The work we do is awesome

Born in Gisborne, Oriwia Baker always wanted to come home and says she's stoked to be back and part of the “amazing” team at Turanga Health

THERE’s a new happy face greeting visitors at Turanga Health, and there’s a good reason for that.

“I absolutely love working here . . . it is an amazing team,” says Oriwia Baker, who took over the front desk in mid-July.

“I always wanted to come back to Gisborne and when I saw this job advertised I knew it was the one for me.”

Oriwia is Rongowhakaata and Ngati Porou and was born in Gisborne. When she was aged five her family moved to Waikato, where many of them went to university.

That included Oriwia, who was halfway through a four-year management degree when she decided to “come home” to be with her farmer partner, Jackson Davoren.

For a while, “home” was in the bush at Tiniroto, but they have now returned to Jackson's childhood stamping ground of Whatatutu, where they live with tamariki Tawhiao, aged three, and “our baby girl” Indie, who made her entrance on Christmas Eve.

“It is a juggle when you have little children but I am lucky to have a partner who is very hands-on,” says the 24-year-old. “It gives you a good understanding of the challenges many people face in their lives.”

Not that it is entirely new to her. Before returning to Gisborne, Oriwia worked for Hamilton organisation Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa, which she says delivers similar services to her new employer.

As well as answering telephone queries and being the “face” visitors see at Turanga Health's front desk, Oriwia does “a bit of everything” from managing incoming referrals to juggling staff resources including vehicles and tech equipment.

But it's the people she loves the most. “The work we do here is awesome and I love being a part of something that helps our whanau thrive,” she says.

​“People who come to Turanga Health are often in need and it's exciting to be a part of helping them turn that around.”

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