Gemini | Takanini

“I’ve been living in Auckland for like, nearly five years, now. I did live in Palmerston North, but I left because at the time, I didn’t have my son in my care, so I left all of that behind. I ran away on road trips, and I ended up in Auckland to better myself. It’s just because my life was based around drugs and alcohol, and it was like that for years, and the the violence came into the picture, and then CYFS came into the picture, and I think I just ended up losing it.

I do remember the day, my sister had found these fellas from Wellington on her own little road trip and then brought them back to my house, and we all drunk and partied at my house, and I think the next day we all just got up, decided we were going on a road trip, and we went all up the North Island, and travelled. We stopped in places. Back-packers, hotels, and this is where I stopped.

When I got to Auckland, it took about a couple of weeks until I decided that was enough. I wanted my son back in my care. So I left all that behind, decided to settle here, and got an apartment. Then my family followed me up, and then I got kicked out of that first apartment, and so I had to be put in a motel, and then from there, I was looking for another house, and I decided that was enough. No more family, because I have no family here. No family, no friends. I thought it was time to get my stuff together, and so now I’m doing a course, and I decided I had had enough, and that I wanted my son in my care. Now, I’m in an apartment, and I have a daughter, and I am attending a course, and looking for part-time work. Five years it took me, but I find myself in a pretty good place, right now. Positive, and I won’t go back. I love Auckland. I love my course and my people in it.

I grew up in Feilding, which is a small little town down the line in Manawatū and that was all around alcohol and drugs, and violence, and then I guess I grew into thinking it was okay, and then I let my son see that in his first years of his life, and it’s not okay. 

I don’t want them to grow up the way I did. So, obviously that’s the reason why I moved away from all of that, because it was friends and family that were putting me through that, and myself. I was just influenced, you could say, and I’m not letting them be influenced by not going back into that scene, and how I’m doing that is staying at course, looking for part-time work and I have a wonderful partner that supports me. He’s not the kid’s dad, but he’s a father a figure. And there’s no violence.”

*If you, or someone you know, needs help:

For help with family violence: free call 0800 456 450 or www.areyouok.org.nz/i-need-help/

For help with alcohol and drugs: call 0800 787 797 or text 8681 to speak with a trained counsellor.*