Respect for Tangata Whenua

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“Mauri ora ki te taha tū o te rangi”

“Igniting the synergies of potential from within and extending them through mana enhancing transactions to the horizon beyond”

PSN acknowledges the unique place of Māori as Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand. We acknowledge the Treaty of Waitangi as our nation’s founding document, and we practice the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Partnership, Participation and Protection – in our service delivery for Tāngata Whenua.

A significant number of PSN clients are Maori and more than more 50% of our staff identify as Maori. PSN has many and varied ways of demonstrating our value of respect for Tāngata Whenua. We have developed a Tangata Whenua Policy and a number of supporting guidelines and tools. We have grown our organisational cultural capability and employ Māori cultural specific staff to lead continued development, implementation and enhancement of our Policy and cultural capability. We established our Kōkiri Ohomairangi (Māori Caucus) in 2013 to provide a mechanism for Māori staff to contribute meaningfully to service planning and development. We developed Site Protocols, ensuring staff are able to engage appropriately with clients and their whānau whether in homes, community centres, churches, our offices, or on marae.

We developed a Māori Competency Framework with 3 Kete levels of training for our staff to enable provision of high quality services to Māori. The Kete range from developing an awareness of Māori culture, values and beliefs to enabling staff to apply Māori models of practise. Our 2017 strategic planning process included the development of a 3 year Tāngata Whenua Strategy that is also an integral part of our overall PSN Strategic Plan.

Strategic Goals are:

PSN provides quality services for Māori

PSN staff are culturally capable to deliver responsive services for Māori

PSN Tāngata Whenua Strategy Value Components

Māori staff are supported to retain their cultural identity and extend their cultural practice

PSN provides new initiatives or services for Māori clients through partnerships with Māori

“Kaitiakitanga delivering Mauri Ora”

Kaitiakitanga: (Being guardians of our service delivery responsibilities).
“Ko Presbyterian Support Northern te tuanui o tōku whare. Ko Family Works Northern, ko Enliven, ko Shine, ko Lifeline ngā poupou”
“Presbyterian Support Northern is the roof of my house. Family Works Northern, Enliven, Shine and Lifeline are the pillars”

Manaakitanga

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!”
“What is the most important thing worldwide? It is people! It is people! It is people!”

Wairuatanga

“He aroha whakatō, he aroha puta mai”
“Aroha sown, results in aroha received”

Kaumātuatanga

“E titiro ki tō mokopuna, ko tōu hanga tāu ka kite”
“Look into your grandchild and you will see your image.”

Whanaungatanga

“Ko au, ko koe; ko koe, ko au” – “Ko tāua, tāua”
“I am you. You are me” – “We are we”

Āhurutanga

“Kāhore he takutakunga o te whare, o tōku ringa rānei.”
“There is no threat either in this house or by my hand.”

Mauri Ora

Mana: The feeling of having authority
Wana: The feeling of enlightenment
Tapu: The feeling of sacredness
Wehi: The feeling of awe
Ihi: The feeling of being special

“Kei raro te whare o aitua, e hāmama ana ki runga ko te whare o te ora.”
“Below is the house of misfortune and gaping above is the house of life.”