Thanks Maryanne!

Tiare Ahuriri helds it AGM on 28 April 2009, where Branch President Maryanne Marsters relinquished her post, having taken on the Assistant Secretary role on the National Executive Committee. The branch is extremely grateful to Maryanne for everything she has done as the inaugural Branch President to get our branch up and running (including setting up our blog) and for being a wonderful representative of PACIFICA and Tiare Ahuriri. We have undertaken to provide her with whatever support we can in her Assistant Secretary role. Maryanne passed on the President's baton to Caren Rangi, who in turn passed on her Secretary/Treasurer role to Saane Unga.

Tiare Ahuriri challenges other branches to get members screened!

Having a Breast and Cervical Screening Health Promoter as one of our members means that we are constantly reminded of the importance of regular screening for both cancers. We have made this a focus area for our branch, starting with ensuring that all our members have the necessary information, and are enrolled/registered with the programmes where they are of the eligible age (20 – 69years for cervical screening, 45 – 69years for breast screening).

We are mindful that PACIFICA plays a role in advising the National Screening Unit on the views and ideas of Pacific women on screening. With this in mind, Tiare Ahuriri would like to issue a challenge to all branches to ensure that all your members are fully informed about the importance screening, and encouraged (gently but firmly!) to be screened if they are not currently participating in screening. As a national organisation, we would be in a much better position to advocate to the National Screening Unit if we were confident that our members were participating in screening.

And maybe once all our members are participating, then we could each identify 2 women who are not being screened and encourage them to participate – (and they could tell two friends, who could tell two friends, and so on and so on and so on.........!)

CONFERENCE 2009 - END OF AN ERA, NEW BEGINNINGS

Our National Conference 2009 was held in Auckland 20 - 22 February and was attended by 4.5 Tiare Ahuriri members (Maryanne, Berry, Diane, Caren and Caren's baby Kaiata - a junior PACIFICA member!) - and we were accompanied by Tangiia Nui President Aunty Taime Pareanga Samuels.

The Conference marked the end of Diane's term as National President, but also heralded the beginning of our Branch President's rise in the ranks - congratulations Maryanne on being appointed to the National Executive as Assistant Secretary. The Conference was a great opportunity to meet and network with our PACIFICA sisters from all around the country, be addressed by our new Minister of Pacific Island Affairs Georgina te Heu Heu, discuss important issues such as support to our communities during the recession and celebrate in true PACIFICA style the many things we have to be thankful for; these include Diane's contribution to PACIFICA during her term, the talents of our women in the PACIFICA fashion show, not to mention the cultural items ! Thanks to the Northern Region for organising a fantastic weekend for us all. Lastly we are pleased and excited to welcome and congratulate our new National President Sally Dalhousie and her talented National Executive Team - Josephine, Peggy, Debs, Metua, Ngatokoa, Ta'i, and Maryanne - and we wish you all the best!

AN MLIS FOR MS MARSTERS!

What a great year it has been for Tiare Ahuriri - and especially for our President Maryanne Marsters who in early December was awarded the MLIS from Victoria University Wellington. In addition to working hard towards attaining her Masters in Library and Information Studies, Maryanne has also been instrumental in corralling together those Pacific people who are working in the library informations systems sector around the country. Those of us living here in Hawkes Bay see firsthand the impact that Maryanne has had in her position at the Learning Centre at the Eastern Institute of Technology, and the large numbers of students (many of them our own Pacific students) she has helped.

Tiare Ahuriri is very proud of Maryanne and her achievements and we were able to celebrate this with a lovely brunch at The Thirsty Whale on December 13th. Well done Maryanne!!!

CONGRATULATIONS AUNTY TAIME ON YOUR QSM

Also making the New Years Honours List is another Hawkes Bay PACIFICA member - Taime Pareanga Samuel, who was awarded a Queen's Service Medal for services to the Cook Islands community in Hawkes Bay.Read page 3 of the Hawkes Bay Today or go to http://www.hbtoday.co.nz Well done Aunty Taime we are very proud of you too -congratulations from Tiare Ahuriri!

OUR DIANE MAKES THE NEW YEARS HONOURS LIST!

Our Diane made the front page of the Hawkes Bay Today today in the New Year's Honours List as she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. We are very proud of her and what a fantastic boost for Pacific women everywhere! Here is the article.

EDUCATION CHAMPION PUTS CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING FIRST

DR DIANE MARA, MNZM
When Taradale-based educationalist and Pacific women's affairs leader Dr Diane Mara came to Hawke's Bay without a job, it was a reasonable bet her CV would sooner or later do the trick.
She soon found herself lecturing in early childhood education at the EIT.
But two years later the near-same CV has also pulled in a somewhat bigger fish, a New Year honour in the form of being made a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit.
A first generation New Zealander of Tahitian descent, she was born in Auckland 57 years ago. A Kelston Girls' High pupil who moved from out west to teach in schools in South Auckland, she has been recognised for her service to the Pacific Islands community.
Education has clearly been the focus, and still is, whether it be a Victoria University doctoral thesis taking eight years' interviewing and assessing Pacific Island women in tertiary education, or her appointment this year as senior research manager for a three-year EIT project aimed at improving the well-being of children and youth in Hawke's Bay.
Somewhere, she hopes to turn her thesis into a book, but has published work that continues to be used in teacher-education courses throughout New Zealand.
Armed with a BA (education and psychology), she entered teaching at training college in Auckland, before 13 years in primary schools, conceding it was teaching not administration for her.
She lectured at the training college and, before coming to Hawke's Bay, was senior researcher at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
She will soon end four years of presidency of the Pacific Island women's council PACIFICA and looks forward to developing the recently established Napier branch, Tiare Ahuriri.
There's a similar type of national-local comparison between a former significant role with the National Screening Unit, and joining the Napier Family Centre, as a representative of All Saints Church.
Having moved to the region to be near her 17-year-old son, a Hohepa Home resident, Dr Mara has found even more reason to stay and says: ``Having come from Auckland, and Wellington for the past eight years, I thought it would be different here, but I love it. There's lots to do.'

PACIFICA help welcome Breastscreening Mobile Unit to Hawkes Bay

Members of Tiare Ahuriri recently joined with members of the Hawkes Bay Cook Islands Community, the Hawkes Bay District Health Board and BreastScreen Coast to Coast to welcome the Breastscreening Mobile Unit to Flaxmere for the first time. The welcome and blessing ceremony was held on a sunny Hawkes Bay evening at the Cook Islands Community Centre in Flaxmere, where the Mobile Unit will be based to provider mammograms to local women for four weeks. The ceremony, held on 14 November 2008, coincided with the local Takitimu Festival, and the visiting 100 strong Cook Islands contingent (comprising representatives from Rarotonga, Auckland and Wellington) participated in the ceremony singing Cook Islands songs and providing drumming. The highlight was the cutting of the giant pink ribbon by visiting Cook Islands Prime Minister the Hon Jim Marurai. Also in attendance were paramount Takitumu chief Pa Ariki, Cook Islands Speaker of the House Cassie Eggleton, Cook Islands High Commissioner Tepure Tapaitau and representatives of health and community organisations in Hawkes Bay. Pacific Breast and Cervical Screening Health Promoter Berry Rangi (a Tiare Ahuriri member) has been encouraging local Pacific women to take the opportunity to have their mammogram while the Mobile Unit is in the area.

Standing outside the Mobile Unit in the photograph above are (L to R):

Cushla King - Manager BreastScreen Coast to Coast, Jenny Cawston-Health Promotion Manager Hawkes Bay DHB, with Tiare Ahuriri members Caren Rangi (with daughter Kaiata), Diane Mara and Berry Rangi.