Poutoa Papali’i, of Better Blokes South Auckland, shares his experience of being on the ground at the rugby with teams and supporters from around the nation attending the tournament this last Saturday.
I was fortunate to be able to promote Better Blokes Male Survivors. The event organizers provided me with a gazebo and a premium site where there was very good walk-through traffic. The estimated crowd fluctuated during the day between 1000-1500 people. While I spoke only to a handful of people, throughout the day we were given a regular promotion by the MC encouraging people to visit us at our site or at our website especially as we approach the festive season. I did have someone who was a male survivor of the infamous Dilworth School scandal who said that he was delighted that there was an organisation available to assist in the capacity that we do and took with him our details together with cards and pamphlets, he said there are victims still struggling. Another person who was a physiotherapist from Rotorua said that she was grateful there is this service for men as she often hears their stories and issues during therapy and so took away a bundle of pamphlets and flyers. The day turned out perfect weather wise and all in all it was a success being able to share with various people the awesome mahi that Better Blokes Male Survivors do. Thank you to Bryan Spondre for getting our sponsorship over the line at the 11th hour and the support of my fellow South Auckland team Linda-Teleo Hope and Andrew Hoare.