Overcoming Obstacles

A year after her parents separation, Paris remembers having a big assembly at her school where two kids came in and talked about the Graeme Dingle Foundation and how they went on this really crazy 14 month journey called project K. She says she remembers thinking that doing something like Project K would be quite cool.

“My name got pulled out of this bucket. I was one of 12 students who was able to do this 14 month programme,” says Paris. None of Paris’ friends wanted to do the programme with her but she remembers thinking ‘yes I can get away from this place for three weeks and not talk to anybody.’

“I was scared because everybody that we were with were either too cool, or I had no idea who they were. I got a bit nervous because this wasn’t my crowd but I ended up becoming really good friends with them and ended up becoming an unspoken leader, like a leader but without being told that I was the leader.

Teen Sharonika Prasad used to be scared, of life, of opportunity. She lacked self-confidence. ‘‘I had a negative mind set in which I had beliefs that I would never be successful at anything, with a very low self-esteem. ‘‘I made excuses because I had no motivation and little confidence and I let life pass me by even if it was a wonderful opportunity because I was so afraid of the unknown.’’ Not anymore. Prasad, 18, and the youngest in a family of five, is now working as a caregiver while studying a foundation course at NZMA for occupational therapy and has realised she ‘‘could do anything’’. She is the first in her family to go to university. The South Auckland teen has found her potential with the help of a charity that aims to transform young Kiwi lives – the Graeme Dingle Foundation.