J. Smith submitted an account of being abused in foster homes and by his step-grandfather.

“I have been through hell and I have seen some things that a child should never witness or experience at such a young age, but I have come to believe this: if you can live through the worst times of your life, you can live through anything. Your life is beautiful even if one person or many people try and take it from you. You will get days that you just want to give up but you don’t, you keep on marching and moving forward. All I can say is, just live your life how you want it. As we get older we learn, as we learn, we succeed, and when we succeed, we achieve greatness and we know we can overcome anything.”

Read his story: https://teara.govt.nz/en/community-contribution/44312/child-abuse-a-personal-story