Theresa | Panmure
“I am the Panmure Community Hall co-ordinator, that’s the thing behind us right there, and I do a bunch of other stuff in the community, too; I’m a heart change agent, which is a Tāmaki project, to do with increasing the positive message of how to have healthy relationships with family and community.
We do heaps of cool projects here, especially for youth, the last couple of days we have had a lot of youth come and use our graffiti walls. We have graffiti walls that were built by the youth from this community, for the community to use, and that’s kind of been an exciting thing to see a lot of the young people I guess use that.
Also we’ve created this really chill youth space that you can just come. It’s judgement-free, full of love, for anyone just to come chill. We have heaps of games and heaps of things to do. There’s a lot more; we’ve got elderly, and an elderly walking programme, The Walking Samoans. We have heaps of play groups that have been going that are well attended. Early learning is super important for ages zero to seven, as we know by research. So, please come and join us if you want on Tuesdays, um Wednesdays and Thursdays. That’s a lot of the work that we’ve been doing to fill the gap that and the need that we have here in Tāmaki.
I don’t tend to think about what I need a lot so I always think about everyone else, so it’s like being a service job you’re always thinking about everyone else around you, and no-one really asks you what you need. Support, support for all the community things that I do.
The message that I have for this community is that the young people in this people are absolutely amazing, and from working here, I’ve seen there’s a lot of assumptions, a lot of perceptions. I think people just look at the surface and don’t see the whole person. In my terms, I would say looking at them through God’s eyes, as His creation would be that He loves all His children, and we should see them for what they can become, rather than what your assumptions or what your perceptions have told you that you are. They have a great future, and I’ve seen how amazing they are, and the talent and the skills that they have. I’ve seen so many young people move onto greater things from, a lot of the projects that we’ve done, and so if you just love them and believe in them, they can do great things.
Sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying, I guess growing up, we had it a little bit hard and if you looked at the fact of vulnerability, we probably are four out of five for our upbringing. Because of that I see the need and see other young people going through that, and that motivates me. I know I run a community centre that’s for all, but a lot of my focus is, is on our young people and helping them become the best that they can be, I don’t know why I’m crying. I just know that , a lot of them have such great potential that not everyone sees, but to all the youth in Panmure; just know that I know that you are amazing and awesome, and feel free to come through, let us help you.”
