For women living in the isolated rural settlement of Rapaki, Banks Peninsula, in the mid-20th century, the Maori Women's Welfare League was a godsend.

League meetings provided an opportunity for women to meet other women – Maori and Pakeha – within their own community and further afield, and develop skills that assisted their whanau and community.

Over the years it became clear that there was a need to capture the memories of the early days of the Rapaki Maori Women's Welfare League before they were lost forever as foundation members passed on.