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September 28, 2015
Waireti Walters a positive force for change
Waatea Team
Posted On September 28, 2015
Pioneering Maori community health worker Waireti Walters is being remembered as a fearless advocate for Maori women.
The 81-year-old died on Friday of pneumonia and has been lying at Te Paatu Marae in Pamapuria, near Kaitaia.
Anahera Herbert Graves from Te Runanganui o Ngati Kahu says she was privileged to follow behind Mrs Walters as a health worker in Auckland, and then with her at Te Rarawa, where the kuia picked up a post-retirement job as a breast feeding advocate.
Her background included contributions to the Maori Women’s Welfare League, Toastmistresses and the Black Women’s Movement of the early 1980s.
Ms Herbert Graves says her one-liners revealed deep thinking, and she had a deep love for her people and her iwi in Muriwhenua.
"She’s known as he queen of Te Paatu, the sixth iwi (of Muriwhenua), and she promoted it just as passionately as she promoted anything that would promote the lives of people's health. I saw her change lives. Many people are good at riding the wave of publicity but nothing changes around them. She was a change maker," she says.
After a mana wahine hour, Wairete Walters was taken to her beloved St Stephen’s Church for the funeral service.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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