Homeless in Hamilton: Streeties tell their stories
Thursday, 17 October 2024
They are an ever-increasing presence on the streets of the city - but asking Hamilton’s homeless how they ended up where they are is not always a straight-forward exercise.
Many are wary, or perhaps intimidated about talking to a reporter and a photographer. Some were simply incapable of saying anything. Others wanted to say everything they possibly could.
For Moses Metuli and his partner Tirina Fraser, a little patch of grass in the Victoria on the River gathering place was home - at least for the meantime - when the Waikato Times encountered them on Wednesday afternoon.
Parked nearby was a shopping trolley with all of their worldly possessions. A puppy named Hauraki was keeping them company.
“We were in Rototuna North, but we had an incident with a family member … who pulled a machete on us,” Metuli said. “So we had to get out.”
They had nowhere to go but into the city.
“We have been trying to find a place to stay … We are getting help through [homeless assistance organisation] The People’s Project and they have got an agent to work with us, and help us with income support. We still need somewhere to go though.”
The couple had been together for about eight years. Metuli said he had already spent time living rough on the city’s streets, while for Fraser it was more on and off, “since I was 12 years old”.
“We have not been eating for three days. We need food money.”
Levi Manu appeared to be fast asleep in a Garden Place doorway, but when the Waikato Times approached suddenly sat bolt upright - before slumping forward again.
He was not keen or simply unable to reveal much about his situation.
What are you doing here? How did you get here? “I don’t know,” he quietly mumbled. Are you OK? Do you require help? “I’m alright.”
Are you from Hamilton?
“I’m from nowhere.”
You’ve got to be from somewhere.
“From up north.”
Manu was far from the only reticent streetie encountered on what was a rare warm Spring day in the city. Some who were canvassed politely declined to say anything, and like Manu just wanted to be left alone.
Others wanted to say everything. Self-proclaimed evangelist Travis Martin, who was hanging out with a couple of friends at the river end of Bryce St, was eager to preach the gospel of the street.
“I am of the whenua and all the whenua is home to me. The world is my oyster. I’m from the bush. The bush in the Bay of Plenty. But I call it the Bad of Plenty, because there are too many gangsters there.
“I prefer it here. It’s not dog eat dog. This place is like Plenty of Plenty … It’s the land of milk and honey and ladies.”
Martin said he was not averse to hanging out with “the people who sleep in the bushes” and had recently done so himself - but declined to reveal emphatically whether he was currently doing so.
“I come here without judgement. Jesus was homeless, and did he complain?”
Martin said he too was receiving help from the People’s Project, however “the help that I most need is just a little more awareness. Not so much money. Not sympathy. Just a bit of heart.”
Another itinerant with the gift of the gab was a man who gave his name as “Jah Free Lore”. His lore was an expansive one.
“I’m from the South Island, but I choose to be here. It was 43 years ago when I first walked into Garden Place … I have got 24 nom-de-plumes I have used on the internet and Jah Free Lore is not one of them.
“On my last Twitter account I was getting 1000 hits per hour on the things I posted. You want to know how I did that? Hashtags. You have to have the right hashtags.”
“My choice to be unemployed is because I have a greater vision,” he grinned.
Elements of that vision included a tourist attraction on land to the north of Hamilton, where he anticipated the creation of 5000 jobs under his direction.
Further details were revealed cryptically.
“I will say one thing: Dreams are free. I’ll tell you another thing: Don’t count your chickens. And if you have only one egg, just make sure you know what you are incubating.”