A new taonga, or carving has taken up pride of place in Counties Manukau’s Department of Bereavement Care.
The carving is a kaitiaki or guardian called Te Miro which means The Thread.
Bereavement Care Team Leader Reon Scharvi says: “The name Te Miro represents a team of people that create a thread that weaves around our Tuupaapaku [deceased ones] and Whaanau pani (grieving families), to support them in losing a loved one.
Te Miro was blessed by Turongo Paki and supported by Luke Tai-Rakena John Ngatai, Reon Scharvi Tuhimata and Hariata Tukiri, a collective of Te Kaahui Ora Maaori Health and Bereavement Care Services on Thursday 16th March 2023.
Bereavement Care assists nearly 1400 whanaau each year, handling the memory of lost loved ones from Middlemore, the Super Clinic and the Spinal Unit. They guide and support whaanau through the transition from the Hospital to their communities as well as all legal requirements.
Reon says:” Our role sees us support families who suffer a pregnancy loss from 12 weeks upwards as well as all deaths within the hospital. We want whaanau whose loved one dies in Middlemore Hospital to have a positive start in their grieving process.”
The team of six at Bereavement Care are on site 24/7. They work alongside funeral directors, the coroner’s office, NZ police and NZ Eye Bank.
Reon concludes: “We are thrilled to have blessed our new Taonga, which represents a guardian with two faces, representing the old and the new. It acknowledges our past but also allows us to see forward.