“I am very grateful to my Kaiawhina Zarian from Tuhono Whānau for all of the guidance she gave us during our time together she was amazing. Her support for us was so genuine and loving it was so highly valued by my whānau and I. She helped us grow in ways I could have never imagined and I’m so thankful for everything she taught us and I cherish the time we spent together and all of the things I learnt and I continue to use it to this day. I found out about Tuhono Whānau by kaiawhina promoting the service in the community. Zarian helped me to become confident in myself as a māmā for my daughter, to be able to trust my instincts and not doubt myself in what I am doing. I struggle with social anxiety and Zarian helped to push me out of my comfort zone to help guide me to be able to take my daughter to things such as swimming, play groups and also to play centre which I am now on the committee for, something I never would have considered myself even capable of doing this was a great help for me because now I can see something I think my daughter will enjoy like soccer or rugby and without hesitation I can sign her up and take her along to give it a go. Another thing Zarian helped my whānau with was safe sleeping I was quite anxious about my daughter sleeping alone or somewhere I couldn’t see or hear her breathing and I found it quite hard to not do contact sleeping. Zarian worked with my daughter and I for roughly about a year to transition her to sleeping on her own. Zarian didn’t force us or shame us for not doing it the right way instead she gave us information so I was fully informed , new strategies and ideas to try, it took a long time but we got there in the end. I never wanted my daughter to leave my site and now she attends kindy two days a week. I could go on and on about the ways Zarian helped my whānau and I but the one thing I want to end with is just the positive affirmation that what I was doing as a mum was right, that I was doing a good job and that I am a good mum it meant the world to me and it still does. I struggle with being able to believe that I am a good mum and in times where I am doubting myself I can hear Zarians voice in my head telling me that I am a good māmā and that I am trying the best and if I don’t believe it I just need to look at Atlas and see how good she is doing as a reminder that I’m doing a good job and it really does help me. I would and I do, anytime I am with friends/parents who are looking for support I recommend Tuhono to them and tell them of my experience and how it has helped me. “
