Another email. Another government (associate this time) minister…*

Kia ora e te rangatira

Minister, I am quite a literal person so tend to take people at face value. Hence my email to you today. Thank you for your compassion and willingness to listen. If anything, it’s a start. Hopefully, it heralds the beginnings of something more concrete.

I would like to talk to you about our community of Kaitaia. Our social needs are great, and require a new, community-led, community-driven vision and plan. There are multiple gaps here that aren’t being adequately engaged by the plethora of health and social agencies servicing our communities.

I have recently just finished teaching a social work degree based here — the only BA level programme delivered and based in Kaitaia. The vast majority of the 20 students that have completed this degree were second-chance, adult learners with 18 of those students having children. Without this opportunity to be taught and qualified in their own town, many of them would not have been able to take up the degree.

As a Ph.D. qualified and registered social worker who lives here, I have been able to draw from this outsider lens that I have had, hence being independent of the silos that exist here. I believe that some form of capacity needs to be built into these communities, and I am putting my hand up to help with that.

It is known in the Far North that many of its people like to keep things straightforward and simple, so I am just going to outline what I think is needed in these communities, right now. Discretionary funding needs to be made available now to work through the social issues that are plaguing the Far North. These answers need to come from these communities.

In regards to capacity building of the social sector, as a comparison the Ministry of Education have Communities of Learning. The Ministry of Justice invest in Family Violence Networks. There is nothing like this based here in Te Hiku o te Ika for the social services sector, or if there is, it’s an invite-only, closed door affair. I’m not sure how that is helping our communities.

Working synergistically is what these Far North communities require. What tends to happen I liken to the roof of a whare that leaks in several places when it rains. There is only enough material to plug up one hole but with the rest, the family put buckets out. Meanwhile the bones of the house are slowly rotting. This is what is happening in the Far North. We have funding streams that plug a gap in the community, but tend to work in silos often to the detriment of other social issues and contexts.

I believe that by enabling our communities to withstand the incessant tide of hopelessness, we will be able to find local Far North solutions to local Far North issues. Like all those people who reside here, I have a vested interest in ensuring that these communities are safe, and our children and families are flourishing, so any outcome from this will have to be long-term and sustainable.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to hearing back from you.

*My disclaimer: the Associate Minister of Social Development has other ministerial portfolios that I have not acknowledged here, as my primary role of social work and social services comes mainly under MSD. Amine.