culture in New Zealand
In New Zealand, our culture is really built around our communities and our families. And that goes for pretty much every race that lives here. Like you said, multi Samoans, Islanders, Kiwis, Asians, wherever you’re from, there’s a strong sense of community wherever you go. And I think for Hugo, we care about our people and we care about our own, and we try to look after our own as a general rule. And it’s been really good seeing that with the government and with policy starting to come through and reflecting the views of the people. I’m sorry to see part of that is that I feel there’s a wish born from the people’s wishes to get that help that’s desperately needed for. Because when you walk past someone on the street, a lot of the times when I was young I didn’t realize you just walked past and you didn’t realize, but now you’re starting to get a sense of that whole community that we talk about. 00:55That could be my brother, that could be my sister, that could be my Mason. It was interesting, one of the friends that I came across actually went to school with on the North shore and to use the service. And I was never great at school, but it’s just either; it might be choices that you make or might just be hard times that come across. It could be anyone in our community or could be anyone in our family that needs our service.[unique_solution] So, it’s really important that we get around those people because we don’t just see it as another stranger walking past, we see it as this is part of our community. It’s help out. But that’s it. Eddie01:33And the thing is growing up here, I’ve… People that I knew that were like, the situation was fine, and they had a home, and they had a family things can change real quick around here. And there’s plenty of reasons why that happens. It’s not just the simple people are homeless because they take drugs with alcohol. But It’s Leanna that’s just the byproduct of it all. I think growing up here and then to see the people that I grew up with, whether it’s when I went to school with or whether I knew they owned the shop down the road, they just fell on hard times. And they found themselves out on the street. And I think the shocking thing to me was that I just realized it can happen to anyone here in our community. It doesn’t matter. Speaker 202:20I think that’s probably the toughest thing about growing up is that the people that you knew when you were young not everyone had the same path, not everyone made the same choices. And that’s the thing. It could be just one choice, or it just could be something that’s out of your control. And I just realized that it could so easily be me, it could so easily have been my parents. Speaker 202:43We all make bad decisions I’ll pull my hand up for that. But just by whether it’s by luck or by having the right people around me at the time, I managed to get back up on my feet, and I’m here. But the sad thing is that’s not the case for everyone. We’re all unique; we’ll have our own stories and talking to people that are doing a rough wall or are homeless. That’s the thing that I realized is that we will have our own stories, and there’s families that are homeless. There’s single mothers that are homeless. And I think the great thing that I love about Orange Sky is that with our chairs and we go around and we’d just talk to people. 03:28Well, this is Orange Sky New Zealand, and we’re about our people, we’re about our community. Whether it’s the motor community, the Samoan, the Islander community or the Pakehas we’re all one at the end of the day, we all need a shower, we all need laundry, or we need… But especially we all only connection. So, I think if we can give that service to people where they can get their dignity back, their respect back, I think it’s going to go a long way. Speaker 203:55These friends that we have that are just waiting for us to… It’s not just about giving out a handle, just giving out help. It’s giving up a heart to heart connection. And I know New Zealand’s are about that because I know the Samoans and Maltese and Islanders and Kiwis, we care so much about family, we care so much about… We talk about tribes, and we talk about community, and… I know that me personally, my opinion, there’s nothing better than this to give us an opportunity to actually walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Speaker 204:29The statistics is one in a hundred Kiwis are homeless. And you can’t tell me that you’re not going to know someone that’s not homeless, whether it’s directly as a direct family member… I’ve talked to so many friends; it’s like my uncle was living on the street, and it’s normal and that shouldn’t be normal. But it’s our family that’s out there. It’s our friends, it’s our neighbors. One of the friends, his son, had just passed away during the Christmas period. And for him to be able to come in and share that was really special because he… What do you say to people in those moments? 05:05And honestly, I didn’t really know what else to say, but just appreciated him being able to feel comfortable enough to come and share. But it just made me realize that service goes beyond just the washing and the showers where… Just to be there to people and inherit people where they’re at. And maybe there’s not much else you can do about that. But I already know that that goes a long way, and I know that he appreciated being able to have someone to just share with that and hear him out.