Jobs pay better than crime

By JANINE OGIER

Eighteen months ago Lukis Smith was another troubled teenager, relying on crime to pay for the things he wanted.

He'd already had two brushes with the law in Rotorua, for stealing hubcaps and other theft.

Now the 19-year-old is a sonarman in the Navy, training to be a combat systems operator and looking forward to seeing the world.

The turning point came when he signed up last year with Eastside Training, a forestry training course that's helping many young men change their lives.

Rick Wiringi set up Eastside Training in 1996 to provide a forestry and life skills programme for Rotorua youth. He says his own tough upbringing means he knows where the young men are coming from.

Young offenders are referred to the course by the police and courts.

Each trainee has a week's trial, but no one has given up yet, despite some initial reluctance.

Wiringi is convinced that financial independence is the key to changing their lives, and Smith agrees.

He says his desire to buy things and frustration at the lack of money was at the root of his troubles as a teen.

He knew there was good money to be made working in the forests and says the Eastside instructors continually reinforced the idea that crime doesn't pay.

The trainees are sought after by employers and soon realise that if they complete the programme it will lead to money in the bank.

"Offending in Rotorua revolves around the economic situation a lot of families find themselves in," says Sergeant Jim Harvey, the head of Rotorua Police youth services.

"Once the young men get themselves into a work habit and start to earn an income then the offending goes away."

Each year around 1200 to 1500 young people commit a minor crime in Rotorua, such as shoplifting, burglary, or minor drug offences, he says.

But the Eastside graduates rarely reoffend - success that speaks for itself.

While the instructors motivate the students and give them guidance, Smith says he learned it was up to him to shape his life.

"We were taught discipline, respect, and about not being shy to ask for help. They emphasised that life starts at the bottom and you work yourself up."

Passing the pruning and thinning modules of the programme meant Smith quickly got a job at Interwood Forestry in Te Puke - and a boost for his confidence.

After six months he applied and got into the Navy, where he's now chasing more qualifications.

Eastside Training's simple aim is to get students to like themselves and to learn a work ethic.

The focus is on building self-esteem and confidence, developing a work routine, learning responsibility and accountability.

It's a winning formula - more than 90 per cent of trainees get a job or pursue further training.

A few years ago the trainees were mostly aged around 18, with a couple of years of criminal behaviour behind them. Now, Wiringi says, the students are generally aged around 15 with one offence to their name, so they are being helped before an offending pattern sets in.

A third of trainees have gang affiliations and many are facing the grim reality of third-generation unemployment.

But that is set aside at the beginning and end of each day when all the trainees shake hands.

Wiringi tells of the day he quashed a fight among rival trainees by hugging the main culprits. The show of brotherly affection put the students off the idea of further violence.

To teach about planting, pruning, logging and sawmilling, the course timetable mirrors a typical day on a forestry gang, even down to picking the trainees up early and dropping them back home.

The students are given a healthy lunch and taught first aid and driving skills.

The forestry modules are unit standards under the New Zealand Qualifications Authority framework, which looks great on a CV.

"Simply passing their driver's licence test gives the students a huge buzz as it may be the first test they have ever passed," Harvey says.

That buzz obviously leads to a desire to continue succeeding.

Smith now comes across as a motivated and ambitious young man. And he's grateful to the Eastside instructors for showing him an alternative to life as a criminal.