Our Whakapapa
Manaaki Ora Trust stems from the integration of Tipu Ora and Te Utuhina Manaakitanga in 2012 — two established and successful health groups — to update our response to health and meet changing demands and economic challenges. As a single governance group with shared infrastructure and services, Manaaki Ora ensures Tipu Ora and Te Utuhina remain as high performing service providers that utilise kaupapa Māori approaches, Te Arawa tikanga, and strong models of health practice.
Manaaki Ora
Te Rōpū o Te Ora – The Women’s Health League
In 1931, the Rotorua-based district nurse Robina Cameron was confronted by high Māori infant and maternal mortality rates, an alarming prevalence of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. She became the president of the Women’s Health League – Te Rōpū o Te Ora, at its first conference at Tūnohopu Marae in 1937.
Māori and Pākehā women of Rotorua helped Nurse Cameron in her work and Nurse Cameron also consulted Te Arawa leaders who supported meetings and clinics to educate Māori about health, hygiene and home making skills—the objectives of Te Rōpū o Te Ora. She also developed a maternal infant care program specifically designed for Māori (which has been used as the Tipu Ora Resource Kit over the last two decades).
In September 2018 Te Rōpū o Te Ora held its 81st annual meeting at Tūnohopu Marae, attended by representatives from around the country.
Nurse Cameron Memorial Trust
The Nurse Cameron Memorial Trust was set up in 1985 and its trustees—Pihopa and Inez Kingi, Hariata Paikea, Anne Barham, Dr Bert Sill, Mihi Tule, Augustus Rerewa Meha and Annette Sykes—opened the Tūnohopu Health Centre on August 30, 1986 with two GP’s, Māori healers, a natural health therapist, a community worker, and a Public Health Nurse. It fulfilled Inez’s vision for ‘Western trained and traditional Māori healers working side by side.’
Core Values
The decisions we make are a reflection of Manaaki Ora core values