Ki te kāhore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te iwi.

The following stories of our people take us on a journey – a journey from despair and frustration, separation from whānau and communities of purpose, future and hope, to a journey of reconnection, identity, re-establishment and hope.

We hear the voice of their lived experience and this enables us to start courageous conversations in our communities around changing the narrative of the ‘silent sentence’ – the sentence of stigma, judgment and bias faced by people who are in, or have been released from, prison and deportees.

Their stories are a taonga for us to share, to develop understanding and acceptance from community in order to build a more inclusive society.