tēnei putanga o OnMAS. Ki te hiahia koe ki te whakahoki kōrero mai, i ngā marohi raini mō ngā kōrero ā muri ake – e hiahia ana rānei kia panoni i tō ohaurunga ki tētahi momo matihiko nahenahe – īmēratia mātou ki onmas@mas.co.nz.

Mike Davy
Kaitaunaki Matua o Ngā Mema

In this issue