Waipareira Alternative School a safe haven for Northland girl

Go getter: Sophie Edwards, 13, has big plans for the future.

By Justin Latif

Sophie Edwards has courage beyond her years.

The 13-year-old has a seven-month-old son whom she moved from Northland because she says there is too much violence and alcohol abuse there.

She came to Auckland to give him a better life, she says.

"I need to keep my baby safe."

Sophie lives with her child's paternal grandmother in Ranui and attends Amokura, an alternative school in Henderson set up by Waipareira Trust.

The former Taipa area student says Amokura is a source of encouragement and hope.

"Things are way better here," she says.

"I'm going to school - I didn't go before."

Sophie says her her tutor Robert Wilson has helped her make a smooth transition to life in Auckland.

She wants to stay at Amokura until she is 16 and then get into computer-related course so she can get a job in the IT industry.

Sophie comes from a family of 12 and says the family would like her back home.

"They want me to move back up there, but I'm slowing making friends around here," she says.

"I'm missing my cousins but I want to stay down here - it's safer."