June 28, 2013
Kaumatua volunteer for Waipareira kiosk
West Auckland’s Te Whānau ō Waipareira today opened a kaumatua kiosk where kaumatua can greet people entering Whānau House.
Spokesperson Awerangi Tamihere says as the range of services being offered at the Henderson-based health and social services hub has grown, Waipareira realised it would benefit from having kaumatua on hand to help whānau.
She says the kaumatua rōpū has been looking at what skills they have and what they could contribute.
"And obviously one of the areas was what could they do in a voluntary role to support Waipareira that complemented what Waipareira did, so this wonderful concept came up , we call it having a wāhi patae so that is about manaakitanga, looking after manuhiri and just having that presence as our whānau walk into the centre," she says.
Waipareira is planning to have a celebrity volunteer in the kiosk once a month to highlight the importance of volunteer work and the mana of kaumatua.
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