Gain from pain

WAIKIRIKIRI TO MASSEY: Eru Findlay (left) never thought he would become a lecturer at Massey University when he was the age of his son, (middle), Eru Findlay, 8. His son attends Te Kura Reo Rua o Waikirikiri and both Eru Snr and Jnr are pictured with current principal Yolanda Julies. Picture by Liam Clayton

Life is not about what you have, it's about what you do with what you have, Eru Findlay says about his life.

Eru grew up in Kaiti, lived on Dalton Street and went to Waikirikiri School.

“Our playground was the metre box . . . I was a child of the '70s,” he says.

His early world revolved around his grandmother Rehia Henare (nee Wharehinga). He was raised by her for a few years in Uawa. She was all about the marae, and its people of Te Aitangi a Hauiti, Eru says.

“She is my inspiration — she was all about whanau, hapu and iwi.”

She passed away in her mid-'70s but “she is always walking with me,” he says.

When Rehia came to Gisborne, she helped whanau from the Coast transition to life in the city.

“She made sure that whanau did not forget where they came from. I always have an awareness of my connection to whanau, hapu and iwi because of her. Marae is a template of Mataurangi Maori (Maori knowledge).”

It was a different world on the marae, Eru says.

From Tolaga Bay, Eru moved to Dalton Street in the mid-1970s near Waikirikiri Reserve. He was then raised by his single mother.

“I have been living in Kaiti ever since.”

After attending Waikirikiri School, he went to Ilminster Intermediate and was a student of Karyn Williams, who still remains a staunch supporter of his studies. His father, Edward Findlay, then sent him to Wesley College in 1986.

“Jonah Lomu was there at the same time — we would always borrow him for my rugby team.”

Wesley College is the oldest school in New Zealand.

“I was fortunate to go there. That was the legacy my dad gave me — education.”

Eru said it was hard being away from his papakainga and whanau while at college.

“I was in a dark place, personally. I was in pain, but when I returned home, I was restored.”

He spent a few years on the dole, and started working in the fields picking beans before his uncle Pastor Tom Crawford took him under his wing and helped renew Eru's relationship with Kaiti.

“I helped at the Gisborne New Life Fellowship (currently the Oasis Community Church) and started doing youth work.

“That was where my passion for youth work was cultivated. I was 19 years old working with neighbourhood kids around five years old and upwards.

“I had a realisation in my early 20s about finding my place in my neighbourhood and how I could serve them to the best of my ability. I realised your pain can be your gain.

“Coming from a whanau raised by a single Maori mother, I was told I wouldn't amount to anything. But look at me now — I'm doing a PhD and becoming a lecturer at Massey University.”

After working with Pastor Tom and restoring his wellbeing, Eru started studying to become a social worker but his heart was still in the community — so he quit studying and started working for the Rangatahi Health Centre run by Te Runanga o Turanganui-a-Kiwa.

“That is where my professional journey started.”

It was a drop-in centre for young people roaming the streets, he says.

Jacqueline and Solomon Blake were the managers of the centre.

“It was almost 24-hour youth work.”

He became even more immersed with youth work.

“You always hear stories about young people who walk around drunk, but you have to give them aroha — you have to understand what they are going through.”

Eru was there for three or four years before going to the Matapuna Training Centre for a couple of years, where he ran the Alternative Education Programme.

After that he took a bit of a break but cared for Child Youth and Family Services children with his wife, Gwenda Findlay. Eru and Gwenda married in 2005 and looked after eight children, many of them teenagers.

Eru and Gwenda also have their own children — daughters Delys, 13, Scarlett, 11, and son Eru, 8.

When a social worker job became available at Family Works, he took the opportunity to apply.

“It was all action,” he says.

Eru is grateful to Family Works for taking him on as a social worker as he was still in training and started studying at Massey University again.

Then his life changed again.

Ministry of Justice under the now Chief District Court Judge Hemi Taumanu pioneered the Maori Youth Court (Rangatahi Court).

“It won me over.”

While working at Turanga Ararau as the supervisor of the Youth Justice Programme Papataiohi, he did his master's thesis on whether referring young people to Rangatahi Court reduced rangatahi offending, finding that it did.

His PhD is on the impact of Marae Justice on the health and wellbeing of Maori youth offenders and their whanau.

“It's amazing how something from whanau, hapu and iwi can potentially make a difference. I never forget where I come from — Hauiti. I still help out at the marae. That's the beauty of whanau, hapu and iwi. It doesn't matter what you attain . . . I'm still just Eru.”

He wishes to thank Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou for granting him the Toitu Scholarship that has helped with his studies. He's also grateful for the Massey University (Te Rau Puawai) Health and Maori Studies (Te Purehuroa) scholarships that have helped him over the last three years while studying.

“Whenever scholarships came up, I always thought they weren't for me, but now I know they can be for anyone.”

Eru travelled to Palmerston North on Thursday to get settled in for his new role as Facilitator and Lecturer for Maori in the Specialist Teacher Training Programme for the Faculty of Education.

He will help design, promote and teach strategies and perspectives on the programme.

Eru will be commuting between Palmerston North and Gisborne each week.

“I will always have my connection to Gisborne. It is a blessing I have this mahi now — I have a new future.”