Jordyn| Ponsonby
“I grew up in Ponsonby along Richmond Rd, it was pretty community-based, so I was right in the heart of Ponsonby, that’s where I’m from.
I’m a barista, straight out of school. Been a barista for about three years now, and I am just about to go and take a cookery course and become a chef. Mainly because of the huge changes through the past year, I’m about to go back into school after three years of not being in school. It’s a huge passion of mine, and not only that having that family support and friend support, telling me that I can do it. So I guess encouragement and actually having someone, people, to fall back on when you need a little bit of love.
I would say the thing I need the most now, personally, would be support, family support, friend support, anything to do with people, really. Supporting one another is one of my biggest things.
A sense of community to me is being able to know the people in the area that you live with. If I can make a comparison; I grew up in Ponsonby, I’m now working in Māngere East, and those are two different types of community. I feel like in Ponsonby/Grey Lynn area people don’t know their neighbours, where out here in Māngere East you actually can have a yarn, go across the road and know the person you’re talking to, and there’s that constant knowing of people I guess. I’ve become a part of this community.
It’s still quite a new thing, and I have definitely noticed a difference. If I were to go and talk to my community in Central Auckland it would probably be get to you neighbours, get to know the people you’re around and actually communicate. Knowing your neighbours, being able to feel safe walking around in your community. Actually knowing some of the people around the area, maybe in stores, your supermarket that you go to, or seeing someone random along the street and being like, hi.
Communication is the best thing in the world, and being able to not just live somewhere, but actually get to know your environment. That would be my biggest message. It’s a very high priority of mine; communication, in all sorts of different ways. Communicating with your friends, communicating with your family, making sure everyone’s on the same page is very important to me, but not only that; having a random chat on the bus with someone you’ve never met before is also an amazing thing. I’ve had different situations where I’ve been on public transport and I’ve been able to be a part of amazing situations or get to know people a lot more.”
