“Te Kawa o te Marae is an awesome concept.”

Our Tāne Non-violence Programme supports tāne who are experiencing violence and anger. Some tane are referred by the Courts, others refer themselves because they want to change. A recent graduate of the programme, Tāne Aperahama shared his thoughts on the impact on him and the other tāne who attended.

“The programme changed the way that we think about our own whare,” he explains. “We wouldn’t smoke in the wharenui and we wouldn’t drink alcohol there. We wouldn’t fight or anything like that on the marae. Then the Kaiako turned it around and goes, ‘that’s how you should treat your own whare’. And I thought, ‘shit, you’re dead right’. Why didn’t we ever think of it like that? That’s why the whole programme is so cool because that changes your thinking straight away.”

Through Te Kawa o te Marae, our unique kaupapa Māori framework, our Kaiako support tāne to let go of destructive behaviours, embrace their whakapapa and wairuatanga as Māori, and build healthy whānau relationships.

“Te Kawa o te Marae is an awesome concept,” he says. “I think it worked for a lot of the other guys as well, because they were talking about how their homes had changed, how the vibe around home was completely changed because they were no longer allowing this and that … and just showing more respect for the house.”

Aperahama says his family are feeling a lot happier too. “They know that Dad is available. Dad is present. He’s not off on the booze whenever he feels like it. That’s when I started hearing compliments from our kids, things like, ‘So proud of you Mum and Dad. You guys are doing really, really well’. That made my wife feel great – and it made me feel good, too, you know.”

*A stock image used to protect privacy.