‘I’ve learnt to be myself and step into my own power’
Dozens of lives needlessly end each year through accidental drownings, and as the country approaches February, the deadliest month, there have been 69 drownings in the past 12 months.
Men, Māori and Pasifika are overrepresented in the statistics. The alarming figures persuaded Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio to lend her mana to water safety promotion. In an already busy life dominated by sport and the demands of a three-year-old, Ekenasio is using her new-found voice and confi-dence for causes ranging from water safety to sustainable period protection. She’s also bringing a change of leadership style to the Silver Ferns.
“I am a first-time mum and didn’t realise there were so many drownings – babies too – so I am the under-fives ambassador.”
From a personal perspective, Ekenasio (Ngāpuhi) is growing her connections to her whānau, whakapapa and te reo. She and siblings Haldaana and Jordan were raised in Queensland by their Australian mother, Denese. Their father, Anthony, from whom they have their New Zealand citizenship and Ngāpuhi heritage, did not live with them, and Ekenasio has
