Juliana | Pukekohe
“Māngere is pretty much home to me, but I’ve just recently moved out to Pukekohe.
It’s a bit of a change for us, coming from the hard knocks life in Māngere.
Within our support service that we provide under Skills Update Training Institution, we support the young Pacific Island youth in furthering education based on their skill and their talent, instead of just pushing them towards something that they probably won’t last with. So if we build a trust, you know relationship with them, they actually feel good about themselves with the service that we provide that helps them get into the education. So that’s the last time I actually felt good about it, is helping those ones that need it.
I’ve been down that road before where you know, you leave school early, you don’t know where you’re going from there. We didn’t have that kind of support service back in our generation at the time, but you know, having this support service, we’re able to provide it for the young ones now, due to life experiences.
There’s a lot family problems, and just your presence is where it’s most needed for them. A hug and a kiss to my partner who suffered from depression due to, you know, background. Being there and just supporting them throughout it, you know just is a great feeling for them.
Depression isn’t exactly easy being the other person without it. Having to live through it, but if you show you’re kind hearted and you’re understanding and caring attitude towards it, you know, they could really come out of it in a positive way. You don’t have to belittle them, and my partner appreciates that from me, because that’s just the inner person I am. I tend to love a lot, and what I believe in; God is love.
So that’s what we share here. You share love all around. There’s no need for negativity. You’ve got to see the better, the positive things out of everybody. Not everybody’s the same. Everybody’s different. They’re just unique in their own different way, and you don’t have to tolerate it. Just got to acknowledge how they are and work around it, and that’s the kind of love I share. I try and understand people in their circumstances and what I can offer; hopefully they would see the positive out of it. You can’t change what people think, and see in life, but you can try and help by getting them to acknowledge the goodness that life brings them.
When you have someone who gives a lot of kindness and love to others, and then they rubbish it, it can effect someone so deeply at heart, yet when you know this person so well, how they are, and they and you know that is them the, the negative response they get back can really crush someone, and not many people can realise that. Not many people realise what they do, what they say, you know, to a person that actually gives their all to them.
So they experience that I went through was watching my partner give his all, with all honesty and love, and people just used it, and rubbished it, and that really made him really down and, and then being accused of things that you know that they’re not doing, can really crush them, and just feeding on it, on that one particular person, and yet this person feels like they have to justify themselves, and then feel like their life has to depend on justifying themselves to other people. People don’t realise how depressing that can be for someone. So, if you have a support person, like a partner who really does understand those things, there’s no-one else they can turn to when everyone else in the world is crushing down on them, but those that are right next to them that really understand and want to give their time to them. Yeah, it’s not easy, because not only do you have to think about themselves, you have to think about yourself, too.”
