Ep 11: Temel Ataçocuğu – The journey with pain, and walking for peace

At a time when the NZ government is discussing firearms legislation we consider the great harm from weapons in the wrong hands. Temel Ataçocuğu suffered major bullet injuries in the Christchurch mosque attacks. Almost six years on, he speaks about the drastic changes in his life, and on how his traumas can be triggered.He talks, too, about his Walk for Peace and about how he decided to make this walk, retracing the 360kms journey of the 2019 killer from Dunedin to Christchurch. Along the way he raised money for three children's charities and found great support, including the tearful support of an older Māori man whose whakapapa (his lineage) traces back to Parihaka – a place whose own story of non-violent resistance resonated with what Temel was trying to do. And he speaks about the sense of safety he feels with his family in Türkiye; and of a quiet longing to be on a small fishing boat in the Mediterranean.