Verity Brogden never thought she'd call herself lucky. Now 20, she lived in poverty until she was 13, at times not knowing where her next meal was coming from.
She walked to school in hand-me-down shoes and lived with her family in a series of sub-standard homes. When it came to celebrations Verity and her two siblings would have to get creative: "I remember for Christmases we'd get things that were already around the house and just wrap them up and give them to each other. It was like, 'Hey I lost this ages ago! Thank you!'"
On one of Verity's birthdays the family were in a home without power, so her sister made her a cake out of a stack of dry Weet-Bix and icing sugar.
"I got used to the feeling of an empty stomach," she remembers, "but was paranoid about everyone noticing my tummy grumbling in class."
She says those years were spent living in shame: "It's not just hunger - you feel like there's something wrong with you. You know you're different from everyone else. You get bullied because you don't look the same. You're a bit scruffy, a bit smelly from not being able to wash as often. Your clothes won't be new and as expensive as other kids'. Your teeth are bad. It was lonely."
Her schooling, health and mental wellbeing suffered: "My overriding feelings were of fear and uncertainty. We moved around a lot and lived in some horrible environments. One house was a leaky home, we joked the stairs were a waterfall. There was mould on the carpets. We'd get sick."
She became what she now calls one of the "invisible people", one of thousands of Kiwi kids struggling in poverty through no fault of their own.
"Often people don't want to acknowledge your existence, because they're trying to pretend there's no such thing as poor people. It just makes you feel you're not worth much."
School soon became her safe place. "The support I got there made such a difference. It was warm and there was power. Thanks to the meals and other support provided by KidsCan, I knew I was always going to be fed. Sometimes the only food I'd get would be at school."
No longer invisible
Verity is now an ambassador for KidsCan – the charity which helps Kiwi kids affected by poverty in more than 1000 schools and early childhood centres, providing food, shoes, clothing and health products.
Grit, tenacity and support from a family member – plus meals and clothing from KidsCan – have meant her life has blossomed. She's in her third year of studying politics at Canterbury University and attended Youth Parliament in 2019 – and realises how lucky she is.
"It's extremely hard to escape the cycle of poverty. It feels like the system traps you. I moved in with my aunt, which was the first time I got to have constant meals, a roof over my head and a stable education. I just absolutely flourished."
She attributes KidsCan with providing her with "little things of hope" that brightened an otherwise grey existence.
"Their support meant I could go to school regularly with a full tummy and focus for class. I felt a bit more whole. It's really helpful to know someone can see that you're struggling and that they care."
She still remembers getting her first pair of brand-new shoes from KidsCan: "I'd always had shoes from the op-shop with the price tag written on them, which I always tried to hide. The new shoes fit; it felt like someone could see me and see what I was going through.
"I wouldn't say that going through what I went through made me strong at all - the world just does whatever it wants with you. Poverty is not a choice. If people could just get out of it by doing something, they would. A lot of the time you're doing everything you can but the system is just not designed for you to be able to.
"When my aunty took me in, I became surrounded by a lot of love because I was a pretty broken child when she got me. She's a very strong woman and helped me learn to be a strong woman as well.
"Ever since then - if I face a struggle - I've just been able to 'be a mountain' like she tells us to be."
Verity now wants to be a future political leader - perhaps a potential prime minister - and is passionate about her role as a KidsCan ambassador.
"I'd like to implement a minimum standard of living for children, across all aspects of their life, like housing, food quality, and education. Real children are suffering. I want people to see my face, because if I can help people become more aware of the issue, if I can help children out of the position I was in, it means I didn't suffer for nothing."
To help kids like Verity consider signing up to KidsCan's monthly donor programme, or make a one-off donation at: KidsCan.org.nz