Ngaa Ringa Awhina

"Ngaa Ringa Awhina" is :

  • We are a Free and Confidential Kaupapa Māori Mental Health service providing Needs Assessment Service Coordination.
  • We are a team of specialist Mental Health Assessors and Service Coordinators. For tamariki/rangatahi we also undertake alcohol and other drug assessments and treatment.
  • We have the capacity to source a wide range of multi-disciplinary professionals to assist with the Needs Assessment.
  • The process of referral to Te Aka Toro Early Intervention Services, Te Aka Kura (Tamariki me Nga Rangatahi Service), Infant Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Waikato District Health Board) and Tamahere Hospital and Healing Centre is via a needs assessment from Te Aka Hono Tahi.

You can access to "Ngaa Ringa Awhina":

  • 105 Rostrevor Street, Hamilton
  • Please phone (07) 839 5146/0800 99 99 03 and request to speak with a member of the Te Aka Hono Tahi team.

 

I visited Ann Gardner & Des Rolleston in "Ngaa Ringa Awhina", to hear what they are doing and how we would be able to work with them.

Because Ngaa Ringa Awhina is the single point of entry (referral, assessment and coordination) service, they sometimes work with ethnic people. Then they found that it is not easy to relate themselves with such people.

They told me that it is so difficult for them to locate the entry point. When they work with them, often the stuation are extreme. So this makes things more difficult. Then if they take the wrong entry point, it might become fatal. I understand that as a practitioner it is very stressfull, as we don't feel we are on the right track.

So there is an expectation for us here to provide counsellors who understand their culture, customs, and languages.

 

It was a very good meeting for me. They provided me a lot of hopes and motivations. 

At the same time, I felt we have to offer very professional service. To do so, we have a lot of things to do.

Thank Ann & Des for giving me a time.

 

By the way I am not familier with the Maori language. I looked up the Maori dicutionary to understand "Ngaa Ringa Awhina"

To understand "Ngaa Ringa", the following statement could be useful:

Nō te wherahanga i ngā ringa, kitea ana he pātene i roto i tētahi o ōna ringa (HTK 11/3/1893:5). / When they opened the hands a button was found in one of his hands.

http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/

"āwhina" means as a verb "to assist & help", and as a noun "assistance, aid, help".

I cannot put those meanings nicely into the English expression, I maybe shouldn't do this. More importantly I feel I can get some aspects of "Ngaa Ringa Awhina". Good name.

(Kou)

Ngaa Ringa Awhina

1 comment

  1. Adrienne Arthur

    Kia Ora Whanau,

    I am a school nurse in the community who works in two Wharekura.Nga Taiatea Wharekura and Tai Wananga. Could you plese send me some information and pamphlets on your organisation please. So that I can share this with management and students at the school. One of the school dosen't have a school counsellor at all.

     

    Thanks Adrienne

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