Speaking for the people who are left behind

Joining the Debtfix crew a week before Aotearoa went into lockdown for Covid-19 has not prevented Freda Boyd from throwing a lifebuoy to people who need a hand with sorting out their debt. She is naturally inclined to help others and has always guided people who need someone else to advocate for them.

For many years, Freda worked in accounts receivable in Australia and she consolidated her understanding of respecting people when collecting money owed to the company she worked for. Eventually she returned to New Zealand to care for her elderly father. Her mum’s iwi is Ngāti Whātua and her dad’s is Ngāti Tūwharetoa and he worked in logging. Her parents were fluent in te reo Māori but they didn’t speak it with the tamariki because they spoke a traditional dialect.

“My mother was very into Māoritanga but not so much my father because his grandfather was from Kent.”

Working for four years at a Warkworth business that has many Kiribati employees gave Freda plenty of opportunities to help others.

“I have always tried to speak for the people who are left behind, like the Kiribati community and Māori. Culturally, it’s not our way to stand up and make too much noise – you don’t talk about what’s happening at home, you don’t talk about your money problems.”

Freda’s mother couldn’t read or write, and when helping her, Freda learnt how to respectfully speak for others and follow correct protocol for the particular situation.

Often, Freda got phone calls from workmates who didn’t know what their bills meant, and she voluntarily met with them for a coffee to sort it out. Freda learnt to give people confidence and support them with challenges, especially when they want to get a better life for their family.

“I was looking for a career change and I thought it was time for me to get back to what I know.” Her experience is ideal for her work at Debtfix.

“When I talk to new people, I can hear that panic in their voice,” Freda says. “I get them to acknowledge they are talking to me and I’m going to listen, and we are going to do something about it.”

Sometimes Freda can hear family life in the background, and she suggests people make a cup of tea and she will call them back in five minutes.

“They need to know that I’ll make the time to talk to them.”

Freda recognises we all have debt and once people acknowledge it they can work out how to manage it.

“My mum always used to tell us ‘Make sure you help people. You know you’re all right in the space you’re in, but you got to go out there and be in a space where people can come and talk to you. That’s just us and that’s what I do. I just think that’s what everyone does.”

Freda knows that when a person has made the phone call to Debtfix, they have taken the first step and had a change of mindset about their money matters.

Debtfix Navigator - Freda Boyd