Matiu shares some personal reflections on the power of transformation.
At times I think my life experience is a very true perspective of what Pathway offers our men. I am the subtotal of the love and support given to me from many faces as I unlearned an old way of life and learnt a new one. While my own drive was necessary, I simply didn’t know what I didn’t know about living in society and how to navigate it. If it wasn’t for those that held my hand as I discovered this new life and journeyed with me through my many mistakes, I may not be working for Pathway today. Living this life has not just impacted me, but the lives of my children and countless others.
This is in essence what Pathway offers - love, support and another human to help a person navigate their way back into society, to help someone understand you are one of us, you have a place here and you are loved.
I have worked in many fields within the social work and reintegration space over the past 11 years. The freedom Pathway offers myself and my colleagues to bring our genuine self to the role is one of the many gifts and this in turn translates into our work. While many other places do great work, what sets Pathway apart is not being tied to Government mandates or numbers. This brings freedom to the way we can help our people and allows me to focus on my main task of supporting men back into society to live the best life they can. This is bringing with it outstanding results in reducing recidivism.
I believe this whakataukī sums up how we do that from an individual and community perspective:
Ko wai au
Ko au ko koe
Ko koe ko au
Who I am, I am you and you are me.
Not just from my unique perspective, but also you are the community and the community is you. It is an honour to work for such a strong organisation and I look forward to many more years to come.
Matiu Brokenshire, Reintegration Navigator
Names have been changed.
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