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National | Business

Auckland mum takes rongoā Māori to the world

A West Auckland Māori mum has created a balm using kawakawa to heal eczema and it’s proved to be so popular that she quit her job as a lawyer to focus on her new business.

Now her products are being sold online to people all over the world.

Michele Wilson (Tainui, Ngāti Paoa) decided to learn how to make rongoā after her 18-month-old daughter suffered from eczema and pharmaceuticals weren't helping.

“It was heartbreaking.  I didn’t know what to do.  She would wake through the night crying with itchy skin and when I’d get her in the morning her sheets would be stained with blood from scratching so much,” she says.

Wilson says it was hard to know who to trust with specialists and doctors giving her contradictory information about what to use.

“So I decided to turn to my heritage and learn how to make rongoā, and the kawakawa repair balm that I developed instantly cleared her skin.”

After her products became popular in her community she quit her job as a lawyer to start her business, Frankie Apothecary.

“I had no intention of it being a business.  I was happy to make for the local community but my orders became so frequent so I was able to resign from being a lawyer and take it full time.”

Wilson says her products, including body oil, vapour-rub and sunscreen, sell online all over the world.

“Just last week I got orders from California, Texas, Japan. We're exporting into the UK at the moment.  It’s really popular here in New Zealand as well which is the most important thing to me.”

Wilson says her biggest goal in the future is to spread knowledge of rongoā products across the world.

About kawakawa

Kawakawa is one of the most distinctive New Zealand native plants and one of the most important healing herbs in rongoā Maori.

Kawakawa leaf applications were also used for bruises and rheumatism, the pain of neuralgia and nettle stings, as well as for eczema.

The leaves, chewed or made into infusions, were widely used as treatments for stomach pains and indigestion.

Kawakawa is also used as a tonic with gentle, stimulating and rejuvenating properties, and early settlers substituted it for tea, due to its refreshing and sustaining properties.