Leaving island life and learning to thrive
Miriam Terei-Roriki and her sons.
In 2021, Miriam Terei-Roriki left her island home of Rarotonga for urgent medical treatment in Aotearoa. Vaka Tautua supported Miriam and her family to adjust to their new life, and learn to thrive with help from our Parenting and Tupe Wise Programmes.
Miriam’s journey from Rarotonga to Aotearoa New Zealand was more than just a plane ride. She not only left behind her husband and two children, but all the comforts of home, swapping t-shirts and pareu for thermal socks and heavy padded jackets, and sandy beaches for traffic jams.
This huge step into the unknown was a deep learning curve for Miriam, full of tears, doubts, and anxiety. Her husband and sons eventually joined Miriam in Auckland, experiencing their first COVID lockdown and adjusting to life under New Zealand’s COVID traffic light protection framework.
Not afraid to ask for help and always willing to learn new things, Miriam reached out to Vaka Tautua for support in her recovery. Our Ora’anga mental health and wellbeing team helped with finding transport to doctor appointments, providing counselling and parental support, and helped Miriam set up goals for her family.
Miriam took part in Vaka Tautua’s Parenting Programme, which gives Pacific parents the skills they need to raise healthy, happy children in Aotearoa. She went on to complete our Tupe Wise financial capability programme, learning strategies on how to achieve financial independence.
Both programmes helped Miriam and her family learn how to make the best decisions in order to survive and thrive, and gave them a clearer understanding of how the law works in New Zealand. Miriam is now on a pathway to achieving restored health, and has more confidence and new skills to pass on to her sons, so they can have a brighter and healthier future.
Miriam says, “I can’t put into words the tremendous help I have received from Vaka Tautua. My family and I are truly grateful and appreciative for the continuous care and support we have received in the short time we’ve been in New Zealand. I’d like to thank everyone from team Vaka Tautua for being diamonds in my journey – meitaki korereka!”
Vaka Tautua’s Ora’anga service supports people experiencing mild or moderate distress to manage their mental health and wellbeing. Find out more about Ora’anga.
Learn more about our Parenting Programme and Tupe Wise.