After our camp I would be able to walk into my year nine form class and create a conversation with each child, whether it was about subjects (which the kids were all interested in asking questions about) or a student wanting advice about problems or situations at school, I was honoured to be trusted by my year nines. Another win was that although I could have an older sister like relationship with the kids and joke around, they also respected me enough to listen if I asked them to be quiet for the teacher, or wanted to have a serious conversation about being safe online.

I learnt that I can create relationships with even the most withdrawn or “rebellious” people, like Bobby who was very quiet and sat by himself, he just needed to be introduced and made to feel comfortable. He now is friends with half the class and sits with the kids happily in conversation which was amazing to watch as he grew closer to the other students. By being involved in the Stars program it furthered my love of working/ being involved with people and helping them to become more confident in themselves.

My role in the community project: I alongside two of my other Peer Mentors organised dates and encouraged the kids to bring in hammers while informing them about how the rat traps we would build would be used. On the day of the rat trap building I went and built traps alongside my students, helping them with the instructions and encouraging them to do as many as possible. Overall it was a wonderful experience that I wouldn’t trade. I thank you and the Graeme Dingle Foundation

“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.”

“I kind of called the shots and it was really cool to be called that person. I’d never been put in a leadership position before so for that to happen to me I thought it was kind of breath-taking to be honest.”

After spending three weeks away, Paris returned to school a completely different person.

“I actually started showing up. I was excited to see these new friends that I had made and I was excited to hang out with them as weird as it was.”

After the three weeks away, the next step in the programme was a community challenge.

“We got to learn about different organisations in the Bay of Plenty, it was interesting and was sad at the same time learning about these places. How they really have to push for funding because people cannot afford to get treatment for the heart or cancer.”

The group Paris was a part of chose to help out the SPCA and went around to different schools in the Bay of Plenty and talked to them about donating funds that would go towards the animals at the SPCA. Another they got to do was to present speeches in front of the city council.

“I think that was probably one of the most challenging things for us as a group and me as an individual. Speaking in front of people was really difficult, but I’ve grown to actually really love it.”

After that, Paris went through the mentoring stage and was paired up with a lady named Helen.

“She was so amazing because I was able to tell her about my home situation, things that were going on at school and she would take the time out of her day to talk to me about it to make sure that I was okay mentally.

“She would take me out just to get away from the world and she even gave me work experience in her store. She helped me out with my CV so I could get myself my first job. She was the reason I got my first job at 15.”

Over the period of 14 months Paris went through a roller-coaster journey while being a part of Project K and came out the other end gaining her NCEA level one.

“I was scared that I wasn’t actually going to do it and I ended up in some pretty decent classes because I started showing up for school again.

“Post Project K, I went to Government House to get an excellence award from Dame Patsy Reddy. It was a really crazy experience being in front of politicians and them recognising what I have done through the Graeme Dingle Foundation.”

Paris also went to Auckland to receive an award and she says she is really proud of that achievement.

She then went on to becoming a youth ambassador and starting MCing the Project K graduations in Tauranga and the Graeme Dingle Foundation excellence awards where they recognise all the different programme in the Bay of Plenty with the Graeme Dingle Foundation.

Eventually, Paris got a job with the Graeme Dingle Foundation as a Kiwi Can leader.

“Ever since I was 14 the foundation has been a part of my life and even to this day they still helped me a lot, in just achieving my goals and helping me with little things like that.

“I ended up leaving because I felt as if yes I had experience and I could share those with young kids, but I think I had a lot to discover about myself and I still feel as if I do, so I parted way with Kiwi Can but I’m still a part of the Graeme Dingle Foundation.”

Paris says it’s crazy to see how far she has grown as a person.

“I find myself a lot more confident when I am speaking to people. I never wanted to make eye contact or speak up, but now I’m total capable of doing that.

“I don’t think that I would have been able to if it wasn’t for the foundation.

“It’s crazy with the opportunities that they allow if you want something they’ll make it happen. If you’ve got a goal they will push you and help you open up doors.

“They don’t do it for you but they push you in the right direction where those doors just open up for you.”

Without Project K, my substance abuse would have continued and grown. Alongside my lack of support, I would have continued to have suicidal thoughts and never would have learnt how to cope from using a holistic approach. After the programme ended, my self confidence had grown, I was truly happy with the person I had become.
I no longer had suicidal thoughts, and created relationships with my peers for life. I not only received support, but also was given an opportunity to support others, which contributed towards myself gaining a sense of belonging. I managed to complete the grades I needed in school, and went on to complete a certificate at my local Polytechnic.
I gained employment and worked within my community. I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 18. The only way I was able to cope was using the life skills I had been taught through Project K. The stigma remains in place around teen parents and I learnt how to ignore the negativity, to keep my self esteem high and feel proud of my achievements.
I had the strength to stay away from using any recreational drugs and continue to follow the career path I wished for by setting goals, and using the previous support gained to do so. I was employed by a mental health agency at the age of 19, and am currently working towards my degree in psychology, as well as raising my 3 year old on my own.
My experience in mental health has helped me gain insight into skills that are lacking within our children and adolescence, as the majority of the clients I work with are aged 11-19.
Depression and self-harm within our children and adolescence are high. Children as young as 11 will discuss how they wish to commit suicide and will describe in detail how they wish to do it. This is a heartbreaking thing to witness, and as a parent, I would wish my child to have the opportunity to participate in a programme that has proven to be so beneficial for all children who have participated.

From a mental health perspective, children would benefit hugely from been given an opportunity to participate in such an amazing programme, and it would be crucial in reducing the suicide and self-harm rates within our children and adolescence.

Diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, she says her future felt bleak. That was back in 2015 when she was selected with a group of other high school teenagers to be part of Project K. The initiative, for selected Year 10 students, is a 14-month course involving wilderness adventure, a community challenge and individual mentoring. The programme, which runs in Otumoetai and Mount Maunganui Colleges, is designed to build confidence, teach life skills, promote good health and encourage a positive attitude. Read describes the wilderness challenge as pushing her to her physical and mental limits. “It was literally blood, sweat and tears. We went from Coromandel to the Kaimais, battling currents, learning survival techniques and when I had physicaly reached my limit, that was when I let go of many of the things built up inside of me.” 

Another part of the project saw her helping out at Kaka Street School and working at Tauranga’s food bank. Through these initiatives, Read was able to discover skills she didn’t know she had. “I learned actually I was a really good leader.” Gaining confidence and self esteem was key. “I learned that I am so much more than the bad events that had happened in my life, and I did not have to be defined by those events.” The event at which Read spoke was to raise awareness of the Graeme Dingle Foundation, which is the charity which runs Project K, as well as Stars, another high school programme for Year 9s to help the often tricky transition into high school by pairing them with Year 13 mentors. It also runs Kiwi Can which reaches 2500 5-12 year olds in the Western Bay of Plenty. 

The Foundation’s namesake, mountaineer and outdoor education pioneer Sir Graeme Dingle, had a goal to transform young lives “with a vision that all young people can be confident contributors to New Zealand”. The foundation’s regional manager, Dan Allen-Gordon, told the audience the programmes relied on funding, and the demand for the foundations programmes often outstrips what they can fund. “There are kids falling through the gaps because there are not enough resources to go around. This is a tragedy because what we do know is these programmes work – taking kids that are disconnected or come from difficult backgrounds or on the wrong path for whatever reason, building a relationship with them and helping them find confidence to follow their dreams.”

The first time I tried to commit suicide I was 13 and I stayed home from school one day and swallowed a bottle of pills. When someone asked me years later if that was a cry for help I said no. You see I didn’t tell anyone and when my mother returned home I just lay in bed in wait for it to be all over. At that time in my life, I did not believe there was any help that was going to be available to me, there was nobody to cry to.

Project K honestly has saved my life and it gave me that help, resilience and support when I needed it most.

Something happened the moment I got chosen for Project K. It was like I felt actually important, that out of all the students in my school, I got picked. That someone saw potential in me that I didn’t even see in myself. Before Project K my goals were to make it to my 18th birthday and not be a teen mum. I moved out of “home” and stayed in school and passed year 13. Every single aspect of Project K gave me the ability to do this. I remember not being too scared about it because I knew I wasn’t truly alone, that the Project K Manager and my mentor and other support was there and they would help me. Project K isn’t just a year-long programme. It’s a lifetime, it has changed my life. I am now studying at University and enjoying life. I honestly with my whole heart don’t think I would be alive today if it wasn’t for Project K. Project K saved me.

In year three I had a particular teacher who didn’t really understand me. If a kid did something very bad to me they wouldn’t get in trouble, I did though. Even if the teacher saw them. If I retaliated I would be the one in trouble. Often I would get in trouble and I would cry to my mum about it. Then one night it all got too much. Me and my mum had a serious chat. I said that “I hate myself”, “I am dumb” and “I wish I was never born”. Then my mum went to that teacher and showed proof that I had A.D.H.D and dyslexia and he didn’t even believe THAT!

In the middle of the term I changed schools and It was amazing. Everyone was amazing. I thought it was the best school ever, until I came to Katikati College and went through Kiwi Can.
Now when I finished primary school in another town, I moved to the Western Bay of Plenty and started at a Kiwi Can school. I had to do something different which was called Kiwi Can. I thought it was going to be boring. But when we started I was bouncing off the walls like ‘Willy Nilly’ and I loved it so much. It was for everyone. I liked how the activities had guidelines that students could easily follow. I like how it included everyone and helped to build a team. These are some of the ways Kiwi Can is suitable for alternative learners and every Kiwi kid. Kiwi Can actually made me care more about people that previously bullied me. It helps me work with people I don’t really work well with and see things in a new way. I do dance and Kiwi Can helped me not be the shy one in my group and helped me be more confident! My confidence came from doing the Kiwi Can activities. Also I now know that I have real friends and what that actually means. Before Kiwi Can I thought I had friends but understand better now what true friends are and how to be a good friend back. Before Kiwi Can I didn’t have friends or a voice and now I do.

Now that’s my story and how Kiwi Can has helped me. It is an important programme to run in schools, I should know. I hope this programme never comes to an end and that more students in New Zealand can experience it. Thank you Kiwi Can, for your ideas and your inspiration. I’m keeping it in my brain because it’s changing the way I’m thinking and you’ve just helped me through a lot of things.”

I was 14 and  I was naughty, hated school and wanted to drop out early. I was shy and anti-social, I only wanted to keep to myself. Then I was introduced to Project K. It was a 14-month programme for students that needed a boost in life. Over the Wilderness and Community Challenge Project K helped me to build self-confidence and my social skills. After that we were paired up with mentors who were supposed see their mentees once a fortnight to keep us on track. My mentor left which made me feel like my life was going to be how it was in the start. No one helping me or, at least, checking on me.

But then Tony stepped up and told me he was going to be my mentor. He saw me once a week in and out of school. Always made sure I was on track with my school work and kept me out of trouble. Tony believed in me like no one else did and because of him I stayed in school, went to University and have a full-time job as an arborist. One day I plan to be a mentor.

The person I used to be is in the past. The mischief, the bad man. I’ve looked further into the future to where I want to be and who I’m going to be. I will travel around the world and climb all sorts of trees in all sorts of weather; snow, rain, storm, whatever. The place where I will to take a deep breath in is Canada. Climbing a Cedar tree in the snow at the top of the mountains, looking over a crystal blue lake as the sun reaches its zenith. That is when I know I will feel complete.

To those that can be, become a mentor, your reward will be that you have changed someone’s life. That mentee you just helped could’ve been on the streets being a hooligan or in jail. Instead they looked at another path, sitting on the mountains in Canada drinking a beer with me.

My self-confidence was at an all time low, and was also given diagnoses of anxiety and depression. I was mentally unwell, and would have panic attacks on a regular basis. I was living with my mum during this time, who didn’t believe in medication at such a young age, so this is something that I struggled with on a daily basis. I was then chosen to enter into the Project K programme. I was hesitant at first and didn’t understand how a programme can turn my life around, and pull me out of the hole I had dug. I participated in full Project K programme from the start to the end with no regrets.Without Project K, my substance abuse would have continued and grown, alongside my lack of support, I would have continued to have suicidal thoughts and never would have learnt how to cope from using a holistic approach.

After the programme ended, my self confidence had grown, I was truly happy with the person I had become. I no longer had suicidal thoughts, and created relationships with my peers for life. I not only received support, but also was given an opportunity to support others, which contributed towards myself gaining a sense of belonging. I managed to complete the grades I needed in school, and went on to complete a certificate at my local Polytechnic. I was able to gain employment and work within my community. I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 18. The only way I was able to cope was using the life skills I had been taught through project K, while the stigma remains in place around teen parents, I had learnt how to ignore the negativity to keep my self esteem high and feel proud of the achievements. I had the strength to stay away from using any recreational drugs and continue to follow the career path I wished to by setting goals, and using the previous supports gained to do so. I was employed by a mental health agency at the age of 19, and am currently working towards my degree in psychology, as well as raising my 3 year old on my own.

My experience in mental health has helped me gain insight into skills that are lacking within our children and adolescence, as the majority of the
clients I work with are aged 11-19. Depression and self-harm within our children and adolescence are high, with children as young as 11 will discuss how they wish to commit suicide and will in detail describe how they wish to do. This is a heartbreaking thing to witness, and as a parent, I would wish my child to have the opportunity to participate in a programme that has proved to be so beneficial for all the children who have participated. From a mental health perspective, children would benefit hugely from been given an opportunity to participate in such an amazing programme, and would be crucial in reducing the suicide and self-harm rates within
our children and adolescence.