“A Christmas of peace after years of violence.”

At age 12, Ariki* had never experienced the magic of Christmas that most tamariki look forward to – the excitement, joy, love and laughter. For all his life, Ariki, his mother and siblings had lived in the shadow of fear, and Christmas was the worst time of the year.

Christmas should be a season of peace, joy and safety – yet, for as long as he could remember, it had been a time of fear: a battleground of pain, control and abuse by his angry and violent father.

For years, each Christmas came and went in a cloud of alcohol and drug abuse and a storm of escalated violence – where Ariki’s father would harm his family physically, mentally and emotionally – and drain their hope of experiencing a safe, calm Christmas. Happiness and joy had left their home, replaced with an ever-present fear of what would happen next.

Every day was unpredictable. Ariki’s mother, Tamara*, reflects that she would often wonder, “Will this be the day my partner will kill me?”, or “Will today be the day that it goes too far and one of my tamariki is severely hurt”? Christmas, like the other 364 days of the year, were terrifying.

But last Christmas, finally, things were different. Tamara reached out to Te Whare for help – desperate to break free of the violence and create a better, safer life for her and her tamariki. A protection order was obtained for Ariki’s family, and a trespass notice put in place for their father. When his father breached the conditions of this protection order, he was arrested, sentenced and imprisoned. At long last, they were safe.

A Christmas of peace, aroha and laughter

On Christmas morning last year, Ariki woke to the sound of his mother and siblings laughing. The family sat around their Christmas tree, and each opened their presents one by one, excited to show each other what they had received.

These gifts, although simple, were a sign of just how far they had all come as a whānau. They shared Christmas kai around their table, feeling safe and strong together. They didn’t have to whisper and keep the noise down to avoid upsetting their father; and they didn’t have to worry about violence towards them or their mother.

For the first time in many years, the silence in Ariki’s home was not the silence of terror, but the silence of peace. Ariki and his family, once burdened by the weight of survival, were finally able to celebrate being safe, joyful and calm … at Christmas and during every day of the year.

*Names have been changed and a stock image used to protect privacy.