Advocate
POET, PASTOR, PASIFIKA, PROVIDER We speak to Ruana Taito– Diabetes NZ’s Pacific Advocate who knows from real life experience that educating aiga (family) can be the hardest job.
R
uana Taito is a busy woman. She has been flat out, networking within the Porirua community to get herself known, as well as setting up and delivering the Diabetes: Your Life, Your Journey programme. This six-week course, designed for people with type 2 diabetes, is a self-management education programme where attendees get to learn everything there is to know about diabetes, ask all their questions, and connect with diabetes nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists. Ruana says she understands that the health system is hard to navigate at the best of times and getting a diagnosis can sometimes be overwhelming. Clinical language can be too complicated to fully understand, so she says she is committed to making all information accessible. Before moving to Porirua, Ruana worked for Counties Manukau District Health for seven years as a Community Social Support Worker.
30
DIABETES WELLNESS | Spring 2023
There she worked in the longterm conditions area, dealing with people with diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, gout, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. These patients were ‘frequent fliers’ to the Emergency Department. Her team would work out how best to help patients manage their conditions within the community so they could live better lives. Ruana says it often involved a lot of social issues, so the team included a social worker. She says that, before she started working with the longterm conditions team, she didn’t understand much about type 2 diabetes. When she and her aiga moved south, she was looking for a similar role but found nothing suitable. However, the Wellington City Mission was advertising for someone with an understanding of transitional housing, so she found herself continuing to help people within the Mission’s
housing section. Mum to five tamaiti (children), Ruana says she is deeply passionate to work within the diverse multicultural community of Porirua, to make a difference in the lives of individuals and families. POET
It was during her time working for the Wellington City Mission when Ruana was approached to contribute a poem from her point of view. ‘More than a Roof’ was published by Landing Press, a small not-for-profit publisher, in 2021. The collection of poems brought together voices from across the spectrum – from those with no homes, in emergency accommodation, in caravans, in cars, on boats, in rentals, or in their own houses. Landing Press is a small Wellington publisher that publishes poetry with a social edge. They came up with the idea of poems about housing, working
