Maria Morehu's family appeal to bring her home.

Maria Hinemaiaia Morehu was born and raised on the shores of Lake Taupō, Hātepe. She raised her own family of 5 children in Taupō and in 2009 moved to Abu Dhabi to take on full-time employment as a school teacher, teaching English as a second language. One July morning in 2014, as she stepped down from the curb her legs gave way. She broke both of her ankles and the recovery was long. When she was eventually ready to return back to school she found that she no longer held a teaching position with the Abu Dhabi Educational Council.

Without an income and unable to make payments on her loans, the banks closed her accounts, a travel ban was imposed and police cases for each debt were opened. Although Maria has had job offers which would have assisted in servicing her loan payments, she is legally unemployable due to her police cases. Furthermore, since she turned 60 years old, she is legally unable to work in a teaching role. She has had no way of generating income to repay the debts.

Her family have tried their best to assist her financially from home. Maria has spent a large majority of the past 5-6 years fighting for the insurance that she paid while she was working to cover her for loss of income. 3 lawyers have made no progess along that line of legal inquiry and over that time the interest has compounded. The last time Maria’s daughter was with her 6 months ago their calculations were estimated at $40,000-$50,000NZD worth of debt.

In her absence, 4 of her siblings have passed away. She has missed the funerals of 2 of her sisters and 2 of her brothers. She has missed the births of many mokopuna and most recently missed her son’s wedding. She left New Zealand at 50 and is now 61 years old.

In recent months, Maria has been beset with heart problems. Because she has no health insurance and has police cases against her, she is ineligible for medical attention or medication. Most nights she has trouble sleeping as her chest pains are unbearable.

A few days ago Maria was arrested and imprisoned. We spoke briefly with her while she was waiting to be transferred to her permanent prison. She was fearful that she wouldn’t survive the harsh conditions in prison with her heart complications and pleaded with us to find a way to bring her home. She is physically weak and her spirit is broken. We fear for her life in a foreign country that she cannot leave until her debt is settled.

The family have no further financial resources to draw on and now find themselves in a desperate situation where they must reach out to the public to plead for generosity by way of donations to assist her desperate situation. There is no other way.

The funds raised will be used solely to service her loans, to pay any legal fees required to release her from jail, eventually from the country and finally her travel home. A whānau member is preparing her own personal finances to travel over to visit her, to deal with her issues in person and gain clearance from the police cases and travel bans that beseige her. Maria’s prison term is one month. It is a punishment for not abiding by her civic duty to pay her bills. None of her debt amount will be settled by this time in prison. She will return to court to be judged and re-sentenced in a months time.

The Givealittle funds raised will be administered and managed by her niece Ruby Pitiroi and her sister Flo Putaura on behalf of Maria, her children and mokopuna . Ko te ngākau aroha tēnei e tangi atu nei, e mihi atu nei.