Huia | Kingsland
“I think one of the biggest regrets I have was not doing drama at school, and for me the reason for that is, I work in the area with young people, and the rangatahi and creativity, and I see creativity as the vehicle in supporting young people, and just people’s wellbeing.
It’s something I wish I had explored as I was younger, and even as I got older because I’m 45 now, and to work with young people that have that as a vehicle is really beautiful to see that come out, and how that builds community, and it builds self-esteem and self-confidence. So that’s something I reflect back on my life and think, I really wish I had have taken that up earlier in my life, even as a young adult. Yeah, that would probably be my biggest regret.
I’m Te Āti Awa Taranaki, although I was raised down in a little place called Ōhope Beach, which is six kilometres outside of Whakatāne. I was raised there for the first 20 years of my life, and what I saw growing up there was, I knew if I didn’t do something with my life I would be stuck there forever. I saw I had the opportunity to travel overseas, and I went to a ski resort for the first time, and I saw the most happiest guy, and I was like, I want what he’s got, I want to be happy, and to me, it seemed like the environment made him happy. So, I went and worked in the ski industry, trained, became an outdoor instructor, worked all over the world within the ski industry, and also within the outdoor rec industry, and then I started to realise that I was able to work and really connect and engage with young people.
So, then I trained to become a social worker. From that point on, from the time I was about 30, I’ve always worked in the community with young people, supporting and enabling positive youth development, now I’m the executive director for a creative youth development organisation called Ngā Rangatahi Toa, and we do a lot of work out in Southside. All our projects and all the rangatahi we work with are from South Auckland. So, for us, it’s looking at how we enable young people within community, and how we enable community development and community action.
Oh my gosh how, how important is it to breathe? You know? For me, it’s that. It’s at that level. It’s a fundamental basic that we know we’re thriving and we’re doing well as a community and as a society, if we are looking after our young people, and if we are looking after our aged and elderly. So, for me, it’s a fundamental necessity that we care for our young people, because well yeah “they’re our future”, but it’s that reciprocity of learning, of what they give us, and what we give them. If we want to be well as a people, and in Aotearoa, we care for each other, and so for me, a lot of that starts with our young people. I get a lot of energy off them, but also, it’s how we guide, and we’re all navigators in our own world. So, it’s how we bring all of that together to just be better humans.”
