Monthly Archive for April, 2005

April 2005 – Tracey Richardson

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

One of my major goals for this year was to look at best practice and leading examples of athletic fundraising. Even before I started looking for opportunities to study there was already one event at the top of the list. The London Marathon. Why? Well this is an event where 100,000 people apply to partcipate, but there are only 3 ways you qualify. Either you are fast, you are lucky (and you get a ballot slot), or you enter via the charity ‘golden bond’ system. All places are snapped up months in advance of the event and there are huge wait lists. The event has become a cultural icon in the UK with virtually every runner completing the distance not only for themselves but for their chosen charity, irrespective of if they have a charity starting spot or a ballot place.  The level of fundraising activity is simply phenomenal. Around ?60,000,000 – yes sixty million pounds, is raised at this event for charities. Naturally I had to go and see it for myself, understand why and how it has reached this incredible level.

So I boarded an Air NZ long haul non-stop flight to London on April 10th bound for the London Marathon. Thanks to a nice upgrade courtesy of Air NZ I arrived ready to hit the streets and from that moment on I didn’t stop talking! (Hahahaha – for those that know me why you are not surprised.) I spent 4 straight days at the Marathon Expo visiting various charities, eventually collecting 16kilos of brochures, flyers and athletic/event/charity fundraising materials.  On one of those days I spent the entire day surveying athletes, asking 150 people the same set of questions. Then each day I dragged my weary self back via the tube to Paddington Station and wrote up my notes. The event itself was highly charged and quite emotional seeing such levels of passion and vibrancy. It is an elite race, BUT it’s more than that. It is absolutely an event where participation is what counts and making a difference is next on the list. Entrants wear with pride their charity vests, run in fancy dress or design ways to make a statement that they are using their experience to help others. It’s very humbling.

Post race I visited a number of charities in their offices including the British Heart Foundation, The CF Trust (of course), Children with Leukaemia and Sight Savers to name just a few.

Arriving back to New Zealand 2 weeks later I was able to reflect on the opportunity.What it gave me is best summarised as firstly a glimpse at the future of athletic fundraising here in NZ, and secondly reassurance that Breath4CF is indeed on the right path. I bought back many ideas and now need to turn those into reality.

But first there is a small matter of Band Together. More on that next month. I also plan to travel to the USA later in the year to view some of the examples from that side of the world also.

April 2005 – Stephen Denekamp

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

Work was all over the place this month – a culmination of lots of little things. I was fortunate enough to spend time with Sarah Helm, the project coordinator for Out There, on a trip down to Hamilton where we meet with teachers from two different schools and the NZAF office. The discussion was on school diversity groups and the services available in that region. We also dropped by the university to take a look at their pride space. In a couple of months I’ll be giving a workshop to health teachers in that region.

With school holidays, attention had to be put elsewhere and so I organised a mail-out to all high schools in Auckland. This included a newsletter, updating counselors on Rainbow Youth, information on our workshops, social support groups and resources available.

I did a presentation at the last SIN (Sexuality Information Network) meeting around the Safety In Our Schools kit and the Youth 2000 data it uses. This was a great opportunity to let other health providers know that it is out there.

Lesley-Ann, our Youth Coordinator took a break from work over the school holiday period, so I spent more time covering the office – replying to emails and calls from young people, and keeping the drop-in centre open. Without the help of the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation we wouldn’t have two staff and holidays couldn’t be covered, so it’s made a big difference to Rainbow Youth.

The SS4Q (Safety in School for Queers) conference is coming up in June. The conference is designed to help launch the campaign against homophobic bullying and will involve young people from all around the country as well as teachers and other people in the community, including Rainbow Youth representatives; we believe that all young people have the right to feel safe and supported in school. There is more information at outthere.org.nz.

This leads nicely into the discussion of queer-based prejudice. Queer-based prejudice is discrimination, harm or injury directed at people from a basis of their actual or perceived queer sexuality or gender identity. It covers many forms, such as explicit bullying to name call (to, ‘that’s so gay’ comments) and other comments that reinforce heterosexual identities as being superior. As we know, discrimination can have a serious and detrimental impact on students’ feelings of self-worth and well-being, and as such it is important that queer-based prejudice is address.

Anyone can address queer-based prejudice. At the simplest level this involves; not assuming the whole world is heterosexual; not assuming that one sexuality is superior to another; not supporting prejudice by remaining silent (e.g. stand up when someone proclaims ‘that’s so gay’) and not assuming that sexuality issues are similar to gender identity issues. By working together, we can all create more supportive environments for young people and everyone in Aotearoa.

April 2005 – Ricky Houghton

Published by Ricky Houghton on April 20, 2005 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

THE LEGEND OF TAMA KAANGA

We continue to reach out to our Tamariki (Children) and support the mighty work of our schools wherever possible. Tama Kaanga or Corn Boy is a joint venture between Te Kao Primary School and our trust. This project intends to generate hope and promote self esteem about the advantages of owning Maori land. We have sponsored the entire school with school books, fees and T shirts., the school have incorporated sustainable land use options into their curriculum.

This legend, like any other superhero, is an attempt to speak / Inspire / motivate  and encourage next generation Maori land beneficiaries, who feel culturally doomed and see Maori land succession as a hassle in a way that is not currently possible

Tama was a young man who lived with his Nana and Papa. He enjoyed sprat fishing, getting oysters and diving off rocks. One day while he was out picking flax with his nana and he told her he was unhappy with all the things he saw around him and wanted to help his whanau. So he waved her good-bye and left to look around the world for an answer.

On his travels he quickly discovered that the world was full of trickery, and before too long he realized that things were not too different from Te Kao. He missed his aunties and uncles, and his nana and papa and all the fond memories he had of his Marae so he decided to head home to Aotearoa.

On his way home he met a very staunch strong tohunga (Spriitual doctor). As they talked, the tohunga reached into his pocket and gave Tama a handful of magic maize seeds to take back to his whanau that had been given to him  from his great, great grandfather when he was a young man travelling around the world. “ Take these seeds home with you Tama, here is a kete (basket)  to place them in, but be very careful the strands of the kete are very old.”
Tama thanked the tohunga and carried on his journey home. Suddenly a fierce gust of wind lifted all the seeds out of the kete. He was too late for the seeds which went higher in the air and scattered across the land.
We often wondered what happened to Tama Kaanga’s seeds, until not long ago a kete of seeds was found by the school. So we have packaged them up for each of you to grow at home. To dig the ground, keep them watered and watch them grow staunch and strong

Staunch and strong like the old Tohunga
Staunch and strong like your whanau,
Staunch & strong like you
Tama Kaanga went around the world to look for an answer only to return home and find the answers he was looking for was right where he started.

April 2005 – Joanne Thorne

Published by Joanne Thorne on April 20, 2005 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

April has been another busy month as we gear up for the 2005/06 kiwi-breeding season.

The first task was to head out to the Waitotara Valley and change the transmitters on our monitored birds. An adult kiwi transmitter has a battery life of approximately one year so we need to replace them inside this time period. Being nocturnal birds, kiwis sleep in roosts during the day so this is the best time to locate them. All six of our monitored birds were located using radio telemetry (an aerial picks up the signal being emitted from their transmitters). While replacing the transmitter the general condition of the bird is noted and measurements such as weight and bill length are recorded. The whole process is done quickly to minimise the stress on the bird. Two of our male kiwis are quite unique in that they have a proportion of white feathers, giving them a very different appearance from the typical ‘brown’ North Island brown kiwi. In order to find out if they truly are unique, we took some feathers from each bird and hope to get them DNA tested. This will tell us whether this population is significantly different from other kiwi populations in the western North Island.

With new transmitters attached, nest monitoring of these birds will be carried out fortnightly, beginning in early May and there are high hopes for them to start producing some fertile eggs!

A highlight this month was spending a few days at Rainbow Springs Kiwi Encounter where I was able to get some hands on experience in handling kiwi chicks and learning about quarantine requirements. It’s amazing to see how much work goes into raising these chicks and the numbers that leave each year to be released into the wild continues to increase. The information gained will be of huge value when our first chicks arrive at Bushy Park – because they are eventually going to be released into wild kiwi populations, it is extremely important that strict health and quarantine standards are maintained so as not to release any sick chicks.

Finally, this month saw progress in our efforts to begin a new ONE programme with a number of successful meetings between interested groups taking place. We hope to fix transmitters to 5 new males within the next few months and begin nest monitoring for the coming season. This also meant that the projects work plan and budget for the season could be finalised and a funding application to the Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery Trust was posted off. If successful, this funding will assist the project in fieldwork and equipment costs.

Next month will be an exciting time for Bushy Park as we look forward to celebrating the ‘closing’ of our predator proof fence! This is a major accomplishment for all those involved and marks a whole new era in Bushy Park’s role in the conservation of our endangered fauna.

April 2005 – Diana Hickey

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

April has come and gone in record time… I’m still plotting my April fools jokes and it’s nearly May already…what happened to the time?!

Well this month the learning has been great and the young people I work with are still the best teachers. That said, the professionals I work along side continue to be supportive and offer the lightness and gravity that is so crucial to my job. I don’t know if there is another profession in the world that laughs as much as this one. Even comedians seem depressed in comparison! In the face of tough decisions and difficult circumstances most of the people I encounter here from the top down demonstrate great humour and a telling resilience that I guess can only come from the daily trials they encounter.

I suspect I’ve ruffled a small number of professional feathers however, by asking a chosen few to offer up their own visual representations of the diseases they treat.  It seems that the presence of art therapy in this environment has given some the permission to explore facets of themselves that may have been neglected on the long road to medical proficiency. Some have accepted the challenge with gusto and others have taken great care to explain the creative angst that this request has caused…(with a mischievous glint in their eyes).

I’m still giving presentations on the work that I’m doing and also assisting the play specialists and school room staff in brainstorming ways to improve their services.

I’m also busy preparing my presentation for the “Through the Maze” Child Cancer Foundation Conference in early June. The Conference held in Wellington has keynote speakers from all over the world and is shaping up to be an interesting event. I’ll be presenting my research to date on “Art Therapy as a vehicle of communication for children and adolescents who have cancer”.

I invested in a few new art therapy recruits this month too…. Meet Lola and Sam….named by the kids on the children’s wards. These were made locally by a couple who create them for the sheer joy of passing on puppet magic. I’m modifying them a little to accommodate for children with special needs…I’m also working on an adult puppet that has a styley mullet… A.K.A “The Mullet” as so far no one can up with anything else! My mission is to create a “blank” head that kids can add eyes noses ears etc to…making their characters happy/sad and hopefully own a little more of their expression.

Another sound investment this month was the addition of two art kits for the day ward at CHOC. These kits are also available for kids who are inpatients that want to do art with good materials outside of art therapy sessions. They were funded by the monies raised last December during the “Close Shave” held at Cathedral Square where 116 people had their heads shaved in one hour. We even broke the world record! Already kids are tucking into the kits and they are providing great creative activity.

On a personal note, the acapella group I sing with performed at the opening of the Christchurch Women’s hospital last Friday which was great fun and a momentous occasion for the Hospital and community. During her speech the P.M., Helen Clark, was delighted by the art collection in the new hospital and very supportive of the role that the arts play in healing…’at a girl Helen! It’s great to hear the arts being endorsed in health politically as well as publicly.

April 2005 – Debbie Fewtrell

Published by Dr. Debbie Fewtrell on April 20, 2005 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

The Pfeiffer Experience

This month has been completely dominated by my involvement in the Pfeiffer Research Centre’s visit to Sydney. Marion, super gran of autistic twins in Sydney moved heaven and earth to arrange for the Pfeiffer doctors, Dr Allen Lewis and Dr Bill Walsh  to travel from Chicago to Sydney.

Seven doctors from Australia and New Zealand brought along patients, and over 9 intensive days they where clinically assessed whilst the Australasian doctors sat in. It proved to be a highly effective way to pick up on the finer nuances of the clinical profiles they detect by both targeted questioning and biochemical testing. By the end of the workshop the doctors all felt that they had acquired a good grasp of the Pfeiffer approach.

Dr Carl Pfeiffer is the original pioneer of identifying the abnormal biochemistry underlying certain behavioural disorders. He initially did most of his research with the prison population and found that certain biochemical patterns, rare in the general population, were exceedingly common in the prison inmates. From this discovery grew more research into the various biochemical patterns underlying depression, schizophrenia, ADHD and more recently autism. Dr Bill Walsh has continued his cutting edge research. (www.hriptc.org) The current medical director, Dr Allen Lewis is father of an autistic son himself and is passionate about helping ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) kids recover or improve.

The main focus of Pfeiffer centres is looking at disorders of metal metabolism. They have found that 99% of the 3000 ASD kids they have assessed so far have a glitch in this area. A protein called metallothionein, functions to remove the toxic metals that we are all exposed to on a daily basis through normal living. Effective and adequate metallothionein is also necessary for good gut function (particularly protein digestion), effective immune function and certain aspects of brain function. All these areas malfunction in ASD.  By accurate measurement of zinc and copper in the blood along with a reliable hair analysis, one can achieve a good indication of how effectively a child’s metallothionein is working. Pfeiffer have created specialised supplements to help restore the level and effectiveness of metallothionein. These help the child’s body to naturally remove the accumulation of heavy metals, thereby improving gut, brain and immune function. I wish it was as simple in clinical practice as it sounds!

I have 12 month old twin boys that I’m still feeding, so my husband, Chris, and Thomas and Jacob came along to Sydney too! We rented an apartment a short walk from the Sheraton where the clinic was held and Chris set up “babyville” whilst I dashed between the two locations. The schedule was very intense. Patient interviews 8am to 6pm and four evenings of conferences to 11pm! The short lunchtime break involved me feeding the babies simultaneously whilst Chris fed me! Dr Bill Walsh delighted in telling me that the highlight of the evening public lecture for him was watching Chris and I juggling the babies at the rear of the lecture hall!

The workshop was a huge success and I was delighted to be a part of it. Both the doctors and the patients benefited enormously. I feel very excited about being able to integrate their approach into my treatment protocol in New Zealand.