Stories | 5%

Meilani is a 25-year-old Māori Cook Island woman who lives in Auckland. She has a partner and is a stay-at-home mum looking after 2 children.

Kara is a 51-year-old Māori Pākeha woman who lives in the South Island. She is married, has 3 children and 5 grandchildren. Kara and her husband are also foster parents.

Amber is a 29 year-old Pākehā woman who lives in the lower North Island. She is a full-time mother caring for 4 children – 2 of whom have autism.

Mahalia is a 30-year-old Māori/Tongan woman who lives in a coastal town in the North Island. She works in the retail industry and is a caregiver. Mahalia is married and has 4 children.

Marion is a 40-year-old European Kiwi originally from Canada. She lives with her partner and 5-year-old daughter in the South Island and works from home for an insurance company.

Kelvin is a thirty-eight-year-old Asian man who grew up in Auckland. He is married and the father of 5 young children. Kelvin owns a restaurant in Auckland.

Scott is a 34-year-old Pākehā Kiwi who lives in Auckland and works fulltime. He is a father of four, including a new baby with his current partner.

Talia is a 38-year-old Samoan woman who lives in Auckland. She is married and has 5 children. Talia is a stay-at-home mother. In her spare time, she makes candles.

Miri is a 36-year-old Māori woman who lives in the central North Island. She works as a beekeeper and has a partner and 2 children.

Nikora is a 20-year-old Māori man living in Auckland. His partner has a 2-year-old child. Nikora currently lives with his mother and has a fulltime job, often finishing late.

Knife is a 26-year-old non-binary transgender Pākehā who is living and flatting in one of Aotearoa’s main cities.

Hineawhi is a 47-year-old Māori woman. She lives in the lower North Island. Hineawhi is the mother of two teenagers.

Ariana identifies as both Māori and Pākehā. She’s 26, lives in an outer suburb of Auckland and her partner who lives nearby. She works for a freight company.

Anahera is a 45-year-old Māori woman living on the east coast of the North Island. She lived in Australia before returning home. Anahera is married with four children aged between 9 to 17 years.

Puawānanga is a 37-year-old Māori wife and mother of 3 children. She lives in a coastal suburb of a North Island city and works as an event organiser.

Bled is an 80-year-old Pākehā man living in the far North with his partner. They met during the Covid 19 lockdown. He stays active with tennis, fishing and fruit-picking at a local orchard.

Maia was a 23-year-old Māori woman doing conservation work in the South Island when we first met her. She is also a musician, singer songwriter and has recently moved to Wellington.

Julie lives and works with her husband north of Auckland in a semi-rural area. She is a Pākehā grandmother in her early 50s, with three grown sons.

Tamati is Māori, 35 and lives in a North Island city with his partner, teenage son, toddler and new baby. He was made redundant in lockdown, but is now working.

Tane is a 35-year-old Māori who lives rurally. He was seriously injured in an attack several years ago, but is finally able to work part time.

Mana is a 29-year-old Māori man who lives in South Island. He has a partner and is currently working in a mine.

Eru is a 62-year-old Māori man living in the South Island. A head injury from a road accident 12 years ago ended his working life as a shearer. He is a father and grandfather.

Anaru is a 30-year-old Māori man living alone in a lower North Island town. He has a major spine injury made worse by his first doctor sitting on his results for over a year. Anaru is now on a benefit, still waiting for specialist care or surgery.

Hana is a 36-year-old Māori woman who lives in Auckland. She has a 3-year-old son and lives in her whānau home. Hana is a team leader. Her work focuses on helping vulnerable families.

Anthony was a thirty-year-old European male who lived in the North Island with his wife and children when we first met him. He has recently moved to Australia with his family.

Wairere is a 34-year-old Māori woman living in the lower North Island. She lives with her partner and three school-age children.

Tiana is a 29-year-old Māori woman living in Auckland. Monday to Friday, she is a manager in the childcare sector and works with Youth in the weekends.

Teuila is a 68-year-old Samoan woman who came to New Zealand in 1970. She has 5 adult children, 13 grandchildren and 3 great- grandchildren. Teuila is a trained social worker but retired to look after her mother.

Tayla is a 27-year-old Pākehā woman living in Auckland. She is a busy mother with 2 children. One child has a hereditary heart condition and the other has a rare kidney disease.

Alna is a 30-year-old South African woman who came to New Zealand in 2016. She lives in Auckland with her husband and 4 children, ranging from 22 months to almost 8 years old.

Sheree is a 52-year-old Pākehā woman who lives in the South Island. She has a partner and they both have two adult children. Sheree grew up in Australia and has had a successful career as a chef.

Henry is a 72-year-old European man who lives in the South Island. He owns his own home and shares with a male flatmate, of the same age. He enjoys sharing the produce grown in his vegetable garden.

Rangi is 24-year-old Māori man living in Auckland with his mum. He has a 2-year-old son and is a solo dad. Rangi has whānau in both Northland and Auckland and often goes between both.

Nigel is a 41-year-old Pākehā man living in Southland. He lives with his parents while dealing with his mental health. During the week he works on the farm.

Andy is a 58-year-old New Zealand European man who lives with his adult son in a South Island town. He works fulltime and was an essential worker through the Covid19 Lockdown.

Kiwa is a 26-year-old Māori woman who lives in a seaside surburb of Auckland. She is a stay- at-home mother with 2 children.

Bob is a 59-year-old Pākehā husband, and uncle, who lives with his wife in a mid-sized NZ city. He does voluntary work for a mental health service.

Sione is a 59-year-old Samoan man who lives and works in Auckland. He has two children and a partner.

Edward is an 81-year-old man who is from Canada. He is retired and lives in the South Island. Edward is married and has adult children and a lot of grandchildren.

Mei is a 38-year-old Chinese woman who came to New Zealand at the age of 16. Mei lives in Auckland and works part time in the education sector. She is married with school-age children.

Tui is a 27-year-old woman who is both Māori and Pakehā. She lives in Auckland and has three children. Tui is a stay-at-home Mum.

Moana is a 63-year-old Māori wife, mother and grandmother from Northland. She works fulltime in the education sector and is pursuing a higher degree.

Maka is a 34-year-old Māori man who lives in Auckland. He has a partner and is a father. Maka has a fulltime job and works long hours.

Bulma is a 30-year-old non-binary Pākeha musician who lives in a large city in the North Island. In addition to playing in several bands, they do paid and voluntary work.

Elspeth was a 62-year-old New Zealand woman of Scottish heritage, living in a small rural town when we first met her.

Frano is a 19-year-old man of Māori and Pākehā descent who lives in the South Island. Frano is studying conservation and looking for work.

Mihirangi is a 52-year-old Māori woman who lives in the North Island. She works for the police department and was an essential worker during the first Covid 19 lockdown

Jason is a 44-year-old Pākehā man who lives in a coastal town in the North Island. He is a father of 2 and he works in the education sector.

Laura is a 36-year-old Pākehā woman who lives with her partner and 8-year-old daughter in a coastal town in the North Island. Laura recently became a nana.

Hinemoa is a 39-year-old Māori woman who lives in the North Island on a farm. Her youngest daughter lives at home with her.

Roger is a 68-year-old Pākehā man who lives in the lower South Island. He is a published writer who has enjoyed some international acclaim for his work.

Chanel is a 20-year-old Pākehā woman who has grown up in South Auckland. She lives with her family and is studying to get into nurse training.

Edna is an 82-year-old woman who lives within a North Island retirement village. In her younger days she travelled a lot including backpacking across Europe.

Leeanne is a 47-year-old Pākehā woman who lives in a major city. She has worked in the mental health and addictions sector, works closely with the Police and in the past, worked in prisons.

Brooke is a 30-year-old Pākehā woman who lives in a lower-North Island town surrounded by farmland. She is married and has 4 children.

Margaret is a 73-year-old woman who came to New Zealand at 16-years-old. She worked as a nurse for 25 years before retiring at 65. She lives on her own, but her daughter and grandchildren live close by.

Dawn is a 63-year-old Pākehā woman. She used to be a teacher, but is now retired and lives on her own quite a distance from her nearest town on the West Coast of the North Island.

Keith is a 73-year-old Kiwi who came to New Zealand from England in 1976. He lives with his wife in a North Island city that is surrounded by farmland.

Rose is a retired nurse. She is 75, lives on her own but has a partner. They live in a central North Island town on the coast.

Peggy is a 69 year old Pākehā woman who lives by herself in a central North Island Town. She is a mother and is currently retired.

Arthur is a 74-year-old Pākehā man living by himself in an east coast town in the North Island. He has his own villa within a rest home complex.