- Ko te kawa ora e tu nei. Ko te kawa ora e takoto nei. Ko te kawa ora e tau nei ki ta tatou hui. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. This week on The Hui ` an exclusive look at ex-prisoners trying to break free from their criminal past... - ALL: Hi! - They would be what I call the forgotten or the unreachable. - ...with the help of the Grace Foundation, the largest bail house in Aotearoa. A lot of our guys who were born into the gang life ` they had no choice. - And reconnecting to te ao Maori. - Everything that has hurt me, everything that is bad that I've done ` I brought that to the table and just released it. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Nga mate o te wa, haramai, haere. Tatou e hui nei tenei wa tihewa mauriora, and welcome back to The Hui. Released prisoners often have few options. Many return to the same people and conditions that fed their offending, creating a path straight back to jail. But the largest bail house in Aotearoa, the Grace Foundation, has helped hundreds of former offenders transition away from jail. It has rolled out a new programme focusing on the foundations of te ao Maori. It's a chance for some of these career criminals to connect to their Maoritanga. Our reporter D'Angelo Martin and story producer Joanne Mitchell worked closely with the Grace Foundation to deliver this exclusive look at the journey of those trying to break free from their criminal past. We are conscious many of the gang members featured in this story have committed crimes, and that there are victims of their offending. However, this story focuses solely on their efforts towards rehabilitation. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) - REPORTER: Gangs of Aotearoa... side by side, bitter rivals. - There's gangs like the Mongrel Mob in here. The Black Power, the Killer Beez, the Head Hunters, the Bloods, the Crips... - Once divided, now doing it together. More than 200 gang members, most just out of jail, healing the body, mind and spirit. - ALL: Hi! - We may be the only organisation that has... a number of different colours under the one umbrella, and there's harmony. - (SHOUTS) - ALL: Hi! - Hi. Kia ora, I'm Hone. 40 years of age. - Ko Hazel toku ingoa. Ko mana wahine ahau. - What's brought you here today? - (EXHALES) What a journey it's been. (BROODING MUSIC) Born and bred in Mangere ` those are my roots. And had only one thought ` you know, make it out of the gutter, make it out of the ghetto. - I spent the first eight years of my life in Invercargill with my mother. Grew up around drinking, heaps of violence. Yeah, I used to see my mum just get beaten up all the time. - My mum left my dad because of domestic violence and, you know, the drug life. She was a solo mum. We were introduced to, like, a poverty mindset ` on the benefit, you know, six kids, no man... - Just got put into some social welfare care quite a lot when I was little. Passed around in those places. All I wanted in my life was a home. A home I could belong to. I never had a father. It was one thing I always wanted. To this day, I still don't know my father. I truly think it affected me majorly not to have someone there to hug me, tell me they love me. - I was lacking a dad ` not a father, but a dad. You know? That gives you cuddles and tells you it's gonna be all right. I got a scholarship to go to Epsom Girls Grammar. I was like, 'Yeah, get out of the gutter!' You know? I felt like I earned that my own self, with my own hands and my own mind, and I deserved it. I had to enrol myself. They said, 'But you can't come without an adult, and it has to be your parent.' And my mom, she said, 'Yeah, I'll pick you up, and we'll go.' I never did. Never did. She didn't come through. She didn't take me to my interview. A really bummed-out feeling, actually, been let down by your parents. - I come back to Mangere. I got whangai-ed to my auntie and my uncle, who I called my mum and dad, and they were really, really loving towards me. Being with them ` it just made me feel whole. But my mum wanted me back. She drove up from Invercargill to Auckland and told my aunt and uncle, 'I want my son back.' So I went to go stay with my mother. I never really called my mum 'Mum'. - My mum was like a Mongrel Mob mama and still is to this day, like she's Mongy to the bone, and I'm the opposite to that. I can't stand it, but I love my mum. She protected us from my dad's drug dealing. My dad's forte was cooking. I didn't know that till I grew up and saw it on TV. 'That's what we used to have in our lounge!' You know? My dad used to come and do that to our home and made it like a heroin lab. - Seeing different gangs in my house... I was pretty much just a little kid hanging around all the different gangs, you know, Black Power, Mongrel Mob... So I went around doing everything I wanted to do ` being a druggie, a thug. Going around, doing bad things. I was 14 years old. I was hanging around with the Nomads. Nomad was everything to me then. Nomad was everything. I just wanted to be part of the baddest, most violent gang. - And did that eventuate? - Well, I'm a Nomad. Yeah. - A lot of our guys who were born into the gang life ` they had no choice because whatever they were born into, that was it. It was normalised. My name is David Letele, co-founder of Grace Foundation with my late daughter, Vicky. 18 years now we've been going. We weren't taken very serious 18 years ago, but now we've been acknowledged that it's probably the largest bail house in New Zealand, in Aotearoa. You know, at the beginning, it was about accommodation. Shelter was first and foremost. As time went, it just ventured into... an area that I was quite familiar with because of my own background. So I'm a former state ward, removed from home at the age of 10. At age 15, I ended up being a patched member for the Mob. And just, you know, escalated through the ranks quite quickly. At 17, a sergeant of arms, and president at 19. Short-lived because at the age of 22, I got sentenced to a 10-year prison term for armed robbery. It wasn't until the age of 46 that I turned my life around. So it was` I think it was that experience that's led me to what I do today. (GROUP CHANTS) So, what we offer here at Grace is a platform enabling them to consider this idea that there is another pathway that one can take. It's about realigning people's lives or giving them the opportunity. That's what we offer at Grace ` this thing called hope. (SOFT PIANO MUSIC) - When did you meet Hazel? - So Hazel... I met Hazel when I was 18, 19. I know Hazel was like the first person I've ever asked out. - How's the last 20 years been with her? - Oh, it's been up and down ` quite like a roller-coaster. I mean, most of it's because of me. - The turning point for us was we had a big wake-up call. We went to jail. We both went to jail. And that was the turning point to where we are now. That's what brought me to Grace. - Coming up... - Cos there's this movement that Grace is doing that they've never seen before. - ...a marae retreat is life-changing for some. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - But will best-laid plans fall apart? - Kia ora tatou. Another day in the presence of Grace Foundation. So we'll start off with our karakia. - Grace Foundation houses offenders just out of jail while they're under bail conditions. - E noho. - We have a lot of people here who would never be anywhere else. They would be what I call the forgotten or the unreachable. So all our leaders ` we've all come from the jails, we've all come from the gangs, but we've turned our lives round. - Take the opportunity to go... - Central to this is a commitment to a programme that will equip them for life on the outside. - It gives us structure. - Structure. - Routine that we never had. - Shane and Mel came into Grace, both carrying mamae, both carrying trauma. - I came into Grace Foundation addicted to all substances. - I got out of maximum security. So, I got the, you know, the opportunity to come to Grace Foundation. So, yeah, nah, it's been a real eye opener for me. - I had no sense of direction in life. I actually thought I would, you know, commit suicide. - I grew up around that environment that gangs was, you know... That was the thing, you know? I went out and committed crime, you know, smoking drugs, burglaries, armed robberies. - There's some more rakau over there by the van. If you want to go grab one of those, and then we'll get into our mahi. - The kaupapa Maori programme has been underway for just five months. - Just looking that way. Does anyone know what the English translation is or what it means ` Maungakiekie? That's a colonisation korero that's been embedded in us to know that that's just One Tree Hill. But in actual fact, that's Maungakiekie, And that name comes from the kiekie vines. Ka pai. We'll start making our way up, eh? - Te Reretai Hauiti's aim is to reconnect those in Grace with their Maoritanga. - We do maunga hikois, so I take them up different maunga around Tamaki to get them out into the whenua. - Hone and his wife, Hazel, are on this journey together. - I'm quite fortunate that I've found a lady in my life that's stuck with me through everything. - I really fought for my family, because I didn't have one. - Hawaiki Tu! (ALL SHOUT) Mangopare! (ALL SHOUT) Mangopae! (ALL SHOUT) - It's a journey that is going to help heal our past hurts. (GROUP PERFORMS HAKA) Just moving together as one for our family, being a better husband, a better father, you know, a better provider for my family... - Hi a haha. Hi! - ...to give my family what they've been... asking for for a long time. - You know, we'll be better contributing people to our communities. - It's an intensive, all day, every day programme. And today, they're preparing for a weekend haerenga. - We're leaving early on Friday morning. Yeah, we're still backwards and forwards with the police. This is a new space ` corrections, police, everyone in their system ` they're all shook at the moment, cos there's this movement that Grace is doing that they've never seen before. - Heading to the far north, a first-time trip together. Busloads of gang members... some would say high risk. - This is setting a precedent. No one's done this before. We're staying at Ngatimanawa Marae. It's another opportunity for us to embrace our turangawaewae, our identity. Grace Foundation is breaking ground and taking tane, wahine out of the rohe on a haerenga. And it's a reconnection haerenga. It's a connection to whenua, to iwi, to hapu, to marae throughout Aotearoa. To find that sense of belonging as part of their healing journey. - With a population of less than 100 people, the remote rural hapori of Panguru have agreed to host the Grace Foundation along with all their whanau. For Hone and Hazel, it's an opportunity to bring 10 of their kids with them. - It feels really, really good coming back to a marae and getting reconnected, getting reconnected with any kind of whenua. It's, yeah, quite humbling. - For many, this haerenga is a reintroduction to te ao Maori, and for some will be their first time on a marae. - (SINGS KARANGA) - Despite their backgrounds, they are accepted warmly by the haukainga. This weekend is all about learning, sharing, and putting their mahi into practice. (ALL SING WAIATA) Police make their presence known. But they leave after a few hours, acknowledging the positive kaupapa. - It's not about fixing you. It is about being the change, yeah? - Kind of just trying to keep them out of the rain. But kids will be kids. They just love it. - We're so used to schedules and time and all these things before we came. And now I've just seen the layers fall off them, and their ahua is bright, and they just feel happy. Even though it's raining, that's no dim on them at all, so it's beautiful. (KIDS SCREAM, LAUGH) (REFLECTIVE PIANO MUSIC) - We're all in? - Yep. Yeah, I'm cool. - The worsening weather doesn't deter them from heading out to learn about the rich history of Panguru... including the legacy left by Dame Whina Cooper. - She made everyone angry... because she was a leader. She broke the boundaries. She spoke on this marae, and yet she believed that she had to make the wrong right. - Once back at the marae, it's time for a wananga. - Appreciate my wife and all of our children. Far, it's hard chasing these kids around up here. (LAUGHTER) Eh? Far out. You know? But I'm gonna love every bit of it. I mean, everybody that I know here from jail, uh, brothers, youse are all doing mean. I mean, you know, all that stuff that we used to get up to, but we're actually thriving here, eh, so, yeah, I'm grateful as for that. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) - If there was any words of encouragement, I'd just encourage everybody to learn their pepehas, learn their whakapapa, cos it's just that much better knowing where you come from, eh. So you know where you're off to. Gang or not, bro, try put your family first. (APPLAUSE DROWNS OUT WORDS) - Here they have learnt the foundations of te ao Maori ` connecting, sharing kai, and picking up a tea towel. - Grace has given me that mana, that ihi to stand up and not be whakama. - For Shane and Mel, this trip is life-changing. - Kia ora, whanau. I'd just like to say, Mel... My darling, since I first met you... (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) I just want to give you the best parts of me. (CHEERING) - Whoo! (APPLAUSE) Aargh, we're getting married! - Yeah! (GROUP SHOUTS, CONGRATULATES) - You know when you're ready, and you know she's the one. You know, just, yeah, get it done. She's a beautiful soul, and I know she's the one. - Coming up... as one chapter ends... (GROUP SINGS IN HARMONY) ...another begins. in the journey of reclaiming mana and identity. (SINGING CONTINUES) (PENSIVE MUSIC) - HONE: How are you feeling about tomorrow? - I can't wait. Like, I really think that I was born ready. We both are. - It's hard to describe the reality of what Hone and Hazel have endured. - I've put Hazel through some bad situations, through domestic violence, drugs, surrounding the gang life around her. - I think with us, it was the drug use. P, honestly, like many whanau out there just destroyed by P. - My values when I was growing up ` be the baddest, smoke the baddest. Meth till death. Those were some of my values back then. - If we didn't have the resilience and the perseverance that we have, we'd still be there, we'd be in jail. Being able to change dysfunction, addiction, whatever it is, that has become my drive in life. - Their life is taking a turn for the better. - I'm really proud of you, babe. Like, really proud of you... us. - It was one thing when they suggested me getting my mataora, and then when I heard that you wanted to get yours, and it made me feel really good. You know, that we'd do it together. So I'm really, really blessed that I'm walking this journey with you. - Years of mistakes, decades of bad decisions... but now a first glimpse at who Hone hopes to be. - My values now... Mwah, mwah, mwah. ...is to live a good, happy life with my family, watch my kids grow up and prosper. - I guess us really owning our mistakes and moving forward. The last few days ` so much has come over my mind. Like forgiving ourselves, forgiving others, forgiving situations, you know, actually being free of a lot of things that hurt us from our childhood, you know? Some things we should never have been exposed to. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) - Wanting to be the change for their whanau, Hazel and Hone prepare themselves for the next chapter of their lives. - I know who I am. I know where I'm from, and I've overcome everything that has ripped me apart and kept me held down. All those strongholds ` I've been able to cut those off. And it makes me really proud and really driven in this kaupapa. - A kaupapa that has taken months to plan, the mokopapa wananga is now underway. - There's no going back. So they've made that commitment to themselves, to their culture, to step forward. A lot of them have come from colourful backgrounds, drugs, alcohol, addictions, all of it. And to have now stopped that and walking a better journey for themselves and being honest to themselves. - When I get my mataora and my puhoro done, to pick up drugs and do drugs again, to me, that's just the wrong thing to do. - Part of the reclamation journey of one's identity is through moko, from the gang life and life of crime to moko kauae, mataora and puhoro. - I am. I'm still a patched member of the Nomads. But I'm having serious thoughts about throwing my colours in. - Why is that? - Cos I'm getting more out of this life... than what I did that life. everything I did with the gang got me to jail. Don't get me wrong, I love my brothers. I love them heaps. I suppose I'm loving my family a bit more. - It makes me feel grateful that I'm able to support these tane, give them a glimmer of light within their life. A massive change has been made in the individuals. Some may carry it on in to the community, but some may go back into the jails. - What happens when they reoffend? - This idea of chances, you know, because people have come, they get released, they get exited, they go around the block again, and they come back to Grace. If we hold on to them, they're not learning. So we do have to let go. And the hope that down the track that that penny drops. - Is it hard for you? - It is hard because I see potential. You know, I see potential. The issue is do they see it? You know? - Going on the table, I actually brought everything with me. Everything that has hurt me, everything that is bad that I've done. I brought that to the table and just released it. - Being strong in their identity is one thing, but wanting to be more present in the lives of their tamariki is another. - I've seen a lot of change in my parents. - It's something Hone and Hazel's oldest daughter, Fade, yearned for. - It's amazing to see them feel confident enough and worthy enough for, like, moko and mataora. - Fade has just graduated with a law degree. - Being the oldest, I saw it as like if my parents weren't gonna be the ones to hold my whanau together, I had to be. - Do you have any resentment or regret about your upbringing? - Not really. How I see everything is everything happens for a reason, and it's your actions that determine the outcome. I've experienced so much, like, growing up. Like, things that I shouldn't have. Even though my parents gave us a rough upbringing, I wouldn't change it, because it made me have the morals that I have today and see the world the way that I do and value the little things in life. - This whanau is hoping to break the cycle. - I feel like a different person, you know? Getting this done just renews me. It feels like being reborn. - Change is possible. You know? It's just... How much are you willing to change? - It's another step in Mel and Shane's journey too. - MEL: I was ashamed of who I was. Today, I am who I am, and I am proud to be who I am. It's embracing my te ao Maori side. It's closing one journey of my life and starting my new journey. - (RECITES PRAYER) - I'm a true believer that we have a God that is indeed real. We don't preach that. What we do is we walk it out and live it. And the hope that others get curious. - Grace Foundation has brought me back to being me. It's a good feeling to be free. (ALL PERFORM HAKA) My values have changed dramatically from being something bad to something good. - When we land here at Grace, look past the colours and identify the man. And you'll realise when you look in your own mirror, he looks just like you. He looks just like you. The work that we do here takes on all aspects of one that's broken, and it's just bringing those pieces back together. But we can make it if we put in the effort. - With the markings of their tupuna now etched permanently on to the skin, for these wahine and tane, their new journey begins. (EMPOWERING MUSIC) - What an awesome story and a special mihi to our magnificent editor, Debbie Matthews for her work on that kaupapa. You'll find links to that story and other stories on Facebook and our Twitter accounts, or at newshub.co.nz. Kia mau ki te turanga o Taputapuatea. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. Captions by Sam Baker. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Ko te reo, te take. - Na Te Puna Whakatongarewa Te Hui i tautoko.