My name is Kathy Strongman. I am 36 and a mother with three beautiful girls. Two of my children are hearing and one of my girls has a hearing loss. My partner is deaf and his name is Mita Moses Mohi. We are Māori, and I am deaf too. My family is very important to me. With them I know that I can achieve anything. My children and partner continue to support me to reach my potential. I love them very much.

I attended Kelston School for the Deaf aged 5-18. It was very hard for me to understand why I had to leave my whānau to go to the school. I know that my Dad wanted the best for me and that my family love me very much. However, their lack of understanding of my culture as a Deaf person, and because my family did not sign, meant that there were times when I felt lonely and I missed sharing my feelings with them. I did not have many hearing friends and stayed home a lot. I did have deaf friends and I worked with them as well.

In high school I attended classes with other hearing impaired students in sewing, cooking etc. When we had to take exams I knew that our exams were not graded at the same level as hearing students and I felt that hearing students were smarter than me. I attended courses that did not have interpreters or communicators, so it was very hard for me and I found them boring.

My favourite courses were carving and woodwork. I did a mechanics course, but did not like getting dirty. I love to work with my hands and, being Deaf, it was easier for me to pick up the skills required in these courses. I attended a sewing course and was offered a job as a seamstress. It was good to have other Deaf working with me as I could talk with them.

We were just the same as my hearing work mates. We chatted about what we did on the weekend, our supervisor etc. It was really good earning my own money.

"Now I know that I can do anything I put my mind to. My future is just beginning. I am grateful that I can communicate with my children and partner. I have more hearing friends who also sign and so I am learning more about other people. I would love to learn more about my whakapapa and Ma-ori culture. It has been great that my daughter is attending kura kaupapa as she is teaching me as well."

I met my partner Mita when I was working as a seamstress. It was great to be able to talk to someone in my language, Sign. We became very close friends and one day when I was over 20 Mita took me to the beach. That was so wonderful for me, and I started to cry because that was the first time I had ever been to the beach.

We then travelled to Kaitaia and up to the lighthouse and I really felt happy. I decided that I wanted to be with him. He taught me to drive, and gave me the confidence to believe that my feelings were important.

My life now is wonderful. I am very capable of taking care of my family needs and I support my children with their homework. I enjoy sports and have played basketball, netball and rugby. When my children grow up I would like to gain more skills, more education. I know that I need to learn more but I also know that I have come a long way.

I have a daughter who attends kura kaupapa. It is hard for me to attend parent interviews as there are not enough Māori-speaking interpreters or communicators who can support me. This is distressing for me as I can only rely on my child to sign to me about how she is doing at school. It is good that all my children know sign language.

My partner Mita has his own business mowing lawns for people. He started small a couple of years ago, just mowing lawns for whānau, but now he has a growing business. He is the chairperson of the Northland Māori Deaf Project, a Kaupapa Māori Deaf organisation, and he is a qualified teacher of New Zealand Sign Language.

Being able to share a little about myself has been a new experience and also very scary but I am pleased that I had this opportunity. I hope this will encourage other Māori Deaf women not to be scared to share their own stories. This has been very empowering for me. Thank you for listening to my story.