By RNZ and is republished with permission
Inspired by her late mother Lilika, the Olympian activist is raising awareness about preventable illness.
Caption:Dame Valerie Adams hopes Jammies for June will kick off a national conversation about how we can better prevent illnesses that hit the Māori and Pasifika community hard.Photo credit:via Celebrity Speakers
With a mother who died of cervical cancer at just 39, Dame Valerie Adams is passionate about encouraging women to get cancer screenings via Women’s Health Week.
Knowing firsthand what it’s like to live in a South Auckland state house, she’s also the face of Jammies for June – a fundraising campaign to help keep tamariki, especially those coming out of hospital, warm and well this winter.
“A lot of these kids probably don’t even have pyjamas, probably never seen any. To see the smiles on their face when they’re leaving the hospital, if they get a pair of pyjamas with their siblings and their whānau… man, honestly, it just fills my cup,” the four-time world shot put champion tells RNZ’s Saturday Morning.
For many New Zealanders, preventable illnesses like asthma, respiratory disease, and rheumatic fever are “out of sight, out of mind”, Adams says.
But growing up in Māngere, the four-time Olympic medallist saw the daily struggle many parents have just to keep their kids warm and well.
“We’re talking about houses that are struggling to pay for power, or sometimes shutting off power just to save a bit of money, haven’t got enough kai in their cupboards and access to health.
“There are some people who screw the system over, but not everybody does it. The majority of people are actually struggling, are actually trying their best to make ends meet. Parents are working three jobs to try and put a roof over their head or to put gas in their tanks to get their kids to school.”
Dame Valerie Adams: Winning in other ways
Visiting a South Auckland family living in a garage recently (with the Mana Kidz programme), Adams says it “hit home hard” when she found it had the same “real thin glass” as her childhood home.
“I was going to knock on the window to say hey, and they had the bloody glass. Honestly, trauma came back. I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, people are still living like this with these thin glasses that I could flick and smash.
“Sometimes people are too whakama or too shy or don’t know where to go. If a family does need help and they’re entitled to it, please let them know, ‘You need to contact your GP’.”
“It must be so scary out in Ōtara”, Adams overheard someone say the other day.
Her response was, “Where did you hear that rubbish from? They’re the most friendliest people ever.”
“You need to hit up the Ōtara markets and Māngere markets. They’ve got the best kai. They’ve got cheap fruit and vegetables. Please go out and check them out because it’s a great morning for the family, for the whānau to be around that environment and that community.”
Growing up, Adams saw clearly how “completely different” opportunities for young Auckland athletes were, depending on where they lived.
A school PE teacher spent her own money to buy a pair of throwing shoes for the future two-time Olympic gold-winning shot putter.
Now sponsored by Nike, Adams has “shoes coming out of her ears” and sends many pairs on to aspiring athletes around New Zealand.
“That could make a difference, because those pair of shoes that I got when I was young made a difference.”
The 41-year-old is now bringing her perspective as a proud Polynesian woman to tough, necessary conversations about the “very Eurocentric” sport of athletics as Chair of the World Athletics Athletes’ Commission.
“I was always very shy. [In the past] I was like ‘I’ve got nothing to give. These people are all smart. I’m dumb’. That’s just the way we think and the mindset we had.
“I was a bit quiet for the first few meetings and then slowly found my voice. Now it’s okay. I feel like I belong, you know.”
This Mother’s Day, with her two children, she will visit the urupā [grave] of her mother Lilika, a very strong Tongan woman with Christian values who sacrificed a lot for her family.
“I’m one of these crazy people., I go there a lot, but it just gives me peace and comfort. I know it’s not for everyone, but it works for me. My kids have never met her, but they know exactly who she is. ‘This is Nanny Lilika, and we’re going to go clean her up.'”
Although Lilika died back in 2000, Adams says she still cries over her loss.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, losing your mum is one of the worst feelings in the world. Everybody that has their mum still around, I always tell them, ‘Cherish them’.
“Also, she died of something that was preventable, [so] why isn’t she here? She should have been here. There were a lot of very tough moments for me.”
