What does safety look and feel like to you?

Lo’an | Whakatū

Lo’an offers daily presence, listening and unconditional acceptance, creating safe spaces for youth.

“Three years ago, one of my youths did something not legal. And the first person he came to see was me. He just knocked at the youth centre, balling tears. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked. He’s like, ‘I did something stupid. I don’t know what to do’. ‘Kei te pai, let’s sit down. I’ll find something to drink’. I said ‘who do you want me to call?’ He said ‘can you call my mum please?’ Sweet.

I just listened to him, what he needed. And obviously, parents came, police came, everything. But I was the first person he came to see, it was me.

I’m still asking this question. ‘Why me?’ I think because I was in his life daily after school. To listen to him, listen to what he wanted to say. Fed him. Let’s be honest. And I accepted him for who he was. With all the trauma he had, all this violence he had in him, but I accepted him for who he was.

I think safety is the key for everyone to be real and for everyone to drop the line, to drop the mask they have in the community and to finally be who they are. If you feel safe, you don’t need to be in fight/flight mode. You can just relax and enjoy the moment, and trust the person in front of you. I think safety, yes, you have the physical safety, but you have the mental safety.

Unfortunately, nowadays we have more and more young people, and all around the world with their wellbeing, is not the best. And offering this space for them to be listened to for who they are, no judgement, is the best we can do.”