Aotearoa in 20: Overcoming a rare illness gave one Māori entrepreneur the drive to succeed
Wednesday, 2 September 2020
_A _Māori entrepreneur overcame a rare illness as a child and credits her whānau for where she is today. Ellen Stevenson shares her story for Aotearoa in 20, a Stuff special project.
I whakamāui ake tēnei kaipakihi Māori i tētahi mate onge rawa i a ia e tamariki ana, ā, kua whakamihia e ia tōna whānau mō tōna tūnga i tēnei rā. Ka tiri a Ellen Stevenson i tana kōrero ki a Aotearoa in 20, he kaupapa motuhake nā Stuff.
Ko Ellen tōku ingoa
Ko Kakepuku tōku maunga
Ko Waipa tōku awa
Ko Ngāti Maniapoto tōku iwi.
I was born in Ōtorohanga and I grew up there my whole life. I have two brothers and I lived a happy childhood.
I whānau mai au ki Ōtorohanga, ā, pakeke ana, kei konei tonu ahau. Tokorua ōku tungāne, ā, he tino harikoa tōku tamarikitanga.
When I was five I had a rare illness and that sort of dampened a lot of my childhood till I was about 12, I think. I still had ongoing effects and once I overcome that I went to Ōtorohanga College then to New Plymouth Girls and finished up my college years in Te Awamutu. Once I turned 18, it was good.
E rima ōku tau ka pā te mate onge ki a au, ā, ka pouri tōku ao i tērā. Kia 12 tau rā anō tōku pakeke, makere atu ai tērā pouritanga i a au. I te whakawhiungia tonutia tōku tinana e tēnei mate, engari nō taku patu i te whewheia nei ka tae atu au ki te Kura Tuarua o Ōtorohanga, i mua i taku haerenga ki te Kura Kōtiro o Ngāmotu, ā, oti rawa ōku tau kura tuarua ki Te Awamutu. Kia 18 tōku pakeke, ka pārekareka haere tōku ao.
It’s called HSP (Henoch-Schonlein Purpura) and it was a rare illness for my immune system. So, essentially it started with a sore throat, and then over time I couldn’t walk. I was pretty much comatose for eight months.
Ko te mate nei ko HSP (Henoch-Schonlein Purpura), ā, he mate onge i pā ki taku pūnaha awhikiri. I tīmata ki te korokoro mamae, nāwai, kua kore e taea te hīkoi. E waru marama au ka noho ngoikore noa.
**READ MORE:
* Aotearoa in 20: Maurice Flynn has had over 100 operations, but is making life his own
* Aotearoa in 20: Living in an abandoned gentlemen’s club and really enjoying life
**
The only way I got out of it was obviously whānau prayers and whānau support. I was offered steroids but the effects of steroids could have meant anything and I might not be here if I had taken that option. My parents decided to give me all-natural options instead, and so my aunty did all this research, high and low, and found immune support tonic and everything natural you can imagine and that got me through.
Kotahi anake te huarahi i ora ai ahau, arā, ko ngā karakia me ngā manaakitanga a te whānau. He mea tono ki a au ngā pūtaiaki, engari ko te mate o te pūtaiaki kāore pea au e ora mēnā i tīpakotia e au tērā kōwhiringa. Ko te whakatau tērā a ōku mātua kia whāngai mai ko ngā kōwhiringa māori, ā, ka rangahautia mai e taku whaea kēkē ki wīwī, ki wāwā, ā, ka kitea mai te rongoā inu me ngā whakaoranga māori, nā konā, i ora anō au.
I essentially got booted out of the hospital because there was nothing more they could do and yeah, whānau support. I’m really healthy now.
The biggest thing that drives me is appreciating natural medicines, obviously needing doctors' opinions and that, I still appreciate that, but for my situation having tonics and natural herbal remedies like that really helped me. It drove me to understand my health and the importance of life, for my parents as well, they went through a lot.
Ko te mea nui e aki ana i a au ko taku whakaute ki ngā rongoā māori. Ahakoa anō te pai o ngā tohutohu a te tākuta, mōku ake, kua tino piki taku ora i ngā rongoā inu me ngā rongoā māori. Nō konā, mātou ko ōku mātua hoki, i mātau ai ki taku hauora me te whai hiranga o te oranga, ahakoa anō he tino taumaha ki a rāua.
I had a great Aunt, Aunty Pol. She was my nan’s sister, and she pretty much had me since I was born, not whāngai, but she would say ‘can I pick up Ellen’, and she named me.
Apparently I was the only one that she would just spoil, and she was the only one I would go to and just settle with. She played a huge role in my life.
He rawe tonu taku Whaea kēkē, a Whaea Pol. Hei tuahine ia nā tōku kuia, ā, nō taku whānautanga ka riro au i a ia, engari kāpā hei whāngai. Kua mea atu ia ‘pai tonu taku tiki i a Ellen’, nāna tonu tōku ingoa i tapa.
Te āhua nei ko hau anake te mea i pērātia e ia, ā, kua haere atu au i tōna taha, kua āta tau anō taku noho. He whetū ārahi ia i ōku takatū ki te mata o te whenua.
She was super strong and growing up I never understood what she was teaching me. She wasn’t like ‘right Ellen, you need to do this, this and this’. It was more just the conversations we would have and it’s not until now that I'm like, ‘ah that’s what she was teaching me’, but it was really low-key teaching.
He wahine pakari ia, ā, pakeke ake ana tē aro i a au ngā mea e ākona ana mai e ia. Kīhai ia i pēnei mai, ‘tēnā Ellen, me pēnei koe, me pērā koe’. Nā runga i ā māua whakawhitiwhiti kōrero nō konei noa iho ka mārama au, ‘āta, koia tonu nei āna tohutohu mai’, otirā, ko ngā kura huna ērā āna.
In 2014, my brother had an accident, and he had a brain aneurysm. I think he was 25, and that’s why I left New Plymouth Girls High School to come back to Te Awamutu.
I te tau 2014 ka aituā taku tungāne, ā, ka pāngia e te mate ioio roro. E 25 tau pea tana pakeke, ā, ko te take tērā i wehe atu au i te Kura Tuarua Mō Ngā Kōtiro o Ngāmotu ki Te Awamutu.
He was in the hospital for four months. It was really touch and go and it just played a significant role because that whānau support and backing him, we all just dropped everything to support him. It was significant because it taught me just how special life is.
E whā marama e takoto ana ia i te hōhipera. Tata tonu ka riro ia i ngā matihao ō mate, ka opeope oratia mai i ngā manaaki me ngā tautoko a te whānau. Ka mahue atu ngā mea katoa, hei tautoko atu i a ia. He mea nui i taku ako ki tēnei taonga motuhenga o te oranga.
He’s good now. He still has ongoing effects, but he is alive, and he has a daughter and him and his wife are good.
Kua pai ia ināianei. Ahakoa he wā anō kua putaputa mai te mate, engari ko te mea nui kei te ora tonu ia, tae atu ki tā rāua kōtiro me tōna hoa rangatira.
My daily routine is I get up, have avocado on toast always, and then I drive 40 minutes from Te Kuiti to Te Awamutu. Then I mahi hard and drive home, cook dinner then blob or do more work.
I ia rā kua maranga ake au, kua kai au i taku tōhi he mea pani ki te rahopūru, ā, mutu rawa ake kua taraiwa e 40 meneti mai i Te Kuiti ki Te Awamutu. Kātahi, ka whakapau kaha i te mahi, kua taraiwa anō au ki te kāinga, kua tunu i te ō ahiahipō, kua tīraharaha, kua huri ki aku mahi rānei.
Things I hate is I don’t have enough motivation to get up earlier and do more, like go for a run because I love my sleep.
Ko ngā mea e ongaonga nei au, ko te noho ngoikore rawa, kāore taku kaha ki te oho moata ki te puta atu ki te omaoma, nā taku rawe ki te moe.
The other thing I don’t like is getting home and blobbing, I just feel like I need to be doing more.
Atu i tērā, ka kawa au ki te tīraharaha noa ki te kāinga, i taku mahara, arā atu anō ngā mahi māku.
I love being able to get up and come to mahi. I love that I do get breakfast and I do have a home and warm environment, that I do get to wake up to every day, and that I do have a daily routine that I’m in control of.
E mānawatia ana e au te matika, me te haere ki te mahi. E mānawatia ana ka whiwhi parakuihi au, ā, he kāinga mahana tōku i tōku ohonga ake i ia rā, ā, e whai mahere ana tōku rā, arā, ko au anō te rangatira o tōku ao.
I love that I’ve got a home and I love that we are in a position where we can own our home and do all of that. One thing I hate is that we are in the middle of renovations and having the time and the money to do that is very slow.
E mānawatia ana e au he kāinga tōku, ā, kua tū pakari mātou ki te hoko kāinga me ērā tū āhuatanga katoa. Ko te mea ongaonga kē, e whakahouhia ana ā-roto i te whare, ā, he tino pōturi te haere mēnā he iti te wā, he iti hokirānei te pūtea.
The thing I’m most proud of is running the store, Narrativ. It wasn’t something that I thought I would be doing, nor did I train or try to get here, if that makes sense.
I’m proud that I get the opportunity to run and manage this place.
Ko te mea e tino whakahīhī ana au ko te whakahaere i te toa, a Narrativ. Kāore au i paku whakaaro koinei te mahi māku, kīhai i whakangungua, kīhai rānei au i tino ngana kia whiwhi i tēnei tūnga mēnā e whai mai ana koe.
E whakahīhī ana au i homaihia tēnei mahi ki te whakahaere i te toa.
The thing that scares me is losing whānau. We are so family-orientated.
Ko te mea e tino wehi ana au ko te ngaronga o tōku whānau. Ko te whānau tō mātou ao.
In 10 years' time I see myself married, children, healthy, whole, and I see myself honestly just being happy. No matter where I am in life whether it is work or I don’t know what job I will be in next. But in 10 years, I see myself just happy and healthy.
Ka anamata taku titiro ki te tekau tau e tū mai nei. Kua mārena au, kua whai tamariki, kua mauritau, kua harikoa, ki te kōrero pono atu au ki a koe. Ahakoa kei hea anō au i tēnei ao, i taku mahi rānei, e mōhio ana au, hei te 10 tau e tū mai nei, he harikoa, he ora taku noho.
As told to Florence Kerr for ‘Aotearoa in 20’, a Stuff project.
He mea kōrero mai ki a Florence Kerr o ‘Aotearoa in 20’, te tūmahi Stuff.
* Translation provided by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori/Māori Language Commission.