Big steps forward for father and daughter

Tiare-Pounamu was just learning how to walk and finally had her own space to totter around in their new two-bedroom home in Richmond, near Nelson.

“Trying to find a whare (home) with the cost of living these days is horrendous. Before we came here, we were renting one room for the two of us,” Shemaiah says.

“There were seven or eight people in the house and there was no space for her to crawl around and be herself because of the foot traffic.

“It was perfect timing. I’ve given Tiare the biggest room because she’s got more stuff than me!”

The pair are thriving in their new home. Shemaiah has signed up to begin a pathways course at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology in July. After he completes the course, he’ll be able to start studying towards a Bachelor of Social Work next year.

“Tiare will be five when I finish the degree so she’ll be in kura (school) and I’ll be doing the mahi (work),” Shemaiah says.

Shemaiah has been a single dad since Tiare-Pounamu was two months old and says he is drawn to social work because of his own experiences. “I’d been working with counsellors who said to me that I’d be good at it and that I had the heart for it. Then I met up with my school guidance counsellor who was helping me. He was giving me pointers and he brought it up too. I thought: ‘I’m going to do it’.”

While he is thinking ahead to the future, Shemaiah, who is of Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua descent, is continuing to reconnect with his whakapapa (genealogy) and his language. He is also encouraging his daughter to learn Te Reo Māori.

Tiare is enjoying attending a kohanga reo preschool where she is immersed in Te Reo Māori every day. Shemaiah also speaks as much reo to his daughter as he can at home.

“It’s important to me to do this because I missed out on it in my life and I don’t want her to miss out like I did.”

Shemaiah has spent the past few years helping his iwi at a marae in Motueka. More recently, he has also been working with whānau at a Nelson marae. “It’s good to be home and getting back to the marae.”

He says having their own place to call home has made all the difference to him and his daughter. “When I was offered the Kāinga Ora home and they said: ‘this is your space’ we were feeling so blessed.”