Book sales support Centre

1 October 2008

A special book about a mother's search for help for her sick daughter is bringing benefit to children at the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre.

The book, The Gift of Mamaku , written and illustrated by Robina Adamson, is a story of love and magic from the land of Aotearoa. And, for every copy sold, both Robina and the publisher, Utopia Press, are making a donation to the Centre

Robina's own daughter, Mali, comes to the Centre each week for music therapy, and Mali is one of the central characters in the book.

"It is a non-fiction story," says Robina, "set in the present time, yet one of the central characters is an ancestor, or Tupuna, of the Maori and Pacific people from long ago."

The Tupuna is a magical man who shares his knowledge of the healing properties of the Mamaku, or tree fern, with the mother.

One of the key themes of the book is that we are caretakers of the land, and that we need to develop a sense of "oneness" with nature. Robina has a special interest in the environment, particularly in environmental pollution, and has campaigned on the safe use of agricultural chemicals.

Her other passion is the plight of indigenous peoples, and she has visited Maori in remote communities in New Zealand and shortly to visit aboriginal groups in Australia, promoting her book.

To read more about this wonderful woman, and to order your copy of The Gift of Mamaku, please go to http://www.giftofmamaku.com/.