Mana Wāhine Week 2021

The HEART Movement is part of a group of community organisations who have created an event on International Women’s Day in 2020 and 2019 consecutively. The first Mana Wāhine Day was created in the Koru Group and it has grown and grown from then.

For 2021 it was decided to create not just one day event but a whole week! And to base that week on Te Whare Tapa Wha.

The Mana Wāhine Week planned for 2021 was to be an entire week of amazing kōrero, about everything that happens in the life cycle of being a woman... We planned spaces to talk about getting our periods, hymens and virginity (sexual violence), miscarriage and menopause.

We planned learning about healthy relationships with ourselves, about moko kauae, a talanoa on "The Reconciliation of Wāhine" and to have a zero waste workshop.

Our community was putting on a kaupapa for our nannies, a pamper session, a clothes swap, a gala day and the week was to end with a celebration ball!!!!

All sessions were to be safe spaces, for women only and FREE, with kai and childcare provided. Each session was to be hosted by a local organisation and the funding was being organised through our friends at Tāmaki Regeneration Company and Auckland Council. It was to be a collaboration of more than 20 community organisations and the community was beyond excited to host this incredible event…

A Mana Wāhine Week working group hui at the Panmure Library

From left: Moana, Mara, Taki, Rina, Ren, Priscilla, Delina, Kathy, Tara

A COVID-19 sized spanner in the works

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 lockdown of August 2021 put a huge heartbreaking hold on our Mana Wāhine Week.

Although heartbreaking, our community (wisely!) decided to postpone the full schedule until March 2022.

Many of our community organisations swing into action over lockdowns and are incredibly busy with kai parcels and support services for our whānau. The HEART Movement operates solely online over lockdown and was able to spend time putting an online version of the Mana Wāhine Week in place.

This took place on the original week (20th - 24th September 2021) and followed the original theme of Te Whare Tapa (Rima).

We felt some sadness we couldn’t have the original week but still were able to enjoy some incredible sessions hosted by Louise Marra, Val Meyer, Charlotte Liddicoat, Dr Bev Lawton and Leah Sooipu. Ngā mihi nui to those mana wāhine! We will take our learnings and energy for Mana Wāhine Week into next years event.

Some of the wonderful wāhine of Tāmaki and the faces of Mana Wāhine Week 2021

Back row - Whaea Margaret Ngapera, Roxanne Adams, Josephine Bartley

Front row - Anatola Finau, Azayleigha Kopu-Chan, Jasmine Hope