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Ko wai mātou
Whānau and organisations, one intent, one whakaaro — and a way of working that puts whānau voice ahead of everything else.
He Aturangi Ka Mamao is a collective of whānau — a collective of organisations — that came together to provide a kaupapa based around suicide prevention and suicide intervention.
We are not a service you get referred into and processed through. We are whānau, kaimahi and rūnanga from across Te Arawa who decided to stop working around each other and start working as one. Every organisation at the table brings something the others cannot, and none of it holds up without the rest.
Our purpose is to support whānau who are struggling — to make sure all of our whānau have all the support that they need, so that we have a better tomorrow.
We support all ages, all stages, all walks of life. Depending on where you’re at — it doesn’t matter. There is no threshold you have to cross first, and no form that decides whether you are struggling enough to deserve a hand.
Te tīmatanga
June 2025
A wānanga brought together people who had all been carrying the same worry separately — some inside kura, some alongside whānau at home, some within their own rūnanga. Everyone in that room already held a piece of the answer. What was missing was a way of doing it together instead of apart.
Rotorua Boys’ High · February 2026
At a hard time of year for the kura, the collective put on an evening for the boys — multi-sport, traditional Māori games, and space to be together. More than eighty rangatahi came through.
Rongomai Wānanga · 11 June 2026
Around fifty whānau. Four speakers sharing their own experiences, not slides. Afterwards somebody told us they had been in this space for years, and this was the first time something had helped.
Okataina Lodge · 30–31 July 2026
The first healing wānanga, across two days, for whānau impacted by suicide. What we learned there is now shaping every wānanga that follows.
This mahi is important because of the future generations. I feel like we have a unique opportunity. It’s definitely for the future generations to come.
Ā mātou tikanga
Four things we hold to, whatever the kaupapa in front of us.
Whānau voice, whānau perspective, whānau having a space where they can be. Programme design starts from what whānau in the room say they need — not from a model somebody wrote somewhere else.
It’s a space where we have the flexibility to do whatever whānau need. Some wānanga are quiet. Some are loud. Some turn into something nobody planned. That is allowed.
What a whānau shares stays theirs. Nothing goes any further than the room it was said in unless the person it belongs to says yes, and they can change their mind later without having to explain why.
Knowing which whānau have been affected is sensitive information. We are careful about how invitations reach people, and we would rather move slowly than put someone’s private grief on a mailing list.
Ngā kaimahi
Coordinators, health coaches, rūnanga staff and community workers — and alongside them whānau who are not paid to be there at all, who turn up because they have been where you are.
We have left the names off on purpose. This kaupapa is not about the people running it. You will meet us soon enough, and by then our names will matter less than whether we were any use to you.
Haere mai
Whether you want to join a wānanga, bring your organisation alongside, or just talk to somebody — there is a way in.
Kia mōhio tonu mai
Once a month: when the next wānanga is on, and when new kōrero go up. That is all it is. Tell us any time and we will take you straight back off the list.
