There are plans to make a national youth hui an annual event. Amost 100 people took part in the Shift Hui at Wellington’s Tapu Te Ranga Marae earlier this month. That number was made up of about 65 young people of diverse sexuality and gender, and the volunteers who made the gathering possible. It was hosted by InsideOUT, formerly known as QSA Network Aotearoa. The group’s National Coordinator Tabby Besley says there were a wide range of workshops. “It was a mixture of having them run by young people in our organising team and also inviting other organisations such as Rainbow Village Collective and Family Planning to come in and help out. “We had workshops on all sorts of things such as self-care, creating inclusive spaces for takatāpui and healthy relationships and some really cool panel discussions where we got to hear from voices we don’t often get to hear from in the rainbow community.” Besley says the biggest highlight of such get-togethers is “just seeing young people connecting and being in this space where for many of them, it’s the first time they’ve ever been free to completely be themselves and around other people who are like them and accept them just as they are.” She adds “Witnessing those moments and hearing what people got out of coming along reminds you why it’s so important to be creating events and environments like this.” Besley says the entire gathering was organised and run by young people under 23, “which is something to celebrate in itself”. “There’s always new learnings to take away from events like these and as an organiser sometimes you get caught up in the stress or noticing each tiny thing that doesn’t go as planned, but seeing everyone’s Facebook statuses and reflections post-hui saying things like ‘it was the best weekend of my life’ and ‘it’s given me the strength to carry on’ is a really great reminder that you’ve given people an experience they will carry with them for a life time that they couldn’t have had anywhere else.” The attendees have asked for the Shift Hui to be an annual event – with one person even asking it be run every school holidays. Once a year is a more realistic goal, however. “We’ll be doing our best to make sure we can keep running a hui every year,” Besley says. “The hui sparked a lot of great conversations and connections for change going forward so I’m sure we’ll see lots of exciting things happening around the country.” InsideOUT’s upcoming projects include creating some resources to help students make their schools safer, running the Day of Silence again on 12 June, and running a mini Shift Hui in Whanganui next month. Besley has thanked the Ministry of Youth Development, Ara Taiohi, Rainbow Village Collective, Rainbow Youth, Interislander, Bluebridge, All Good Bananas, Kapiti Youth Support and all the incredible volunteers who helped make Shift happen.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 28th April 2015 - 9:13am