When Aotearoa went into lockdown, Pania Matthews (Ngāti Hine) received a text from her mother.
“There’s no greater voice than that of a mother. When we spoke, that in 48 hours that the country would go in lockdown, I thought that I would stay in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton).
“But mum texted me saying ‘Come home!’ Six hours later, I arrived in the Wairarapa!” Pania Matthews says.
Mother Paremo Matthews explains what it was like having her daughter and mokopuna by her side.
“It was fine, because there’s only the three of us. We’re all female, me, my daughter and my grandmother.
Alert level three means that one more of her mokopuna can come into her bubble. The whānau sang the old wartime classic ‘E Te-Hokowhitu-a- Tū’. Pania Matthews says that despite Anzac Day being last week, it’s important to always remember those that fell for our freedoms.