“Being a newcomer to the place, I didn t want to open my mouth, so I just sat there and watched,” he said of the violent boxing matches put on by the staff. Solomon was forbidden from “fraternising” with the children, and told to make them repeat mundane tasks over and over again. Colleagues both good and bad warned him not to speak up about the violence he saw there, including children being “thrashed” inside the secure unit to threaten them against trying to escape the home.
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Tupe Solomon-Tanoa i read out her father’s testimony, helping him to break a life-long silence about the violence he saw.
Breakfast presenter and former NZ Idol star Indira Stewart talks about speaking up and proving her worth.
This story was published on Woman. Growing up in Auckland, Indira Stewart knew she was going to be a singer, she just didn’t know that wasn’t all she would be. Coming from a musical family, she sang in church, studied music in high school, won a scholarship to Auckland University’s School of Music and even taught music at the prestigious Martin Hautus Institute.
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Award-winning journalist Indira Stewart initially took a journalism paper “just to fill up my credits”.