Revelations of Nurse's District Survey

Chronicle (Levin), 27 September 1949, Page 3

Revelations of Nurse's District Survey

A disturbing report ou Maori housing conditions in the Palmerston North Hospital Board 7s distriet, prepared on observations made during a personal survey by the Shannon distriet nurse, Miss D. J. Macdonald, gave members cause for concern when it was tabled at the board 7s monthly meeting yesterday. It revealed deplorable conditions existing in rural areas where' several Maori families are living under one roof, many homes being without adequate sanitary facilities with a consequent ever-present menace fo health. One overcrowded pa houses two families, 15 people in all, in one meet-ing-house. In another meeting-house, a 'slightly larger one, there are two families of nine adults and six children. A iarge dining room houses a family of nine, two adults and seven children. This family eooks in a tumbledown mud-fioored kitchen and the other two families in a smail separate building. There are no bathrooms or washhouses and in wet weather the surroundings

are a sea of smelly mud. At another camp a family of eight lives in a broken-down army hut with no proper windows and only two doors to let in light. In wet weather the roof leaks |ind there is an open drain only a few yards away. A second hut' is used as a washhouse as there is no proper washhouse or bathroom. Here again the surroundings are just a sea of mud iu wet weather. Oue large room divided into living and sleeping quarters is. the home of two adults and three children in another part of the distriet. In another "house" in the same area a family of two adults and nine children is living in two large rooms. The surroundings are mnddy and there is an open drain at the back of the building. There is

no bathroom or washhouse. To reaeh another settlement, which is half-a-mile off the main road, it is neeessary to plough through a large paddoek of mud iu wet weather. There are four families living here, the houses being in quite good condition. A bathroom and washhouse unit is being built. There i.s one four-roomed house where niue people live, but otherwise there is no overcrowding. There is no electricity and there is an open. drain nearby. In another settlement, there is a family of nine living in a threeroomed dilapidated house but it is understood that a house will be built for the family iu the near future. Miss Macdonald sums up her observations by statiug: "The best way to get a picture of the homes would be to visit them on a wet day or following a few wet days — gumboots would be neeessary. After considering the report in committee, the board released a portion of it to the Press. It resolved that it should be referred to the Health Department.