#51 Anthony Tina

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Unfiltered with Dave Letele 44 min 3 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 3 months ago
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What challenges did Anthony Tina face in his early life?

Dave Letele 0:00
From homeless to now helping the homeless. This is an amazing story. Had a conversation with Anthony, who now works for LifeWise, but his life didn't have the best start. Born to a teenage mum, raised by his grandparents, shipped off overseas.
Anthony Tina 0:14
Where things really got pear-shaped was when I started intravenously use methamphetamine.
Dave Letele 0:21
Anthony lost his way and he ended up being homeless on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney. He spoke about that journey, what it was like being homeless over there to ending up in prison.
Anthony Tina 0:30
They were getting searched and came in to another country to see their son in prison with no teeth. It was really sad at the time.
Dave Letele 0:37
Moving back here, and as all 501s, they come back, they get put into a lodge, and they have very, very little support. And those that don't have any family, it's almost impossible. So luckily for Anthony, he did have that final support, and he rebuilt his life.
Anthony Tina 0:51
Didn't give a shit. Didn't pay bill.

How did addiction impact Anthony's journey to homelessness?

Anthony Tina 0:53
I didn't give a shit leading up to it. Now I do care. Do care about the society that we live in.
Dave Letele 0:58
This story is proof that from the deepest pain can become your greatest purpose. So don't forget to like, comment, share and subscribe. This is a very important conversation. Anthony, enjoy.

What was Anthony's experience like while homeless in Australia?

Dave Letele 1:13
Unfiltered is produced by the team at Fanaticals and we are part of the Acast Network. Anthony, thank you so much for joining me, brother. Thank you for having me, David. Kia ora. Can you talk to us about, you know, where it all started for you? Where were you raised?
Anthony Tina 1:27
So I'm Ngāti Porou Te Arawa on my father's side. On my mum's side, I'm Samoan, Dutch and Danish. I was raised in Rotorua, born and raised. And my mum was 15 when she had me. So she was 16 when she gave birth to me. And she was in a relationship with my father. She was still at high school. Dad was just out of prison. He didn't treat her very nice. It was violent. Both come from traumatic backgrounds. Mum eventually escaped with me and social services took me back to her parents on my Samoan side. And so I grew up there. And as it turned out, Mum was, she was given a choice. She said, look, do something with your life. You know, back in those days in the 70s, particularly with the Samoan background, she had caused a lot of shame.
Anthony Tina 2:32
Fuck them up. And so she said, as long as Anthony knows that I'm still his mother, I will do my best to, you know, I just, that's the deal. So you raise him because I'm too young. She got a job a year later, 16, 17, I think 18, moved out and then went to Australia. And I grew up with my grandparents who are actually my parents. Come about 11, 12, 13... I knew there was something not quite right because it wasn't spoken of.

What was the turning point for Anthony during his time in prison?

Anthony Tina 3:02
I knew there was something. I wanted to know who I am. Why am I different? Why do I look different? I went to Limor School in Rotorua and it was very Pakeha. And I wasn't really, growing up in the 80s, You know, everything was white. Karate Kid, the Goonies, everything, pop culture was white. So I wanted to be white. But when I went to primary school, I wasn't. Bigger lips, eyes, skin was darker. I remember hiding from the sun. I remember pushing my lips into the pillow. You know, things children do to fit in. So again, you can see already there was a detachment early on in my, like an attachment, detachment, and an identity sort of wanting to fit in. 12, 13, I met my father. How was that? Oh, that was interesting.
Anthony Tina 3:48
So it was interesting because I begged my auntie. I said, I've really got to make this man.

How did Anthony rebuild his life after returning to New Zealand?

Anthony Tina 3:54
I've really got to know who this man is. I want to know who am I part of. And she set it up. Apparently he lived in Rotorua, not too far, actually a few suburbs away as it turned out. I had an idea of who I thought he would be. You know, as kids, I thought he'd be some sort of, I don't know, Clark Gable character, eh? Yeah. And we were in Decca, for those old enough to remember Decca.
Dave Letele 4:21
Yeah, Decca. Who remembers Decca? You know Decca? Geez, we're showing our age, brother.
Anthony Tina 4:25
We are, right? And we were in Decca, and I sat there. My auntie was next to me, and this was the one-off.

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