Pirirākau Hauora is a Kaupapa Māori Health Care Service that covers the area from the Wairoa River to the Waipapa Stream, across to the Kaimai Ranges in the west and to the sea. Pirirākau Hauora offers a wide range of medical and community services with a holistic touch, ensuring that your physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing is nourished with a unique philosophy of health.
Some of our team were lucky enough to spend an afternoon with Rob, their Rongoā Practitioner. Rongoā māori is the traditional healing system of Māori and encompasses herbal remedies, physical therapies and spiritual healing. As part of our educational session, we got to learn more about his methods and practices, especially his use of the kawakawa plant.
For years, Māori have been using natural ingredients for medicinal purposes and believe that Papatūānuku (mother earth) guides us to the medicines that we need. Plants that have red branches/stems are known to be good for blood health and are commonly used in their blood-thinning remedies.
The beautiful kawakawa leaf is shaped like a heart, and so is used to help treat heart problems. The leaf is known to absorb aroha and so can also be used for overall health and wellbeing to help the mind. There are 27+ known Rongoā uses for kawakawa, some of these treatments include digestive disorders, blood cleansers, to stop toothache, treat boils, cuts, grazes and eczema, and it can also be used as an effective insect repellent.
Part of the session included our team making their own kawakawa balm, a multipurpose balm infused with kawakawa, calendula (their skin super healer), grapeseed oil and essential oils that we could take away with us. Their koha to us for looking after so many within our community.
It was an honour to be welcomed into their space of healing and to learn so much from Rob and his approaches to helping our community. It is connections like these that help us expand our knowledge and understanding, leading us to deliver more specialist and inclusive care to all of our patients and their whānau.