Rhi | Papatoetoe
“I was born and raised in Hamilton. I’ve been back and forth from Hamilton and Auckland for the last six years or so. I’m a beauty therapist. I’m on my way to start my studies for my diploma.
A random act of kindness? I’m the type of person that if someone needs like my support, or someone needs someone to talk to, I’m their main person to go to. Like, I put everyone else before myself and I just generally make everybody happy.
The last time I connected with a stranger would have been three weeks ago. There was a girl that looked like she was my age. She was crying and everything, and I went up to her and asked if she was alright, and then I sat down with her for about an hour and a half, and had like a real good conversation with her, just being there for her, for someone that she didn’t know, so she could just talk to, and I felt really, felt really, really happy afterwards, the fact that I left and she was laughing and she was smiling.
My last heart to heart conversation was with my mum. She’s just had a baby and things aren’t really going good as we had planned, but it’s getting a lot better now, and just being able to sit there and talk to her about past things that have happened.
I’m the oldest child on my mum’s side. I’ve got older siblings from my dad’s side, and um, I’m just the type of person that if someone’s feeling down I’ve got to try and make their day like, I’ll message my mum every day and say, good morning and have a good day, and she knows she can text me if she’s not feeling really well, and so I’ll just tell her, you know you’re a beautiful woman, you can stick through this, you’ve been through so much stuff in the past but you’ve gotten through it, and like even just talking with my cousin, just able to, like I know I can’t provide her with the answers that she wants, but I can provide her with someone to be able to talk to without being judged.
You never know what they’re going through, or what’s happening with them, but all they need is that one person to be able to sit down with them and talk to them, and just be able to open up to them about what’s going on without, yeah without really feeling judged. Like, I love it when people come up to me and ask if I’m alright, you know? If I’m upset and they come up and ask me if I’m alright, and they sit down with me and talk to me, and it’s the same thing that I like to provide for other people.”
