‘Normal people’: Rehua’s story
Rehua, a pseudonym used in the 2025 social impact research commissioned by St John of God Hauora Trust, is a tāne Māori in his late twenties. He lives with his partner and her tamariki. His own tamariki visit every weekend and attend kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori.
He first connected with Waipuna in the prison youth unit around a decade ago, while serving a sentence for a violent offence committed when he was 17.
What he noticed first
Rehua describes the Waipuna staff as “normal people,” which struck him at first. He was observant, not immediately engaged.
But something about the ordinariness of the relationship, the absence of institutional distance, made it easier to stay.
“Talking to normal people, my vocabulary was pretty bad when I was younger, just from not hanging out with a wide range of people, so just more people skills. I learned more of a leadership as well.”
After release
After his release, Rehua took part in multiple Coast to Coast races with Waipuna, cycle events, and running events.
He describes the outdoor activities as the context in which real learning happened, not incidentally, but structurally.
“You know, it’s kind of a must have. Because you won’t build that relationship inside a room. For me, I feel like yes, you can build a relationship inside a room, but not the adventure. That’s when you can get someone’s true self, through adventure.”
When things fell apart
After a period going well, Rehua became too comfortable, drinking, using drugs, and things at home became difficult. He reached back out to Waipuna, which he says felt like reaching out to friends.
They let him repeat the programme. Waipuna helped him get a job. He has now been with the same employer for six years.
What he carries now
Rehua keeps distance from extended whānau who have not changed. His focus is entirely on his partner and their tamariki. The family goes tramping together every three months.
The programme taught him to recognise when he was bottling up emotion, a pattern he was, as he puts it, “pretty bad for,” and to acknowledge what was happening before it became explosive.
“If I felt like, instead of bottling up my emotions, which I’m pretty bad for and then explode, I would, if I could feel it coming, actually acknowledge what’s happening instead of keeping it quiet.”
Rehua’s story is one of eight in-depth interviews conducted with male former reintegration participants as part of the 2025 Social Impact Assessment of adventure therapy at St John of God Waipuna. All names in the research are pseudonyms.
Summary Report
A summary of the independent impact research into Waipuna's adventure therapy programme, covering outcomes and findings from the 2023 to 2026 reporting period.
Social Impact Report 2025
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