Searching for a place
A Manawatu¯ Oranga Tamariki youth worker has changed lives for eight years by helping teenage girls mixed up with drugs and crime find a better path.
Kristina Bryers started the Mana Wa¯hine programme in 2012 to deal with a wave in thefts, assaults and other serious crimes committed by teenage girls in the region.
A lot of the girls who needed help came from backgrounds of abuse, neglect and addiction, and when the standard support was not helping them find a better path, Bryers decided to try something different.
She noticed the girls who turned their lives around found someone who believed in them, had a baby, or found a job. Having something to live up to made all the difference, so Bryers thought why leave finding that up to chance?
‘‘A lot of these girls are in this space because they’re disconnected in one way or another,’’ Bryers said.
They go looking for a connection, and are drawn to others in the same situation and bond over petty crimes.
‘‘They see it as a bit of fun. They can’t see the consequences.’’
Mana Wa¯hine is designed to give them the connection they are looking for in a healthy way – it teaches them what good friendships and relationships look like, to value others and themselves, and other skills needed to navigate life.
Bryers and her team of volunteers challenge the girls to dream of something better and to do the work to make it real.
They listen, don’t judge and show respect where it is earned, but they push hard. They keep their word and have the girls’ backs.
Bryers said no-one was left to fend for themselves after the eight-week course was finished.
‘‘They become part of a family. This is a sisterhood. We all keep in touch.
‘‘The girls from past years come back and they show us their kids, their lives. . . They talk to the younger girls about their experiences.’’
Bryers modelled the course on a mix of solid research and what she knew had worked for her.
She grew up in a poor family in Highbury, Palmerston North, and she had felt adrift until her father helped her rediscover their Nga¯ti Manomano heritage.
Losing touch with their heritage was one of the most harmful legacies of colonisation for youngma¯ori, she said.
When te reo Ma¯ori was banned for most of the 20th century it broke a long chain of tradition and teachings about respect, family and responsibility, and left little to fill the void.
‘‘And people wonder why these young wa¯hine don’t respect their elders, don’t respect authority or other people.
‘‘We just expect people to know that, but you’ve got to be taught and taught properly.’’
Bryers said she was who she was because she had good people around her growing up, from her mother to a Feilding Work and Income case worker who went the extra mile for a pregnant 16-year-old she believed in. She wants the Manawa¯hine girls to have that too.
‘‘They become part of a family. This is a sisterhood. We all keep in touch.’’
Kristina Bryers