Ehara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
As many of you will know, Whakataukī are proverbs in the Māori language. where the person who first said it first, is not known. Whakatauākī are proverbs where the person who said it first is known.
This one above, seems apt for the current situation, Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand and the world finds itself in.
For many of us, this is a time of extreme uncertainty, with many unanswered questions and challenges.
Whether it relates to employment, housing, relationships, travel, health, finances, or immigration the Covid-19 pandemic has added an overlay of complexity to our lives.
During this extended lockdown in Auckland, and for some time neighbouring provinces, I am proud to say that CAB has continued to provide the service remotely. Our volunteers are working from home, like many other New Zealanders. CAB has an 0800 number – 0800 367 222 – operating, which you can call or if you ring our branch, you will be redirected to a volunteer.
You can also email us on cab@ponsonby.org.nz and message us via the website’s live chat on www.cab.org.nz.
Citizens Advice Bureau Auckland City, our umbrella organisation for the 10 city CAB branches, has both a Facebook and Instagram page “cabauckland”, which you can follow. And you can contact us via those with questions too.
We cannot see you face to face at the moment but we can communicate and we can refer you where it is needed. For example, some of our legal and counselling clinics are operating remotely and we can find you a budget advice service working remotely.
We have been helping people across Auckland with finding local food bank services and some of our Auckland branches are working with Auckland Regional Public Health Service to assist people isolating at home due to being closely connected with Covid-19 positive cases, where they have non-health related issues.
Many of the Covid-19 related questions that people have relate to the sheer amount of information that is coming out of different branches of Government and it is sometimes difficult to distil it down when you are stressed.
We can help work through the wage subsidy payments, what you can and cannot do in the different alert levels. We are getting all manner of questions: Can I go to a tangi? Can I visit a dying relative? Can I move out of a level 3 area if I am relocating permanently? Can I shift flats? Can my employer make me go to work? My visa is running out but I cannot get a flight out of the country, what can I do? I am having money problems because of Covid-19! What can I use as proof that I have had the Covid-19 vaccination?
These are some examples of questions we receive. And, you too, can do your own research on our website and search it much like other search engines. But it is better than those. It is made for Aotearoa/New Zealand and you can rely on it as it is regularly updated as policy and law changes.
You can be sure that when you contact us, whatever your issue, there is someone who will listen to you. It can take as long as it takes. It is free and confidential and we do not judge. That is how I interpret that whakataukī above. Your issue is our issue too, we have a team of committed people working with us and we can work together to help you
take action.
Here is another one to finish:
Me mahi tahi tātou mō te orange o te katoa
We should work together for the wellbeing of everyone.
Brigit Timpson, Manager
Citizens Advice Bureau, 510 Richmond Road,
T: 09 376 0392, E: ponsonby@cab.org.nz
Published 5 November 2021