Ninakaye Taane-Tinorau is known for her success as the managing director of brother Tiki Taane’s label Dirty Dub. She is more than two decades sober, so to celebrate she is raising funds for Dry July to support cancer-affected whānau.
This year Ninakaye Taane-Tinorau established a safe space for recovering addicts called ‘On The Waka’ to join the Dry July campaign, and to work toward a sober future.
“For me, it's easy right māmā noaiho (easy), it’s just another month, you know what I mean? But for some of them, it's a huge deal to commit to a month of sobriety and I just feel so incredibly proud of them,” Taane-Tinorau says.
The campaign leader fell into the sex industry as a teenager, as a stripper, and peep show dancer, which made her vulnerable to the world of alcohol and drugs.
Experimenting with substances, Taane-Tinorau spent a number of years experiencing blackouts, not remembering much, and “just getting completely wasted all the time”.
She became pregnant with her first son, and says this was the main catalyst to begin her journey of sobriety.
Whanau cancer
Taane-Tinorau’s drive to support cancer this Dry July stems from the prevalence of this illness within her own whānau. Her father was found to have pancreatic cancer and was given only a few weeks to live, and her sister was diagnosed with throat cancer but luckily survived.
“We were very, very fortunate we got to spend that time with him. But just seeing how quickly it took him out,” she says. “He tino ngāngara tēnei mea te cancer (cancer is a real parasite).”
Taane-Tinorau says so far they've raised nearly $4000 but the goal is to reach $5000 by the end of July.
“I'm a grandmother now as well, and that just really heightens for me. The need for me to continue on this huarahi (path) here because I don't just have my tamariki eyes looking at me. I have my mokopuna as well.”
She hopes the 'On the Waka' will serve as a safe space, and the insights gained by the members will guide them not only through July but throughout the rest of their lives.
