STATE OF AFFAIRS
Rewa Harriman’s role model
If you do an internet search on Rewa Harriman, the first thing that comes up is a video of The Hui reporter chatting with US mega-star Oprah Winfrey.
Rewa was doing a live cross for Maori news programme Te Kaˉea at Orakei Marae in 2015 and had no idea if she’d get a chance to talk to the legend.
“When I started my cross, I wasn’t sure whether or not she would be coming,” she says. “So I finished my sentence and just hoped that when I turned, she’d be there. It so happened that it worked out perfectly.”
Rewa then proceeded to carry off an impromptu interview with the world’s most famous talk-show host with the same aplomb that saw her rise to the top of New Zealand tennis as a teenager, before changing careers and becoming a respected journalist.
She credits her dad
Ruka Hudson with laying the foundation for her success. The pair share a particularly close bond − Ruka raised Rewa and her four siblings on his own from when Rewa was seven.
“When my parents divorced, Dad took all the kids. His reasoning was, obviously he wanted us all, but he didn’t want his three daughters to be in a house with another man. He was adamant that wasn’t going to happen.”
Ruka devoted himself to his children – never
letting the fact that he had lost both of his legs in the Vietnam War hold him back.
“He had that army background, so there was discipline at home, and routine, and all those good things that kids need but don’t necessarily enjoy,” tells Rewa fondly.
Ruka had only been in Vietnam for 10 weeks when he stepped on a land mine that altered the course of his life. He didn’t lose his legs straight away, but doctors eventually had to amputate to prevent gangrene. When he returned to New Zealand, he learnt to drive a modified vehicle and threw himself into painting and engraving – things that didn’t require the use of his legs.
“If you’re tied down in a wheelchair or whatever, you just have to get on with the situation,” explains Ruka.
“Losing my legs in Vietnam is just one of those things that happened and you just have to get on with life.”
He spent hours with Rewa and her brothers and sisters at the tennis court. “I’d sit at the other end of the court with a bucket of balls and hit them to them. My first guy, he played tennis for New Zealand too. I just happened to teach them all to play tennis. I didn’t push them, but Rewa was into anything that I would give her.”
Rewa went on to become New Zealand’s top female tennis player. She retired at 20 and spent two years learning Maori in an immersion course. Unsure of what to do next, she thought, “Okay, I need to make some decisions. I love sport. I want to keep upskilling in te reo and so I decided on Maori broadcasting.”
She went to the Auckland University of Technology to study journalism and has worked in the industry ever since, while also becoming a mum to Atamai (12) and Mauri (10) with her husband Dave (37).
Ruka watches his daughter on television with the same pride as he did courtside. “I’ve had good success with all my children. They’re tremendous... I’m very proud of them.”
Thanks to her current role on Maori current affairs show The Hui, in 2016, Rewa had the opportunity to take Ruka, her brother Maui Hudson (45), sister Naumai Tutua (43) and Ruka’s grandkids Koare Hudson (17) and Maihi Tutua (12), plus two other veterans back to Vietnam.
Ruka admits to never really talking about his experiences there and is adamant that he wouldn’t have returned to Vietnam if his family hadn’t been with him, but is now glad he did.
“You know the reason I went over there was for adventure,” Ruka tells. “It wasn’t anything to do with the war. It was nothing to do with the politics. The people there were so nice.
“When we were there, there was a Vietnamese guy sitting on the side of the track. He had lost his legs. I climbed out of my chair and sat down with him and asked where he lost his legs. He pointed up the side of the hill, where I had lost my legs. Apparently, it was mined quite a lot up there.”
Rewa says the whole family came away with a greater understanding of what Ruka endured and how that time has made him such a fantastic dad.
“He’s the greatest father,” says Rewa. “He did such a great job of bringing us up and he’s such a good role model.
“There’s this saying in Maori, Kaˉore te kumara e koˉrero moˉ toˉna ake reka – the kumara does not say how sweet he is.
It’s hard for me to talk about ourselves, but we’ve all done really well thanks to him. He got us through university and everyone is successful in their own careers.”