Edward Matehaere is a man in demand.
“We had another journalist reach out, and Eddie was like, ‘Yeah, give him my number,’” says Moira Lomas, project manager for Tāpiri Mai, a distance health service supporting island communities near Tauranga.
“He’s more than happy to talk - if he’s not fishing.”
“Probably best to text before you call, though - coverage on the island’s real patchy.”
On remote Mōtītī Island, where the population is about 30 on a good day, residents often have to wear many pōtae, and the 73-year-old has done everything from helping with boat rescues to turning his car into an ambulance.
Now, Matehaere’s more than a decade of awhi for his community has been formally recognised. He recently received a Māori Health Service Award at the Minister of Health Volunteer Awards at Parliament.
“Well, it’s not really all about me,” Matehaere says.
“It’s about the general health of our people, really.”
Matehaere travelled to the capital with his sister, where his niece joined him for the awards ceremony.
“I went down there to receive the award, which was a piece of paper that would have been easier to post,” Matehaere says with a chuckle.
“All I wanted to do was shake their hands and take off.”
Despite the jokes, Matehaere admits the experience felt far removed from life on Mōtītī.
“It was quite daunting, actually.
“I thought, gee, this must be political. I can only speak for my little old hapū - which is quite a privilege really.”
Back home, Matehaere says he has tried not to make too much of the recognition when speaking with people on the island.
“I don’t say anything to them. I just say, ‘Oh yeah, went down there, got an award and came back.’”
The island’s frontline service
Tauranga-based Lomas says Matehaere has long been the backbone of Mōtītī’s health and emergency response efforts.
With ties to Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha, Lomas says her organisation was among those who helped support Matehaere’s nomination, describing him as often the first person people turn to in a crisis.
“He’s our main point of contact. He’s the guy who keeps it running over in Mōtītī,” she says of Tāpiri Mai’s work supporting healthcare access on Mōtītī and Matakana islands.
For more than a decade, Matehaere has carried responsibilities that elsewhere would likely be shared across multiple trained professionals.
Over the past 15 years, he has responded to four major fires, numerous marine emergencies and more than 10 serious medical emergencies on the island.
“He’s like the unofficial boss of the island,” Lomas says affectionately.
Awhi for each other
Asked what motivated him to dedicate so much of his life to supporting the island community, Matehaere’s answer is simple.
“It’s just seeing too many people die. When you see your own people die, you’ve got to do something,” he says.
Matehaere says people on Mōtītī have long worked together to improve life on the island and look out for one another.
“There’s a few things actually we get together and make better to improve our lives and make it a better place to live,” he says.
“As far as we’re concerned, this is paradise for us.”
Even after the trip to Wellington, Matehaere says his thoughts remain with the realities of life on the island.
“I wish I could have presented some of the difficulties we have here because we live in isolation and we don’t have the services people in town do,” he says.
“When they ring up for an ambulance, it’s there in 10 minutes. If we ring up for an ambulance, you’re lucky to get the blooming thing in three days - or a helicopter, or the Coastguard.”
“That’s really our problem.”
Matehaere says the island’s marae help bring the community together.
“For a small population with two marae on the island, we do have a lot of awhi amongst ourselves, and people do tend to get together and help, but it’s all voluntary at the moment,” he says.
“I can always go out there and ask somebody, and they’ll come and give me a hand because that’s how we live over there - that’s how we survive really.”
