Te Aka Whai Ora is investing in Wellington-based Manawa Ora to provide at least 750 subsidised rongoā Māori treatments to people in the community who need additional support to progress their healing journey.

Rongoā, which includes, but is not limited to, mirimiri and romiromi wai rākau (plant medicines) and spiritual healing through karakia (prayer), is a system of healing that focusses on all aspects of a person including their wairua, their environment and their spiritual connections. 

Manawa Ora aims to normalise and revitalise rongoā Māori across the Wellington region through intensive healing efforts, education and advocacy, and focuses on mirimiri and romiromi to rebalance, restore function and release deeply held tension in the body, empowering people to take control of their physical, spritirual, emotional and mental wellbeing. 

The funding will allow Manawa Ora to develop additional practitioners to deliver services and offer increased access to mirimiri and romiromi at its whare hauora in Ngauranga. Manawa Ora is complementing this with regular community clinics across the region.

Kingi Kiriona, Deputy Chief Executive – Mātauranga Māori for Te Aka Whai Ora, says that this funding will allow more whānau in the Wellington region to access services.

“Rongoā Māori is a taonga that needs to be protected and nurtured for our future generations," says Kingi. 

"More and more people are turning to rongoā as an effective treatment. Rongoā is a key pathway to good health outcomes, not just for Māori, with recent data from ACC showing that 40% of clients who access rongoā via ACC are non-Māori."

"We're delighted that this funding will allow more whānau to get the care they need."

Te Aka Whai Ora is undertaking a programme of work focusing on the future sustainability of rongoā, to enable and support it to thrive and contribute fully to improving health outcomes in Aotearoa.