MEET YOUR FACILITATORS

Ko Hāpuakohe te maunga
Ko Mangawara te awa
Ko Tainui te waka
Ko Paoa te whare tupuna
Ko Ngāti Paoa te iwi
Ko Carlos Tutepaoa toku ingoa
Proud Indigenous Takatāpui 

I bring decades of lived experience into my journey and I mahi in the communities I am a part of, honouring the people and places that have held me, challenged me, and helped me grow. I’m passionate about creating real, practical change by sharing tools for harm reduction, building trust, and walking alongside whānau as they navigate their own paths. My approach is grounded, honest, and open minded. The power of healing happens when people feel seen, respected and empowered to make choices that work for them. 
Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au - I am the land, and the land is me.

I'm Chris, and I'm really glad you're here.

I moved to Aotearoa from Vietnam over ten years ago, and over time I drifted from my culture, myfamily, and my sense of belonging. When Covid hit, that disconnection caught upwith me. The loneliness was bigger than isolation - it was losing my thread back to who I was. Meth became part of how I coped.

But I never gave up on myself or this community. I reached out, opened my heart and mind again, and found my way back - through people who understood, and through study that helped me make sense of it all. For years I've worked alongside people going through their own hard stuff - mental health, addiction,finding their footing in work and life. I've sat with people in their most uncertain moments, and I've learned that showing up is often the most important thing you can do.

I come to these groups as someone who knows what it is to feel disconnected - from community, from culture, from yourself. I'm here to listen without judgement, and to help hold a space where you are welcome exactly as you are.

Kia ora, my name is Kai. I have been a ReWired facilitator for a few years now. Though I don’t have lived experience with methamphetamine, I do bring lived experience as a gay man and of engaging in chemsex. That experience gives me an understanding of some of the wider contexts that can surround chemsex, including sexuality, intimacy, belonging, connection, and the complexities of navigating queer spaces.

What I value most about ReWired is being part of a space where people can talk openly about their experiences without judgement or pressure to make a particular kind of change. I’m constantly struck by the honesty, humour, vulnerability, and knowledge that people bringinto this space.

I do this work because I believe people deserve support that respects their autonomy and recognises their strengths. I also get a lot from the work myself: every group teaches me something, challenges my thinking, and reminds me of the power of genuine peer connection. 

I’ve been a ReWired facilitator for over two years and feel incredibly proud to be part of a programme that supports the queer community. I facilitate because I want to help create a safe, welcoming, and non-judgemental space where people can connect, share openly, challenge themselves and feel understood.

What I enjoy most about facilitating is seeing the connections that form within the group and watching participants support and encourage each other. Every group is different, and I always learn something new from the people I meet along the way.

For me, ReWired is about connection and community. Being part of that process is incredibly rewarding, and I’m grateful to be able to contribute to something that can make a genuine difference in people’s lives.

Howdy! I’m the ReWired programme lead, driven to support men who have sex with men to better understand and reduce the harms associated with methamphetamine use through connection, education and peer support.

Drawing on both my professional expertise and lived experience, I’m a passionate advocate for reducing stigma and creating spaces where people feel safe to have honest conversations. I’m a natural community builder who’s spent much of my life bringing people together through communication and collaboration, and I believe lasting change happens when people are met with compassion rather than judgement. 

ReWired gives me an opportunity to support others with extensive lived experience, but also common sense that comes from being part of many different queer communities around the world. I’ve seen what fear, shame and stigma can do to one’s life – and lived through it myself. I’m here for you, so you can learn to be present in your own journey.

Kia ora, Peter here, one of the ReWired facilitators based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. During the day I work in the Rainbow sexual health space and I have been a ReWired facilitator since early 2023.

I bring to the room my own lived experience as a gay man who has lived through a time when it was illegal to be me, going to funerals of my friends during the 80s and 90's AIDS epidemic. I too, have partied hard and used drugs to enhance sex. It’s been a battle to get free!

Today I can use my lived experience to give back to my community and support other men on their journey. I enjoy creating a space where we can talk freely, without judgement and often bring humour as we connect.

ReWired provides information and options for folks to review their relationship with meth. Often in a small city people are worried about who they will meet at these sessions. The great thing is everyone else in the room feels the same, so come along. I am also known to cater well for these gatherings.  

Hi and welcome, I'm Tony, the Service Coordinator and Peer Support for ReWired and one of several facilitators. I'm also the face behind the emails, so if you've been wondering who's been sending you all those reminders, it's probably me.

From time to time, I'll be alongside you for this 8-week journey. Some of what I bring is professional - training, tools, experience in the field. But a lot of it is deeply personal. I've done the numbing, the avoiding, the "everything's fine" while things were absolutely not fine. I got very good at looking like I had it together on the outside, while things were falling apart on the inside. Turns out that's not a great long-term strategy.

As a trained Hakomisomatic psychotherapist, trauma-informed coach, with extensive training in Purposeful Peer Support and supervision (PPSA). These days I bring years of lived experience in this field, I've also worked alongside male survivors of sexual harm in prevention and recovery spaces, so I've sat with people in some genuinely hard places, and I know how to hold space without making it weird. So that's me. I promise I'm more interesting in person than in my emails - and I'm genuinely looking forward to being part of your 8-week journey.