"I made lots of friends
- and met heaps of awesome people"
"Lots of us still hang
out together"
"Te Ora Hou helped
me to build confidence and taught responsibility"
"[Te Ora Hou] built
my confidence and encouraged me to try different things"
"My very quiet and
closed child is now opening up and standing up for herself"
"[Te Ora Hou] helped
to get us out of our shells – more to life than what we
were into"
"[Te Ora Hou enabled]
us to express ourselves more"
"Leaders would hear
what the weekend intentions (bad) might be and so organised other
activities for the weekend eg. Movies, bowling, swimming, games
night, sleepovers"
"Staff are supportive,
friendly, open hearts to everyone and accept everyone –
doesn’t matter what they [youth] do/have done"
"Leaders were respected
and trusted"
"Leaders would offer
advice and/or solutions – sometimes I took their advice"
"Leaders are amazing
people, they are: down to earth; connected to youth; fun; not
judgemental; put youth first; do lots of after hours work"
"Leaders drop valuable
lifeskills and core values into the club activities"
"Mentoring workers
lead by example and are a positive influence"
"Learnt about the Bible
though this was never pushed on us"
"We got good support
eg. Girls night where we can talk about relationships and specific
issues"
"Being involved with
Te Ora Hou opened doors for me"
"Having somewhere to
go – to get my mind off getting into mischief - was important"
"They helped increase
my awareness of peer pressures and how to handle them"
"Information is passed
on appropriately to girls and boys about hygiene, keeping themselves
clean and safe"
"Te Ora Hou provided
someone to talk to (aside from friends and parents) about troubles
or concerns"
"Starting club helped
me get back on track – gave me guidelines and guidance"
"Te Ora Hou provided
stability in my life"
"Support and connections
are long term – they don’t disappear just because we’ve
left club or are past our teenage years"
"To Te Ora Hou our
family well being is held as one of the highest priorities"
"Te Ora Hou is not
just limited to club night – there are follow-up activities
outside the formal times"
"Connections with role
models (male or female) important for children when they are
from single parent families"
"As a parent they also
give me support eg. Meeting at school, assisting me to find alternative
care, advocating for my child and helping me link into the health
system"
"They give me support
and advice on strategies to deal with youth behaviours and needs"
"Helped me keep my
sanity at some really hard times in my parenting and life"
"Our boy started to
show respect to his family"
"Good communication
modelled both with the youth and involving whanau"
"She learnt about actions
and consequences"
"Both the child and
the family benefit – links the children into other children
outside school and in different communities and it got me involved
with others for I was able to korero with them"
"The outdoor activities
presented a new perception of the environment"
"Children learning
a lot about Maori protocol and ways"
"Comfortable environment
where youth can be themselves and express themselves freely"
