Empowering women to take charge of their health

Creating a safe, comfortable space for difficult conversations.

Pinikilicious Event Volunteers.

With over 30-years' experience working in education and volunteering for community causes such as Porirua’s Pacific Community Patrols, Porirua Pacific Services Network and the Pacific Education Plan, Pinikilicious Co-Founder, Caroline Mareko knows how to make things happen. So, when the question came up, ''what are we going to do about Pacific Women's Health?", she knew exactly where to start.  

Opening up communication channels 

Statistically, Pacific Women have a higher Breast Cancer mortality rate than any other ethnic group in New Zealand. This statistic is not correlated to a genetic predisposition, but to a trend of late-stage diagnosis when treatment options are limited. Knowing this, Caroline knew that she, and her volunteer team, had to find an engaging way to encourage a higher volume of breast screenings. 

“Breast cancer is not something that is talked about, even among close friends or family, so we knew we had to find a way to open up communication channels as a first step to improving these statistics,” says Caroline.  

Instantly, Caroline knew that the initiative had to A) be fun, B) be accessible and C) have a name that reflected both of these things. “We knew that the word ‘cancer’ would need to be omitted – it would immediately scare people off,” says Caroline. “Instead, we opted for ‘Pinikilicious’; a fun, inviting name without any scary undertones.”  

A great day out

A Pinikilicious event follows a simple, relaxed format, which aims to deliver a fun day out while creating a safe space in which women’s health issues can be comfortably discussed. The attendees, of which there were 300 at their last event in April, are invited to listen to music, have lunch and indulge in a pampering session. “These pampering sessions provide the perfect, relaxed environment to talk about things that are traditionally quite difficult to bring up,” says Caroline.  

And, while the ultimate goal of the event is to refer women on for breast screenings and health checks, it also provides an opportunity to affirm the importance of a woman's role within her family.

"We take the time to acknowledge how important each woman is for her family, and how important it is that she is there for many years to come. This resonates so much with the ladies and really helps us to communicate the importance of getting a breast screening," says Caroline.  

Exceeding local screening targets 

Since their first event in 2011, Pinikilicious are proud to have directly referred over 750 women for breast screenings; a statistic which is only made more impressive by the fact that they're exceeding screening targets set by the district health board. They have also diversified, now offering information on other health and social issues such as cervical cancer and domestic violence, and a ‘princess corner’ for young girls as a core part of the event. This ‘princess corner’ not only provides a childcare option for Pinikilicious event attendees but also a chance to educate young girls on key women's health issues from an early age.  

Having expanded their reach into the Hutt and Wellington from their beginnings in Porirua, Pinikilicious is scaling fast. Next up, they plan to collaborate with the Ministry of Women Minitatanga mō ngā Wāhine to provide a platform for Pacific women to voice issues that are important to them and create a vehicle for legislative change.

“Too much, Pacific women are talked about but not actually consulted when it comes to policy. We hope that the next chapter for Pinikilicious can create a platform for Pacific women to vocalise what's important to them and a movement to influence positive social change for our community,” says Caroline.

Nikau Foundation was delighted to grant $3000.00 to Pinikilicious, contributing to event operating expenses. "To make Pinikilicious as accessible as possible, it was important that the event was free for attendees as well as stallholders. Our key partner Regional Screening has been with us from the start with funding support, engaging with women to be on the free programme and consistently following up to ensure our women attend their appointments. Every year we have stallholder friends such as the Cancer Society, Whitereia Bachelor of Pacific Nursing Programme, Tu Ora Compass Health, Porirua Union community Health, Capital & Coast DHB.”

"Tuatahi Centre gave a generous donation of 160 pampering gift packs to give away and professional photography of our event for 3 hours. Most importantly are the many volunteers of pamperers who have their own personal connection and story to the cause” says Caroline. 

“The grant from Nikau Foundation has helped to ensure we can keep making a positive change, empowering women with vital information on their bodies, health risks and services available to them.” 

To find out more about Pinikilcious, please see their Facebook page.