South Auckland has a reputation for gangs, crime and violence, but a newly released book aims to showcase the positive stories and good that people in the community are doing.
Real, Raw and Relatable was an idea that was born from tragedy.
"I was teaching at a high school in south Auckland and one of my students committed suicide," says project creator Jasmine Jenke.
That death sparked conversations which ultimately led to the creation of a Facebook page based on the Humans of New York site, aiming to instill hope and pride in the wider community.
The book features the story of people like six-year-old Destiny Shelford-Green, who is only just learning to walk after travelling to the US for life changing surgery.
"[The surgery was] to get my legs working and to help me walk because when I didn't have surgery I couldn't even stand up by myself," she says.
Her friends think it's amazing her picture is in a book.
"Everyone at school thinks I'm famous - it's weird, I don't even care," Destiny says.
For Iavana Seuala, being in the book was a blessing.
"I feel it is a big boost for me, inspiring Pacific Islanders that people in south Auckland can do anything they want if they just have a willing heart and willing mind to do it," she says.
There are more than 100 stories in the book. Everyone featured was nominated by someone else.
"When I come to south Auckland to my community I see passion, I see life, I hear voices, I hear sound, I hear music - and that's what south Auckland is all about," says south Auckland resident Sully Paea.
"I gave the book to a lady in Nelson who is recently retired, and she said to me 'I've been feeling a deep sense of sadness lately but I can't quite pinpoint it but I read the book on the weekend and I felt happy'," says Ms Jenke.
With 2000 copies of the book printed and everyone featured in it getting a free copy, that feeling is set to swell through south Auckland in the coming days.
Newshub.
