Tutukaka coastal clean-up in the bag

Lindy Laird | 15th March 2010

Come rain or shine, wearing his high-visibility vest, safety gloves and a  broad smile, Rongo Henare walks the roadsides and beaches of the Tutukaka Coast, picking up rubbish.

 He has collected 375 bags of rubbish between Tikipunga and Sandy Bay in the past seven weeks. Then there are  larger pieces of junk he picks up that won't fit in a rubbish bag. And some pretty ugly stuff too, one time the rotting head of a dog.

It's a labour of love.

"Look at this beautiful place," he says, sweeping an arm toward  spectacular coastal views in every direction. "How can people desecrate it by just leaving rubbish around?"

 His wife Lisa has almost given up expecting Mr Henare to go on the weekly shopping trip to Whangarei with her. Once he sees the plastic bags, paper, bottles, cans and other items on the roadside, he gets her to drop him off and pick him up again on the way home.

He's become a regular sight, walking along stuffing rubbish into bags.

It's a great way to keep fit, he jokes. And he gets to talk with  lovely people about his love of life, love of the earth goddess Papatuanuku, his constant battle with his personal demons, his sense of destiny - that part of his purpose in life is to clean up other people.

Every day people stop and chat to Mr Henare, praise his efforts, shoot the breeze with the man whose big smile, goodwill and cheery attitude belie the grip depression has on him. His illness hampers his ability to work fulltime but Mr Henare's voluntary clean-up job is personally rewarding, keeps him fit and active and is good for the environment and community, he says.

He told the Northern Advocate he had initially only asked Whangarei District Council to supply him with rubbish bags. He was thrilled when a staff member had offered to help him cover  costs he incurred in cleaning up the council's  overflowing public rubbish bins. Mr Henare had hoped it was a breakthrough, that his goodwill work might lead to an income.

He and his family find managing on a sickness benefit hard.

But media relations manager Ann Midson said the council could only help at a low-scale level.

"We really do appreciate what Mr Henare does, but we do not have a budget to pay him for what is essentially a voluntary effort," she said. Low-scale means the council supplies Mr Henare with rubbish bags and free access to the local transfer station.

Disappointed but undaunted, he says that as long as he can keep doing his community clean-up, he will.

"A lot of locals think I'm getting paid to do this. They think it's my job.

"I can't stop doing it. I can't go past rubbish and not pick it up. I've made myself a kaitiaki [caretaker] to this area."

Our community heroes don't get enough recognition.

So let's honour them.

If you know someone who should be publicly acknowledged for  his or her voluntary community work, we want to hear about it.

Email the person's name and a contact phone number to reporters@northernadvocate.co.nz and we'll do the rest.