A fresh announcement from the Beehive hadn’t actually been posted on the website, when we checked this morning. It announced government help (modest) for flood-stricken Cantabrians.
Another unposted statement was weather-related, too, and came from Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods. In this case, the statement was followed by advice that the event which triggered the statement had been postponed due to “weather events,
We shall dutifully observe the embargo and keep the news under wraps until the event has been rescheduled.
Other weekend statements announced the opening of Samoa language week and brought news of a digital training programme for elderly Kiwis winning an overseas award.
And today we have been apprised of two new reports which deal with emergency housing.
The Acting Minister for Emergency Management, Kris Faafoi, has been in Canter bury where he announced the Government has contributed $100,000 towards a Mayoral Relief Fund to support Canterbury communities impacted by the weekend’s flooding.
Mayoral Relief Funds help communities bounce back after an emergency.
The funds will be provided to the Christchurch City Council Mayoral Relief Fund to be disbursed across the Canterbury region.
This funding is in addition to other support that people may be eligible for through the Ministry of Social Development and Ministry for Primary Industries, Faafoi saud
The National Emergency Management Agency has activated the National Coordination Centre to monitor the situation and coordinate additional government support as needed.
Gagana Samoa is a foundation of Pacific wellbeing
The launch of Samoa Language Week yesterday highlighted the importance of language in providing a foundation for Pacific wellbeing, said the Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio.
Samoa Language Week is the second in a year of transition for the language week series, which among other things, sees all language weeks have their own take on a central theme. The theme for 2021 is ‘wellbeing’.
The 2018 Census showed that over 60 per cent of Pacific people are born in New Zealand, and that Gagana Samoa is the third most-spoken language in New Zealand behind English and te reo Māori.
This year’s Samoa Language Week theme is Poupou le lotoifale, Ola manuia le anofale, or, in English, ‘Strengthen the posts of your house, for all to thrive’. It talks about the Samoan fale or house which can only stand strong when the pillars are sturdy.
This is true of all houses – isn’t it?
Digital Literacy Training for Seniors wins international award
This statement has seized on news that work to break down digital barriers faced by older New Zealanders, has received international recognition.
The Office for Seniors Digital Literacy Training for Seniors programme has won the education category in the 2021 IDC Smart City Asia Pacific Awards, which are in their seventh year.
Winners of the awards in this case are decided through a rigorous six-stage benchmarking framework, analysing how they’re leveraging technology to improve city operations and better serve people.
This year more than 250 public nominations were received and more than 140,000 public votes were cast in the 14 categories.
The government doesn’t actually do the training but it does provide the funding.
The Digital Literacy Training for Seniors programme is delivered by Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa and the 20/20 Trust, and was funded through the 2019 Wellbeing Budget. It has been helping older people from a diverse range of backgrounds develop skills for the digital world.
Point of Order dipped into our files and found Budget 2019 allocated $600,000 to provide digital literacy training for seniors over three years. It aims to:
- enable older people to keep up with technology as it changes
- increase older people’s the trust and confidence of carrying out online activities, including staying connected with their families and friends
- improve digital inclusion.
The Ministry of Social Development led a procurement process and contracted two service providers; Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa and 2020 Communications Trust to provide Essential Digital Skills and literacy training for up to 4,700 older people.
Housing First Pūrākau share experiences of homelessness
Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness) Marama Davidson has welcomed the release of two pūrākau reports telling the diverse and real life stories of whānau supported by Housing First.
This sent us to our Maori dictionary where we learned pūrākau is
myth, ancient legend, story.
We are grateful the press statement fleshed out that definition and explained pūrākau
“ … is the traditional and intergenerational method of sharing mātauranga (knowledge). They are stories that traditionally have a deeper message and are used to share knowledge of te ao Māori and to provide guidance.”
In this case, the two pūrākau reports
“ … provide powerful and insightful narratives from whānau who have experienced homelessness. A number of challenges as well as key areas of success were identified, and the learnings from the Pūrākau will assist Housing First providers in the work they do providing appropriate, secure housing and in-home support,” said Marama Davidson.
“The two pūrākau; He oranga ngākau, he pikinga wairua and He whare kōrero o Mangatakitahi, recount the journey of two Housing First programmes in Ōtautahi Christchurch and Rotorua, and the whānau they support,” said Marama Davidson.
“The pūrākau of people engaged with Housing First has reinforced the value of taking a place-based approach with housing providers, iwi, local and national government working together to support whānau in their area.”
Place-based approach?
We could have done with an explanation about what that means, too – like, what exactly is a place-based approach and what are the approaches that are inferior to this approach?
She did explain that Housing First is an internationally recognised programme that aims to house and provide on-going support services for people and whānau experiencing homelessness.
The programme is funded by Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, who engaged Tīaho Limited, a kaupapa Māori research, evaluation and policy development group, to undertake the case study reports.
To protect the integrity of the pūrākau and the voices of those interviewed, no changes were made to the kōrero of the participants. The reports can be found here.
Point of Order 
What a bloody insult, that amount is handed out daily to prop up drug habits of Labour leeches. See them lining up at chemists each morning, it is sickening.
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