Jo Mane, Jenny Lee-Morgan, Megan Tunks
Abstract
Manawaroa: Steadfast Hope for Whānau is among the first kaupapa Māori research projects in Aotearoa to examine how methamphetamine (meth) use affects whānau. This article, the first from the project, describes the meth context in Aotearoa and centres a foundational premise: that whānau are essential to collective wellbeing, recovery and intergenerational transformation.
This kaupapa Māori one-year study, funded by the Health Research Council (HRC), employs pūrākau to explore the experiences of 22 participants, involving whānau members and alcohol and drug practitioners across Te Tai Tokerau, Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Moana o Toi. Their accounts provide important insights into what it means for whānau to live through methamphetamine-related harm while continuing to protect relationships, seek support and hold fast to the possibility of recovery. The article reveals why whānau often feel that they are carrying the burden alone and considers what becomes possible when lived experience, tikanga Māori and clinical practice are brought into closer relationship. In doing so, it argues that prevention and recovery must move beyond an individual focus and recognise whānau as central to healing and intergenerational transformation.
