The 2022 Puna Pūtea | Social Action Grants awarded funding for 13 projects. Read the project descriptions below to see how these initiatives will tackle mental distress discrimination in their communities.
" Whiria te tangata ka puta he oranga "
- Weaving the people together promotes wellbeing
This project will explore aspects of mental health within Pasefika communities and families through six podcast episodes. Mental distress is still considered taboo in Pasefika aigas, and the podcasts will provide a safe space to talk about issues such as how to have a healthy conversation about mental health within the aiga.
What can help people in mental distress, and what are the barriers to speaking out and seeking support in times of need? This project aims to find answers to these questions by asking people with lived experience of mental distress. A collation of powerful stories will be edited into videos to be presented at hui with NGO's, sports clubs, marae, and mental health providers for rangatahi.
Mental distress among Pacific people is a topic thrown under the rug. Kaboroan Teaba aims to help young Pacific people navigate the multiple issues they face regarding discrimination against mental distress, the culture around vulnerability, and the stigma attached to mental health within Pacific families.
A three-day hui/ talanoa will be held, focusing on Micronesian and Melanesian youth. This initiative hopes to offer connections and ensure that support systems are made accessible to youth.
Show Up is a three-part podcast designed for and by Māori and Pasifika, that will address how discrimination, judgements, and social exclusion can appear in friendships. The podcasts hope to offer alternatives for tackling the issue and make it possible for people to "show up" for each other.
Project Mad Like Me Presents: One Million Small Things
Mad Like Me Presents: One Small Thing is the second season of the podcast Mad Like Me by Jamie Wise and Charlie Scott. Jamie and Charlie will take their podcast on the road and record each episode in front of a live audience across different locations in Aotearoa.
Mad Like Me are also starting a social movement and launching a website called One Million Small Things, where people can share small acts of kindness that have made an impact, with the goal of reaching One Million Small Things.
The project aims to dispel myths of mental distress by sharing stories of everyday humans' mental health experiences as well as remove barriers to support each other in their mission to end discrimination towards those who experience mental distress.
Whakamutua Atu! is a web-based video series created to open discussion around experiences with mental health and how we can collectively change the narrative and stop the stigma. Co-designed with young people, rangatahi can use their voices to end discrimination and encourage others to speak up.
KAVAX is a Pacific-designed talanoa platform, offering a safe space to discuss the unfair judgements, discrimination, and social exclusion that Pacific people experience in all aspects of their lives. Weaving in traditional sounds, Pacific concepts, and cultural norms into the fakataha (get-togethers/sessions), Kavax creates mafana (warmth), fakafehokotaki (connection), and engagement in meaningful and honest talanoa.
Held in Auckland, Wellington, and Gisborne and with support from Pacific health professionals, Kavax will explore the following talking points:
1. Mental distress for Pacific people: Cultural perspectives and perceptions.
2. Mental distress for Pacific people: In the employment environment.
3. Drawing on Pacific concepts and cultural norms for solutions.
Changing Minds was founded in 2009 to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination. They work on nurturing whānau mātau ā-wheako to embrace the mana of their lived experience as a source of collective strength.
The project Rākau Roroa community delivery will train Māori, Pacific, and discriminated lived experience communities in Te Tai Tokerau. Training delivery and supported social action will be enhanced through community and cultural connection, building on the existing Changing Minds community and Board member connection and partnerships.
Imoa & Amelia Setefano
Imoa Setefano has lived experience of bipolar and understands how mental illness can be negatively perceived in all spheres of society. E taua tagata uma! - Everyone has value! Mana Tagata!, the project led by Imoa and his wife Amelia Setefano, will include meaningful talanoa sessions about mental illness in ten Pacific church groups across Aotearoa.
While encouraging their communities to feel more comfortable talking and sharing their stories, they hope to change mindsets, challenge myths, have inclusive practices, and end judgement and discrimination toward people living with mental illness and their family members.
Tala Loto Fale (TLF) is a Tongan proverb that means to converse/talanoa in a safe vā/space. This project intends to raise awareness and empathy within Māori and Moana Pasifika communities and break down the stigma and discrimination attached to mental illness.
A mana moana approach will empower the participants to develop their story creatively through artwork, filmed interviews, or a digital film they direct and maintain the IP of.
Langima'a Oceania Trust is a faith and culture-based counselling service for Pasifika and Māori families committed to restoring, transforming, and healing families and individuals in need as they journey through life's challenges.
Their project, Talanoa Kaungāfononga, is a series of bilingual videos with counselling tools to educate Tongan people on discrimination, prejudice, and mental distress. These videos will be formatted with the support of bilingual counsellors and therapists and will contextualize terms such as discrimination, stigma, and prejudice for Tongan speakers.
The videos will be published on Langima'a Oceania Trust's social media platforms (Facebook and Youtube).
Clean for a Cause Charitable Trust
Kumete believes long-lasting, and evident change needs constant pressure and effort over time. To achieve change, Kumete has designed a 6-month programme to roll out in 2023. By sharing real-life stories from speakers, Kumete aims to inform Māori and Pasifika people in South Auckland communities about the impact of negative attitudes towards people living with mental distress and how it can prevent people from seeking help.
Te Rūnanga o Ngā Wairiki/ Ngāti Apa
Whitiora is an iwi-centred, youth-led approach to end discrimination of tamariki and their whānau who experience mental distress and illness.
Whiti Mai seeks to gather the voices and experiences of rangatahi, whānau, and iwi leaders who experience mental distress and identify what experiences keep them going and what types of supports and beliefs help them.
Videos will be created and shared on social media with key messages about creating opportunities for inclusion, participation, and understanding how that can end discrimination.
