Unitec wahine are coming to dot you!
As Auckland prepares to move out of the Level 3 lockdown and heads towards 90% of Aucklanders double vaccinated, we are also hitting the two-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the reports of an unknown pneumonia first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
Two years later, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the lives of people globally, with 255 million cases reported worldwide and 5.12 million deaths.
It has upturned our lives, many have lost close friends and families, been stranded in foreign countries, felt the isolation of lockdown, unable to see friends and family and having to adapt to remote jobs and study.
Every community has been affected, and at Unitec the past two years have meant adapting to new ways of learning, teaching and working. At the heart of this, our staff have been supporting our ākonga to ensure they can not only continue studying, but that their mental and physical wellbeing is maintained.
Three Unitec wahine who have been at the forefront of this community engagement are Andrea Thumath – Director of Under 25s Success and Head of UPC, Annette Pitovao – Director Student Success and Toni Vaughan – Director Māori Success, Taharangi Maia.
Their community support became literally hands on when the trio trained as lay vaccinators to support the Ira.Dot initiative, a rangatahi-led campaign that encourages people to get ‘dotted’ against Covid-19. Along with Unitec current and former ākonga, they helped “dot” at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi Marae in West Auckland in early November.
“It was a great event,” says Andrea, “but what made it really great was all the people that were there. All the hands from Unitec were people that I knew would put their hand to a job and I wouldn’t have to worry about them doing that job.”
“The past few months have been tough on our teams, so it was wonderful to be able to bring Unitec whānau into that space to do that. It was also such a privilege to for the three of us to train as lay vaccinators and give back to the community in a real hands-on tangible way.”
The three were part of a group trained by Dr Rawiri Jansen and the team at the Tāmaki Vaccination Centre in Covid-19 vaccination and post vaccination observation.
“It was amazing to gain experience alongside young people from our communities, and it really opened your eyes to the extent of the full process of dotting someone, from the temperature the vaccination is held at to carrying it and the cold chain to where it’s going, monitoring temperatures. Every step in the process is very important. Just understanding everything that goes on behind the scenes just gives you such respect for all the health and community providers.”
Ira.Dot wasn’t the first community-driven initiative but it was the first rangatahi driven one, says Andrea, but the Māori and Pacifica communities have been driving to get their communities dotted.
“It was also great seeing people who came to get their vaccination just because we were there,” she says.
“My two first-timers were both grandmothers and nervous about the needles and the vaccinations themselves, and it was a real privilege for me to set them at ease and part of making an experience not traumatic for people scared of needles.”
Toni masters the art of dotting
That’s what Ira.Dot proved, says Toni, that when your kaupapa is by Māori for Māori, you get a better uptake.
“When you have deep trust in somebody, you trust what they are putting in you, that what they doing to you is going to be good for you. That makes a big difference, especially among Māori; when you trust a person, you trust their actions.
“We heard of somebody from Orewa who drove all the way to us. But on the way she collected her brother. She driven for an hour and a half to make sure that her brother got vaccinated.
“It was also eye-opening how intense the process is from start to finish. So that was just the starting end, but also at the other end where families in cars, because it wasn’t just the person getting vaccinated there, but their children, their parents. Often they had five to six people in the cars, and they were so grateful for the plants, vouchers and kai that we had at the event.”
“It is so important for us to be involved in the community because we don’t exist without them, says Andrea. “This is about truly engaging as member of the community and we have a vested interest in ensuring our community says safe.”
Annette gets hands-on with the dotting!
Annette and her Student Success team have been working with the community online and by phone during lockdowns for the past two years, but it was rewarding to be able to take a hands-on approach, she says.
“Although 2020 prepared us for what it can look like. I think what we probably underestimated is the length of this particular lockdown. But certainly it gave us great indicators in terms of what the constraints of lockdown look like and the difference. Certainly for me, there’s this feeling of being confined in that level 4 mentality. However, the one thing none of us knew even from last year is how long this would go on and the effects it would have on us mentally—it is a whole new landscape,” Annette says.
All three agree how rewarding it was to train and be part of the event. Andrea recounts seeing Annette and Toni coming off their first shift of dotting people.
“I remember the moment, they were standing behind the tent and the look on their faces was surreal; I could see them wondering did we just vaccinate all these people, did we just get to do that?