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Wairoa Port - Age No Barrier
Monday, 20 May 2024
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Wairoa Port - Age No Barrier One of the alumnae that we welcomed to our 40s, 50s and 60s reunion was Wairoa Port. Wairoa was one of 5 students from the 1940s who attended the reunion. After a 15 year career as a primary school teacher she embarked on her first degree at the age of 56, graduating from the University of Auckland graduating with a BA Double Major in Education and Maori Studies at age 60. Her MA thesis in 1995 was entitled 'He mate huhua he tirohanga Māori: Clubfoot, Māori attitudes to disability." In 2007 aged 74 she earned her PhD in Māori and Pacific Health and Molecular Medicine, exploring DNA testing for cancer susceptibility, with a focus on the needs of Māori. Described as a taonga Wairoa is now on the Māori Adviosry Board for the Centre for Brain Research in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. |