February 08, 2013
Suicide Haka Gives Message Of Hope
The founder of a group tackling youth suicide says the success of a national Waitangi Day haka shows there is a desire among Māori to find solutions.
Maria Bradshaw from Caspar says there were haka done in towns and communities up and down the country.
She says the suicide rate for Māori and Pasifika rangatahi is 70 percent higher than for other young people but the current mental health approach doesn’t work.
“The reality is that suicide is caused by a lack of sense of belonging, a feeling of being disenfranchised and not being important in the community and making an important contribution. Those things are a direct result of colonisation and all the problems that it brings with it. Poverty, homelessness, joblessness and a feeling of lack of hope for the future. So instead of labelling our Māori children as mentally ill, giving them the drugs that double their risk of suicide, they actually need to be building on community cohesion, on empowering people and giving them a sense of hope for the future”. Says Ms Bradshaw
Maria Bradshaw from Caspar, Community Action for the Prevention of Suicide, Education and Research.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd