Nō te rironga atu e tōna tuāhine, e tōna hoa anō hoki, ki te mate pōuriuri, ko Travis Tawera hoki tērā i te pari o te rua. Heoi, kua whakamāui ake i a ia anō, me te aha, kei te hāpai atu a ia i ngā tāne Māori maha kia wetewete i ngā āhuatanga o te pāpouritanga me te anipā mā roto tonu i ngā mahi aruaru poaka me te hī ika.
Ko 'Tīore te Wairua' tā Travis Tawera whakautu ki ngā mate e poke ana i ngā tāne Māori.
“I wanted to end my own life, I went into the ngahere one day, with nothing but a rope in my backpack and I was lying down, I was thinking about my first experience with suicide, that was when I was in school and I lost one of my good mates Charlie, he hung himself and that's what I was going to do I was going to hang myself.”
Hei tā Tawera tokomaha i te Tairāwhiti ka mate i te whakamomori, me te aha, ka pā atu te mamae ki te katoa.
“I lost my sister to suicide and that was a big turning point in my life I went to some dark places and I didn't really know how to cope with it so I pretty much ditched all my family I thought they were against me and I just went back to the land.”
Hea mea whakaako ki a ia te whakangau poaka me te hī ika e tōna koroua i Waipiro, taro kau iho ka hoki atu anō a Travis ki ōna pūtake.
“I was just hunting fishing diving every day and sharing kai out with the kaumātua in Waipiro Bay and friend and whānau that needed it as well.”
Ināianei, he huarahi hou tāna, arā he whakaāhei i ngā tāne Māori kia tūhono atu ki te whenua, kia whai wāhi rātau ki te whakapuaki i ngā raruraru e pā nei ki a rātau.
“Just by doing different activities like hunting or even growing vegetables or walking along the beach and that they sort of open up to me which is awesome bro you know it takes it away from councilling and a room and classroom kind of buzz which isn't... it's pretty uncomfortable for a lot of people.”
“Ko tana whārangai Pukamata, 'Ngāti Providers mō te tēpū', he mahi tuku koha, he akiaki i te tānei Māori ki tū hei ringa manaaki.
“You know if you're really needing that help and you're genuinely needing that help and I'm keen to tautoko and help you, I want you to come to my whenua and enjoy what I've enjoyed, learn how to gather kai so you can home and teach that to your tamariki and just to your whānau and your friends especially your elders who can't get out anymore.”
Kei te whakatenatena atu a Tawera i te iwi whānaui kia whai i tēnei tauria.
