Collection: Blog

I've talked about my marriage and my husband a lot since he died 16 months ago. My tongue loosened, the words came rushing out of my mouth and hit the air, exploding my truth, our truth, all around me. So many words. And so much feedback since from people who recognised their relationship in mine. Who left a long time ago, or who were still in that space.So why keep talking about it? Because I have the privilege of...

If you’re struggling right now and you're in AKL....Auckland CouncilAucklanders unable to afford groceries or in self–isolation with no access to other support networks can call 0800 22 22 96 between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week. Callers must meet government criteria for assistance.Salvation Army0800 53 00 00Text your name and postcode to 4114 and a rep will contact you within 48 hours.Presbyterian Support Northern09 309 2054Collections between 11am – 12pm, Monday to Friday from 8 Madeira Lane,...

There is a lot of discussion recently, in lockdown, around police attending more family harm incidents, and a lot of people don't seem to know what this really is, so I thought I'd give it a crack. Because domestic violence is PART of family harm, as the police see it, but it is not what that term means.Family harm, simply put, is any incident in someone's home where "family" is involved. It's become a convenient catch all/category for the...

This morning, I was sent a message from one of my girls. It was a video of her, in a kakahu, on a marae, and the matua was talking about her, but I wasn't sure what it really was. There followed a beautiful conversation, a short one, and she'd like me to tell you about her, because for the first time in a really long time she's super proud of herself.(Sidebar: I stopped sharing the women's stories because it...

It's racing very quickly to that time of year, again. And this year, we're trying something a wee bit different. A givealittle page specifically designed to cater to those of you who just want to rain down Xmas cheer on some really special and beautiful human beings. Every year, for the last six years, we've done Xmas for an ever growing whanau of people in our Aunties community. This year, as with the last two years, it's the women...

We created a Frequently Asked Questions page in the main menu, with answers to some of the most commonly asked questions and concerns.Please contact me if you can't find the information that you need. Message me at @whaeapower on Twitter, email me at whaeapower@aunties.co.nz OR message us via our Facebook page.

****CW: emotional and psychological violence. Please know that this may be triggering. My husband died 11 weeks ago.His name was Ian and I loved him truly. I also disliked him intensely at times, and over 28 years we had known a lot of misery. And we laughed a lot too. I first saw his abuse for what it was at a refuge in South Auckland. I told the women there my story, because they had asked, and they gasped while...

Every year we refine the Aunties Xmas. How many kids, how many organisations, it just keeps growing. And this year, we have changed things completely. Aunty Jo has taken on most of it, so she'll be your Xmas Fairy. (And hopefully she'll do it every year....) So read this very very carefully so you know exactly how you can be a Xmas Elf.   I will be shoulder tapping my Uber Aunties to do the whanau of my girls, so...

A couple of days ago, I won a thing. It was quite a big thing, a bit of a deal. A fancy dinner it was. I had to wear a dress, and a full face of makeup. I even had an up-do.The name of this thing was Women Of Influence, and it turned out that enough people loved the work The Aunties do that I won the Supreme High Goddess Grand PooBah award. Oh sorry, the Supreme Award.Anyway, the...

I've just come from a morning at the storage unit, with one of the women I walk alongside, and while I'm glad to have spent time with her, I have had the urge to write this post since we got there, and I started going through the clothes with her. You see, about 18 months ago, a school got in touch with me and wanted to know if the Aunties would like all the stuff that was left over...

Recently, Aunty Wendy and I spent most of the day at the storage unit, getting it into shape. (I have unpack donations once a week, but usually leave the big sort until one of the Aunties is able to help me. A few people have now used their community days from work to do this, and it's excellent!).We had donations to unpack, undies to sort, and we went through all the women's and babies clothes and got rid of...

I have been speaking about this for years. And I will continue to talk about it, shout about it, because it's incredibly important. Don't give us your shit. I mean it. Other charities don't say it so rudely, they never say it at all because they're too afraid of losing donors. I don't care, to be honest. If you're giving us rubbish,  losing your donations is no loss at all.What we need, what every charity needs, is for you...