HOKI’S STORY

The past five weeks have been life-changing for 18-year-old Hoki*, who has just graduated from a suicide-prevention programme in Auckland. The online/offline Whakapiki Ora programme introduced 40 Māori youth to Clearhead’s digital platform to build the skills and self-awareness they need to stay mentally well.

Māori charity Mā Te Huruhuru ran the in-person component, encouraging the teens to build peer support and cultural identity to foster positive wellbeing.

Hoki says she was shy as a child, but loved sport and kapa haka. She was bullied in primary and intermediate school before learning to stand up for herself, and suffered bouts of sadness and loss of motivation during high school.

“It was only a little school but it was big for me, and there was already a girl there that wanted to cause conflict with me before I started.” Although she talked to her younger sister if things got “too heavy”, the Whakapiki Ora programme helped her realise how useful it can be to talk to a professional. “It’s hard, but bottling things up just makes everything worse. When you finally decide to let things out, it gets easier to talk about the things you’re going through. The more you talk about it, the easier it gets.”

Hoki now uses the Clearhead app every day. “It helps me monitor my moods and I’ve learnt a lot about how to control my emotions and my breathing and how to understand the emotions I’m going through and why I’m going through them,” she says.

The Whakapiki Ora program had a big impact on her, she feels. “I’m a shy person and I found it hard to communicate with people I didn’t know. The programme really brought me out of my shell and built my confidence up.”

Hoki plans to study business and law at university next year.