Two of our Te Aranui boys were chosen to do community work in Vanuatu by their church group, Marine Reach. We saw this as a fantastic opportunity for our boys to experience travel and to fully immerse themselves in a new culture for the first time. The wider team at Te Aranui, including MOE and Police staff all pulled together to get them there, through paying out of our own pockets and holding a hāngi fundraiser. The two boys also worked hard at raising money and at the end we were able to put together enough to pay for passports, flights, food, accommodation and some spending money.
These two young men have been working with NZ Police Youth Worker, Sonny Walker, and have grown into mature young men who are positive and active members of our society. The boys have just got back and have shared their experience with the rest of our Te Aranui kids at Breakfast Club. Their story and experiences were very inspiring and now the rest of our kids want to work hard to get to Vanuatu one day. We are very proud of these boys for how far they have come, they deserved this opportunity very much.