What do you hope to achieve this year?

Loren | Te Tai Poutini

Loren reflects on her daughter’s determination, upcoming journey to university, and her hopes for her to give back to the community.

“It took a long time for me to have children for a start. Once I managed to physically be able to have them, I had a boy and a girl.

My daughter’s just now turned 18, and she’s been studying so hard. She’s going to be a psychologist, so she’s going to Christchurch University, Canterbury University.

I’m just so proud of her. She’s so determined. She knows exactly what she wants, and she’s so loving and caring. She’s always been there whenever I’ve been down, and she always notices it, picks me up, and she’s my rock. The three of us are so close because we’ve only had each other, and it’s going to be quite sad to see her go.

I know she’s only in Canterbury, but still, I’m gonna miss her a lot. She’s going to be something, and she’s going to put so much back into this world. There isn’t a lot of help here for the youth, especially in suicide cases and things like that. There’s just nothing here for them.

To be able to have someone who is originally from here come back and give to the youth, help them, and get them to become who they are is really important.”