“These are our elderly that are not sitting back to wait for the solution to come to them,” Ki A Ora Ngātiwai deputy chair Ropata Diamond said.
“We know (meth) is a problem. We know it. We can’t hide away from it. And so we had a conversation about, what is it that we might be able to do to bring awareness to our people?”
Diamond said many kaumātua had been abused by children and mokopuna affected by meth.
But he also acknowledged the risk of speaking out – becoming a target for addicts who would break down every barrier to access the drug.
Standing up against one’s own whānau, as the Nannies Against P members had done, took bravery and confidence, he said.
“They’re sharing it here because everyone here is here because they’re either a victim of it, they know it’s in their families, or they know of family members that are using or are abused by it.”
Lovey Edwards, 88, knew whānau members were still doing meth, because she didn’t see them.
“It’s there, because once they know you’re a nanny against P, they don’t come near you.”
She missed the mokopuna, she said.
“But I’ve gotta look after myself as well.”
Nannies Against P member Areta Te Huia said speaking about the issue was crucial.
The drug was rampant and communities needed to know how bad it was and how to get help, she said.
People were afraid to speak out about the drug that was dominating their mokopuna and children’s lives, Te Huia said.
Attendees at Tuesday’s event split into three groups after kai and speeches, and brainstormed strategies for dealing with methamphetamine.
One group outlined the importance of difficult conversations with whānau.
Memory Kaukau, also a Nannies Against P member, said the idea was to educate kuia about the drug, like the one that stood up almost 10 years ago.
“She didn’t understand why her (family) was being so angry and abusive,” Kaukau said.
The group connects people with information about methamphetamine, its origins, and the behaviours associated with it, while encouraging them to not tolerate abuse linked to the drug.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.