Photo: RNZ
A wahine Māori is the new president of a Geneva-based global health body, a botanist's dream project regenerating a swathe of native bush, and a lifesaving rescue by linesmen are among this week's feel-good stories from RNZ.
Wahine Māori to lead global public health body
Emma Rawson-Te Patu Photo: Supplied / LDR
Emma Rawson-Te Patu will be welcomed by the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, next week as its new president. She will be the first New Zealander and first indigenous woman to head the organisation in its 57-year history.
Rawson-Te Patu said the immediate priority for her two-year tenure is decolonising public health globally. "Inequities for indigenous people are still as significant as they have ever been."
"Nature's itching to put the bush back"
Hugh Wilson at Hinewai on Banks Peninsula Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Hugh Wilson, a renowned botanist and conservationist, had long held a dream of managing a bit of land where he could just "let nature re-assert herself". Under his management as an on-site kaitiaki, Hinewai Reserve in Banks Peninsula has grown steadily from a 109 hectare block of bush in 1987 to over 1600ha of regenerated native bush.
It is just a small but mighty team of four behind Hinewai, and people are welcome to freely roam the forests. Wilson worked hard to clear the gorse in the area, using the power of native plants which shade out the gorse.
Gorse covered farmland is giving way to regenerating native forest at Hinewai Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
'We just acted': Lines workers rescue woman from sinking car
Only the car's roof was visible after the men helped rescue the woman from it. Photo: Supplied / Police
Shivam Chandra and Sam Rangi from lines company Unison were out checking the network when they noticed a car floating and then sinking fast into flood waters near Rotorua. When they spotted a woman inside, their training kicked in and they "just acted," smashing the window [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/517479/we-just-acted-lines-workers-rescue-woman-from-sinking-car
to pull the woman out].
After the ordeal, Rangi said he spoke to his boss - asking him if he wanted the good news or the bad news. He said the good news was "we just saved a life" - but the bad news was they were wet and needed to go home.
Family championing work to protect fresh water awarded
People working towards cleaner and healthier fresh water have been recognised at the Freshwater Champions Aotearoa Awards Photo: Cawthron
The Burke Family who run Pukekauri Farms at Katikati have been recognised for their work to protect and improve fresh water in their area. Over three decades they have developed eight wetlands, fenced waterways, reticulated stock water and retired a quarter of their 300ha sheep and beef farm into forest, on what was once described as the most environmentally degraded farm in the Western Bay of Plenty.
The Burke's were among those celebrated at the Freshwater Champions Aotearoa awards ceremony at Te Papa in Wellington on Thursday. The ceremony celebrated people who have dedicated themselves to improving and protecting water quality and the environment, and assessors described the Burke's as "genuine trailblazers."
Kids set up cool kindling sales enterprise
Three of the Kindling Kids: Thomas, Oliver and Isabella at the Monge-Grassi Kindling Factory in Pigeon Valley. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Four siblings (Thomas, Isabella, Oliver and Mateo Monge-Grassi) from Pigeon Valley, near Nelson, have spent the summer collecting wood from around their rural property and are kick-starting their savings by selling boxes of kindling, setting themselves up as Nelson's Kindling Kids.
Thomas, 12, came up with the idea to sell kindling to make some pocket money and has been doing it for a few years. The kids have big dreams. Thomas plays football and is saving up for out of town tournaments, but also for university.
Wellington misspelling corrected for Hōniana Te Puni Street
Aro Valley's Epuni St has been renamed to Hōniana Te Puni Street. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Epuni Street in the Wellington suburb of Aro Valley has been corrected to Hōniana Te Puni Street. Mayor Tory Whanau said the new street name correctly recognises Hōniana Te Puni.
"He has had quite a significant impact on the culture of Wellington. And while this may seem like just a small ceremony to some people in Wellington, what I felt from this was a restoring of mana, righting some wrongs, giving a strong tautoko to local iwi, and acknowledging history."
Te Ati Awa chief Hōniana Te Puni is said to be one of the founders of Wellington.