Dani | Penrose
“I think it would be poverty, homelessness in Auckland, yeah. I guess the, the rental rates here are quite high. It sort of makes it unbearable for families to live in Auckland.
Since leaving New Zealand and coming back, it’s sort of been quite noticeable, that poverty and homelessness has increased. I just think the living, cost of living in Auckland just doesn’t match the, I guess the amount of money that people make here, the average wage, and it’s quite disheartening to come back to and see that it’s sort of on the increase. I’d like to change it, or just at least help people to try and, you know, just live a better life, I guess.
To be honest, I don’t have the answer to that, but I think everyone can aid it in some way, helping the community in little ways, big ways. Whatever way, I think it all contributes in just acting as a community, which is I think what New Zealand is known for, is that community spirit that a lot of other countries don’t have, and they’re very connected, and not disconnected from each other.
I guess you can go away, and go to another country and get sort of, persuaded by lifestyle and materialistic things but at the end of the day, really truly happiness is sort of not conceived from those things. So, you get to the point where you might have the house, the job, the everything, but it just still doesn’t make you happy. So, you’ve got to try and find those things that make you happy, and for me, those are things that money can’t buy.
I grew up in Hamilton but born in New Plymouth. I’ve sort of been around a bit. I’ve been in Aussie for about 15 years. That sort of made me realise in the last year why I need to come back to New Zealand. I’ve come back to study natural medicine. I think just values is sort of what brought me back, the connection with people, community, and society, a connection to the land and my culture. I’m just getting to that point in life where materialistic things don’t matter. I’m more about sort of friendships, family you know, love. Just yeah, quality things.”
