“My father never wanted me to follow his path, a path filled with pain, gangs and prison. But I aspired to be like him regardless as he was my role model. I idolized him.
My mother was a strong Maori woman who stood by her faith and did whatever she could to provide for us. She taught us the importance of whānau even though times were hard. It was not until I met Jade and we had our own children that I realised I had been wasting so much time trying to become something I wasn’t.
A lot of our Maori youth don’t know who they are or where they come from, so they adopt something else and believe it is their culture. Working with Rangatahi and being Maori motivates me to help our people realise their true purpose in life, a purpose given to us from God.”
