We lose count of the number of mentoring relationships that make a difference. But in the case of Little Buddy Teina Kanohi and his Big Buddy Laurence Stanaway, we can definitely point out two occasions that the impact of their long-lasting relationship has had on readers.
Firstly in 2014, reporter Cherie Howie wrote about them:
Motorcycling, sailing, flying? Good. Out for a feed and a chat? Even better. West Auckland student Teina Kanohi has been in the Big Buddy scheme since 2007, and has been on hundreds of outings with construction business owner Lawrence Stanaway.
They’ve watched movies, motorcycled, sailed on Stanaway’s yacht and taken a scenic flight. Fourteen-year-old Teina has loved them all – but nothing beats going to a cafe and talking with his buddy.
“I like just catching up with him over food, just being with him … he knows a lot about the world.”
The Big Buddy programme is for boys who do not have fathers. Teina’s dad walked out the day the teen’s brother, now 12, was born….’ Read more on this NZ Herald article here.
Then in 2016 Education reporter Simon Collins picked up the mantle and wrote even more about the happy pair:
‘…..Stanaway, a 67-year-old father of five and now grandfather of 14, is one of 640 men who have stepped up to mentor boys like Teina since the mentoring trust Big Buddy was founded in West Auckland in 2003.
Today the trust launches a drive to recruit more mentors for about 80 boys on its waiting list, and to raise funds for new branches in South Auckland and Hamilton.
The trust provides mentors when there is no “natural father figure” such as a stepfather or grandfather in a boy’s life, and where the biological father is either dead, has no contact with the boy, or has limited contact and agrees to bringing in a mentor. Chief executive Richard Aston estimates that nationwide about 8000 boys aged 7 to 14 would fit those criteria.
“Below 7 my theory is that they are quite strongly attached to their mothers, and around about 6 or 7 the boys are starting to think, ‘I’m a bloke’,” said Aston…’ Read this full article here.
We greatly appreciate all our Big and Little Buddies who step up and share their story….and we’re always looking to share more! Please don’t hesitate to share you story with your Coordinator or our Media & Communications Coordinator, Sally Webster.
