Monthly Archive for January, 2005

January 2005 - Tracey Richardson

Published by Tracey Richardson on January 20, 2005 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

Talk about hitting the deck running! I officially “started” my Vodafone World of Difference position as the Fundraising and Event manager for Breath4CF on January 6th and with only 2 months until our signature event for the year it’s straight into it.

Breath4CF is the official charity for Ironman New Zealand and this year (as we did last year) we’ll be working with as many athletes as we can in the event encouraging them to race not just for themselves but also for the official charity. We ask each athlete to race the 226km but also raise $226.00. Our goal is to fundraise $100,000 which is enough to support the sport and physical activity grants each and every person in New Zealand with cystic fibrosis for a whole year.

Most of January was spent doing the necessary planning and organising to be able to co-ordinate this massive event. One of the unique and highly successful things we do is match athletes up with children and young adults with CF from all over New Zealand. We create a “buddy” system where the athletes feel personally involved with a child who they are fundraising to assist. This year we have over 60 people with CF involved in the buddy system and it’s a major co-ordination effort to write profiles on each child and match them with an appropriate athletes. Not all the families can make it to Taupo for the race so this is one way that they can be involved but without having to leave home.

January also saw the continuation of a wave of publicity with Woman’s Day doing a double page story on my family.

This month I also undertook a number of speaking engagements one of which was in Singapore. This was very exciting as it gave me a chance to take my story and that of cystic fibrosis to another international audience and I was also given the opportunity to look at an international fundraising opportunity for Breath4CF. Other speaking opportunities were to various groups of athletes around New Zealand including a training camp of Ironman athletes in Taupo.

A great deal of planning and work also went into branding and collateral development this month, trying to tie together the look feel and properties of the breath4CF brand. As part of this I’m thrilled to bring to New Zealand the international charity fundraising phenomenon - charitable wristbands. These bright silicon bands are impressed with words that pass on the “message” benefiting the charitable cause. The bands are a HUGE hit overseas where more than 30 million units have been sold for a variety of charities. The Breath4CF ones are bright red and are impressed with the words I USE MY BREATH4CF. We have had these made particularly for athletes but they will be on sale in retail stores very soon.

Initial planning and enquiries have also been made to scope my study trip for April. I was fortunate to meet with the people from the London Marathon when they were in NZ in January and spend sometime working out the best plan for my visit. There is so much to learn and the examples that are being implemented internationally are very interesting. I can’t wait to get there and see them in action.

More next month

Tracey

January 2005 - Stephen Denekamp

Published by Stephen Denekamp on January 20, 2005 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

Well I have almost completed my first month of full time work at Rainbow Youth and I thought I’d start the first diary update with bit of background to what I’ll be doing.

I am currently 21 years old and identify as a queer/gay male. Rainbow Youth is an organisation that I have volunteered for over the last several years and I am incredibly excited to be working full time this year as their Education Officer thanks to the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation.

A bit of a learning topic before we move on: Queer is a word you’ll hear me use fairly frequently. It’s a word that has held negative connotations in the past, however when you take a word and choose to use it in a positive way then it can no longer hold that same power, it can no longer be a put down - it becomes a reclaimed word.

As such, I choose to use ‘queer’ because it encompasses many identities (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, takataapui and fa’afafine). While I acknowledge that ‘queer’ is not a word which everyone feels comfortable with, because of its inclusive nature I will be using it regularly in these diary updates.

My role in Rainbow Youth this year involves working with school counselors, health teachers and, importantly, students to help create diversity affirming environments. Or to put that less eloquently, my goal is to reduce the amount of homophobia that exists in Auckland high schools.

Homophobia is still around in today’s society and like any form of discrimination it needs to be stopped. Especially for our young people, our Rangatahi, homophobia can be severely detrimental to their development and wellbeing. Rainbow Youth believes that all young people have the right to grow up in an environment that affirms them for who they are and where they can be free from all forms of discrimination.

This month has involved mostly planning for 2005. Thanks to the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation this will be the first year that Rainbow Youth will be able to have contact with all the high schools in Auckland. It’s just amazing to be able to focus all my energy on doing this job. So the year is mapped and so far I have contacted 13 schools - only three have involved meetings, though the others should turn into meetings over the next few weeks. We have seven workshops booked and we’ll also be attending the Peer Sexuality Support Hui’s.

With the school year now fully going, I’m looking forward to a very busy month and a lot of challenges along the way. Making a difference for just one person is great; to make a difference for many people is fantastic. Because at the end of the day people matter, everyone, each individual and most importantly, our young people. It really is about making a difference, and so with that I leave you with the quote of the month:

“One person can make a difference, one person can change the world. But you must choose to do so.” - Joe Michael Straczynski. Creator, Babylon 5

January 2005 - Diana Hickey

Published by Diana Hickey on January 20, 2005 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

Well, I spent the first few days at Christchurch Hospital, attending corporate and divisional hospital orientations, a collection of concise, informative and sometimes hilarious presentations by the various heads of department. These ranged from correct hand washing to fire procedures and evacuation, Maori health to quality control…all the policies and information a girl could want.

Armed with all this new knowledge, I struck out early in the morning on day three to the old nurses’ hostel next to the hospital. There I met with Paediatric Psychologist, Tony White, who has been supervising my research and supporting my work in the hospital for the last year. He organised an office space for me and showed me the paediatric meeting room that he’s been setting up over the last few months. I set about organising the office to accommodate the art stuff and other equipment I’d need for the research over the next 12 months.

Then I met up with Lynn, the divisional manager for the Child Cancer Foundation at “The House” on Cashel Street in Christchurch. Not to be confused with the Ronald McDonald House which is also on Cashel Street, the Child Cancer Foundation House is a haven where families can meet with family support coordinator, Cynthia Annear and often get some much needed respite from the demanding business of treatments and hospital. It’s also the divisional branch for the Child Cancer Foundation in Canterbury and for the west coast, so has a lot going on.

Once I’d had a catch up with Lynn, the next task was to get a brochure together. So with the help of the great staff at medical illustrations an art therapy brochure was born, one which I reckon might be the most colourful in the history of Christchurch hospital. The rest of the week was spent organising security badges, getting familiar with the new tech equipment, which has been an adventure in itself, and meeting up with the friendly and supportive staff that make up the Psychosocial team for CHOC or the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Centre.

All this of course was punctuated with meeting new patients and their families, and getting to catch up with existing patients. Amidst the paper chasing and regulations, they are inspiring interesting and challenging, all rolled into one and quickly remind me of the real reason of why I’m here.

Week two saw the wondrous task of making an inventory of the art equipment I have already, and ordering in new supplies.

So having taken stock of all the materials collected during the Christmas Art Programme I got stuck into getting fresh paints and other creative goodies. This is always a bit of fun as patients often have specific requests and it can be a mission tracking down certain things. So far all requests have been filled and the art kit affectionately known as “Stanley” is abundant and ready for action.

The other side of this years’ mission is to continue with the research that I’ve been doing for the last while. So the next step was to apply for an ethics approval extension. With that in the works, its “fingers crossed” as I await the all important consent. Meanwhile, I’m reading all around me trying to keep a finger on the pulse of international art therapy in paediatric oncology… if there are any art therapists out there internationally working in the field, I’d love to hear from you about your work…

Now its week three, and I’m beginning to get things sorted. Yet, while the year stretches out luxuriously ahead of me, I get the sense that it’s going to be a very full one. Stay posted because it’s going to great journey. Thanks to the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation for this fantastic opportunity to get this done. Already it’s made such a difference!

January 2005 - Tracey Napa

Published by Tracey Napa on January 2, 2005 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

Kiaora,

A happy New Year to everyone, and I hope you all enjoyed the festive holiday season. I’ve only been back at work from my annual leave for two weeks and it’s already been an exciting time for the Deaf Mental Health Service. We have a new manager here, Cheryl Anton who is a remarkably bright and experienced woman, Deaf herself, doing an excellent job of leading the team. Also we have a Deaf trainee Psychiatric nurse student from England who is keen to learn all about how our service operates and I have been giving her all the available information about our service I can access to help maximize her learning experience. Soon the service will benefit for another part time Deaf Mental health Support worker, Karla. So it is brilliant we have more Deaf staff working for the Deaf clients here.

As I have only been here for month, I have not as much as usual to report. I was pleased to arrive back and reap the rewards of all my persistent email and overseas liaising, to do with requests for various subtitled videos, e.g. one about the signs and symptoms of “Depression” from Australia, and a series of mental health issue videos form the Netherlands, about divorce and the grief process called “Death and Mourning”. Of course it is ideal to draw on the international resources available, so this facet of my work has proven to be a worthwhile contribution towards the information for the clients, and as supplementary learning tools to aid the DMHS support staff in their work helping to foster greater self- awareness in clients of their mental health and wellbeing. Clients will be able to access the insights offered in these subtitled videos- and many more than I can mention here from Deaf Mental health Services in England- throughout the future long after I have gone.

I’ve perfected the Needs Assessment form that helps to set goals, recognise strengths and weaknesses and identify areas to be developed over a long-term personal continuum of personal empowerment. It looks so much more appealing for the clients to have a more visual form to work with, as the pictures I have added look quite aesthetically effective, including our Welcome Pack for new clients.

Well, I feel assured that my efforts throughout the year can be of significant benefit to the clients of this specialist mental health support service. At the Open Day celebration I got some wonderful feedback from the people whom this service supports and their whanua in response to the extensive range of resources developed. This interest generated is the most rewarding reinforcement of just how effective my work has been. I feel confident that in my role I’ve helped in terms of building a comprehensive range of resources that inspire clients to move ahead with their own personal growth to access therapeutic community services, vocational skills development etc that nurture their strengths.

The last year just flew by, and it has been a marvelous cause to dedicate my year to. Wow does time fly when you’re passionately busy in your vocational endeavors! I’d like to extend an enormous thanks to Vodafone NZ Foundation for enabling this all to happen. Huge gratitude to Jillian Donnachie and co, whose support and faith in me has been marvelous.