August 22, 2022
Wahine toa finds youth mental health spiking
A Māori social media influencer says she is almost by the number of rangatahi reaching out to her because of mental health and abuse issues.
Pania Te Paiho-Marsh has found the Facebook page for her Wahine Toa Hunting initiative to attract young people asking for help and advice.
She says they feel they can’t talk to anyone else.
The volume of messages picked up after she organised a youth suicide awareness hikoi to parliament three years ago.
“My inbox never stopped from that day. Unfortunately, it’s just got a lot heavier in the last six months, so I decided once again to voice our babies’ mamae and bring it back because obviously we’re not dealing with it properly and our kids are still feeling smothered and confused and don’t know where to turn,” Ms Te Paiho says.
She started Wahine Toa Hunting to encourage women to learn how to gather kai to feed their whānau, and she now has 4000 on the waiting list wanting to join her for a hunt.