Rap remedy

By: Tianalei Siufanua

You pick the topic. He picks the beat. The freestyle rap begins.

Friday nights are the busiest at the Papatoetoe underground markets. Among the long lines for island donuts and chicken teriyaki plates, large crowds surround freestyle rapper Tihei Hararra.

A young family eager to hear what Hararra can do with his words choose a topic. Only a few seconds pass by before Hararra unleashes his rhymes.

Two minutes of personalized verses and bystanders begin to empty their pockets of two-dollar coins deeming Hararra worthy of their time and money. Hararra thanks each of his fans individually with handshakes and hugs.

“A lot of people have their own ways of living life and for me, I have all this rage inside, and the only way I can let it go is just making music,” says Hararra.

Autistic and from a broken home, Hararra found his escape early on through freestyling.

“I freestyle to unleash all my anger, to talk about peoples pain and everyday survival. I freestyle about what I have seen, what I have been taught and what I have been through just like any other person coming out of dark times. I freestyle about what it’s like to be labeled as a failure and told you're not going to make it. That is what I freestyle about—everyday reality."
 

With fans around the world, from California to Switzerland, Hararra could easily take his music out of the streets. However, the money aspect of making music has never been an interest for Hararra.

“I would rather get $20 in the streets than $50,000 in studio,” says Hararra.

Being able to make music when he wants and how he wants brings joy to his work. Hararra believes that money would only interfere with the freedom and happiness. His freestyling is his way of life, his way of releasing pain, and his way to share with people that are coping with the same situations that he has gone through.

No matter what the circumstances, everyone has a way of coping with life's struggles. What creative ways help you release your pain?

Former prostitutes find new path through faith

By Abby Norton (feat. her group)

“God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference,” the woman said.

Jane*, a former prostitute now keeps the serenity prayer and other prayers in a notebook near her front door. Every morning before leaving she grabs her keys and the notebook, a sign of where she’s been and where she’s going.

As a young girl, Jane turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with an abusive upbringing. She fell into prostitution at the age of 18 as a way to make money, quickly realizing that there was little room for escape on the path she had chosen.

But at the age of 53, she had had enough. Jane says she couldn’t go down that path anymore. She was tired and needed to be done. Since then, Jane has attended addiction recovery groups and spoken out against prostitution in New Zealand. She says her biggest motivator is knowing that there is hope.

Sadly, Jane’s journey to a more normal life is not over, but with the help of a higher power, she gets a little bit closer every day. According to Jane, belief in a higher power keeps her from venturing into the “dark place” her mind has been in for so long. She often describes herself as “twisted,” but says she uses spirituality to improve herself and her situation.

Jaewin, also a former prostitute, is now a practicing Baptist in Auckland. She remembers vividly her last night on the street. According to Jaewin, she walked back and forth, unable to shake her pastor’s image from her head. That night, she appeared on her doorstep, unsure of why she had been led there. It turns out the meeting was, as she calls it, “divine intervention” – the pastor was not supposed to be home. It was just the sign Jaewin needed.

Jaewin now regularly attends church meetings, as well as addiction recovery groups. She also actively speaks out against prostitution in New Zealand. Jaewin has found solace in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She believes that Christ experienced her suffering, past and present and knows intimately the pain she has endured. According to Jaewin, religion helped save her from prostitution.

For Jane and Jaewin, religion and spirituality have resurrected hope for a better life. Both recognize that although the past doesn’t go away, faith can rescue a troubled soul. Neither woman can change her past, but they can change their futures. They are wise enough to know the difference, and they’re doing it, one day at a time.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of interviewee.