Ash – South Auckland
“What would I say to my eleven-year-old self? I would say not to take drugs, not mess up my life, to think more about it and hang around with the right kind of people.
Currently I am on the streets. I am 17 and my hobbies are rugby and the Army. I don’t keep in contact with [my family] much because I have stopped drugs now. It’s pretty messed up. [Synthetics] are dangerous mostly because it’s got lots of chemicals and it messes with your head and it kills your brain cells and messes with your stomach and your heart and your lungs, but I think people find it important because it gives them a happy buzz. It makes them feel happy. Like, I guess it only lasts for an hour and then that’s how addicted you get – you do it every hour just to be happy.
Synthetics or ‘synnies’ they only cost $20 for a bag of it and it’s pretty easy to get there’s a lot of synny houses everywhere mainly in Manurewa and Ōtara. It messed with my head. I started seeing stuff and hearing stuff all the time and hallucinating and I ended up on the streets because I bought so much. I am on the streets still but I am learning to get better. It’s hard, it’s cold, it’s dangerous.
When I used to live in Auckland City to people trying to jump in my sleeping bag. I’ve been like, excuse my French but, pissed on. It’s dangerous. It’s scary – people say they don’t wanna go home, but it’s better than being on the streets.
I got kicked out of home, because of family issues with drugs and violence. I ended up in foster care and I only got out a week before my birthday this year and I just chose not to live at home because my Mum is still with my Dad, and my brother’s at home. So is my Dad; so I decided that (although) it’s not safer to live on the streets, I know a lot of people on the streets now and they’re more like family.
I wanna find a job, have kids when I am older, of course, and, you know, I wanna teach my kids differently to how my own mother taught me. I wanna join the Army, or if I can’t join the Army, if I am not successful because of my past experiences, I wanna, be a nurse and help people in the community or in rehab; like work in rehabs, because I know how it feels.
You go down the good road or the right side, because the left side just hurts. For the eleven year olds – if your families are abusing you or you have been abused or you’re smoking drugs, you need help, talk to someone. You don’t wanna end up on the streets -it’s dangerous. And you don’t wanna get kidnapped – it’s scary and you’re only young once so try and live a good life because you only live once.”
