This month has been a transition time for us and a rest recharge before taking on 2007. Well as much as possible anyway! After forcing myself to focus on the family and recharging the batteries it was in to catching up on emails particularly with the projects as there has been plenty of activity in both Romania and Russia.
I visited Invercargill and did some training with our volunteers and we secured some liquidated ski gear/equipment for our Trade Me store so the store is set to make some good profits over the coming months.
We caught up with our social workers Ken and Alice and set in place some plans for 2007 including a trip for supporters to Romania later in 2007.
Rob Harley met with us again and did some more filming for a documentary on what makes us tick and why we do what we do!
I did another interview for Southland TV mainly on the changes we have found since Romania became part of the EU.
We have been helping get a visa for our Russian friend from Kostroma to visit with us next month.
Sadly this is my last Vodafone Foundation report!! I can’t thank the Vodafone Foundation enough for their help this year. They have helped us help kids and their generosity will be multiplied many times over in the lives of children who have been given the chance to break the chains of poverty and step outside the cycle!!! Yahoo AWESOME!
I write this in Feb knowing we have just taken the 14th child in to Casa Kiwi house from a hospital cot and many more are to come in the future to this home and others. We have begun paying staff in Russia and know that we will see similar stories unfold there.
I’d love to keep you updated via my regular email newsletter or answer any queries please visit our website www.orphansaidinternational.org we still need sponsors so please let us know if you can help!
This year we plan to return again to Romania and Russia and hopefully to also send others. There will be a documentary on TVNZ later in the year keep your ear to the ground on this!
We look forward to hearing the good work that Vodafone NZ Foundation is part of. Thanks for sharing in successful outcomes for Orphans Aid International and many more kids!!
LOVE SUE
I have had an exciting start with being able to purchase all the technology needed for the year, thank you Vodafone – what an awesome shopping spree it was! Learning to use it all though has been the ultimate challenge for this techno-phobic horse-mad therapist! Research into “scoliosis” – a condition causing much debate among the medical profession, parents and RDA volunteers – uncovered new developments which have been published in the “Update” and might mean riding is allowed for some riders with this condition who previously couldn’t. Frantic communications have bounced to and fro among the members of the RDA training team as we prepare for what promises to be an exciting year for training volunteers in the application of riding therapy. Training plans are being drawn up for the year and course materials are being updated. The unit on medical conditions has been my core focus and it is almost complete. Our portable ramp specifications have been drafted and input from several coaches and therapists will be incorporated into the plans before it is built. The ramp will mean that riders from Auckland can go off RDA grounds and be included in mainstream riding events. The training clinics with Mary Longden were a huge success and several coaches and riders benefited from Mary’s wealth of expertise. I plan to share as much of this as I can with groups as I visit them throughout the year. I am especially thrilled that Tina, a rider with multiple sclerosis from North Shore RDA, braved the crowds and had lessons with Mary. We are trying to help Tina forge a path for all riders going from RDA rallies to competition and this might just be the “leg up” she needs as she paves the path to success for her and others. In Tina’s words “I emerged from the three days tired and sore but energised and inspired! The Tina French ‘team’ now have an understanding of what my challenges are and, most importantly, a realistic idea of where we can go from here.” The SPCA kindly offered us a stand at their Open Day and a team of volunteers were there to advertise RDA to potential volunteers. We’ll be rounding up another team in April for much of the same at the Horse Expo. The EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Assoc.) team came over from the USA (a first for NZ) and brought with them an exciting new approach in using horses for therapy. The course was fantastic! The model will be applied in the Westbridge Animal Therapy project and provides a whole new dimension in training RDA volunteers. I will have a support role with the project much like I do with the other RDA Groups. The school term has finally started so thanks to Vodafone I can get out in the field at last, and put all this training and equipment to good use. Hooray!
The arrival of 2006 marks my last Vodafone diary entry, but things have come full circle as my year ended the same way it started – with the Bushy Park arts and craft festival! Once again we had great weather, loads of interesting and vibrant stalls and a few thousand people out to enjoy the day.
I was stationed at our kiwi stall with a Bushy Park Trust member where we went to work educating and enlightening people about the kiwi, its threats and the role we are playing in halting its decline.
Our kiwi creche now has 3 chicks – who are collectively eating so much it is hard to keep up the supply of ox heart! Moony, our third chick has settled in well and has made a name for herself as a very talkative wee thing! The more chicks I have contact with the more obvious all their individual personalities become.
Westy and Milo are both very close to their release weight and preparations for their release are next on the agenda.
The last two days of my World of Difference year were spent on an egg lift in the Waimarino Forest. On arrival at the nest at 2am we had the most fantastic surprise waiting for us – a perfect 3-day-old chick! The egg transport box was quickly transformed into a ‘chick transport box’ and we carefully transported it to Rainbow Springs. The chick, ‘Tiaki’ (meaning to protect) is doing well and will arrive at Bushy Park once it is old enough to live outside. This has got to be the highlight of my year and I couldn’t think of a better way to finish!
The past year has been a fantastic opportunity – immensely rewarding, challenging and at times frustrating. I have felt both privileged and extremely proud to have contributed to kiwi recovery and to have been a part of the Vodafone World of Difference Programme. Once again…..Thanks Vodafone!
Pfeiffer Clinic Sydney
Wow, what a successful week we had in Sydney at the second Pfeiffer Outreach Clinic! (See March and April 05 diary reports for more background information) Drs Walsh, Lewis and McGinnis consulted with over 140 Australasian patients providing their very specialized approach and experience – see www.hriptc.org. Fifteen doctors including one from Japan and another from Ireland brought along their patients, sat in with the consultations and attended the evening teaching sessions. For me it was a wonderful opportunity to consolidate and refine the Pfeiffer approach that I incorporate into my practice. A huge personal bonus was that along with myself and Dr Lisa Searle, an extra two NZ female doctors attended (after some friendly coercion by yours truly!). We now have four Pfeiffer trained doctors on our shores. One night in Sydney whilst sat hungrily waiting on the pavement outside a busy Thai restaurant, we girls hatched plans around how we could work collectively via an informative website to provide a wider, more cohesive service in NZ. We are hoping to develop a NZ arm to the very professional MINDD organisation based in Australia so we can share resources – see www.mindd.org I’m thrilled to be part of a team with these colleagues. I no longer feel like I am a sole voice preaching a new sermon to potential converts!
ASD/ADHD Doctor training Conference – a resounding success!
I can not tell you how delighted I am with the outcome of this conference. I lectured alongside an impressive line-up of experienced international speakers all keen to share their expertise in this fascinating area of paediatric integrative medicine. We taught a practical and evidence-based approach to treating the metabolic and physiological disturbances associated with ASD/ ADD/ADHD which can improve behaviour, socialization and learning, providing hope in an area of paediatrics where orthodox treatment has little to offer.
The enthusiasm and interest was palpable. The post – conference feedback superb and I’m so proud to be able to say that whilst there are only 250 trained DAN (Defeat Autism Now) practitioners worldwide mainly in America, we now have 25 NZ trained doctors . On a per capita basis I believe we are now world leaders! At last every NZ ASD child is able to access help onshore- my overriding goal.
My year has ended; my goals and dreams have been surpassed. As I write, I well up with tears, when I state that I truly believe that with the work, learning and particularly educating I have achieved this year there will be ongoing benefits to the lives of many hundreds of NZ children with autism and their families. Thanks to the support of the Vodafone NZ Foundation, each ASD child now has the opportunity to access this exciting approach to treatment and I hope personally experience their own “World of Difference”.
Networking
With most of New Zealand on holiday I took my opportunity to whiz down to Nelson for a few days to spend time with Dr Tim Ewer, a Nelson integrative medicine physician. Tim has been an inspiration to me over the years, he is a true pioneer for the integrative medicine movement and has held many influential roles including working with the both World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health. I was keen to spend time with Tim both at his practice picking up a few tips and also at home to discuss with him ways in which I believe NZ can further develop an integrative approach to children with neurodevelopmental disorders both clinically and from a research perspective. I returned home inspired and motivated that I was on the right track with some valuable advice up my sleeve for the future.
KidsCan
The KidsCan Charitable trust is another exciting project with which we are both involved. It basically will involve providing a multivitamin/mineral, filtered water and raincoats to 10,000 NZ children attending low decile schools. Fundraising is well underway, and with All Blacks, Doug Howlett and Ali Williams as the patrons I’m sure it will be a hit with the kids. A similar project that has been running in the States for some years has shown benefits for the children of increased school attendance rates , improved behaviour , higher academic achievement and better health in the children on the program. Another great example of the importance of improved nutrition in helping children to achieve their potential.
Well I’m leaving for Sydney shortly for a week at the Pfeiffer outreach clinic, then home briefly before the Auckland Dr training conference takes off on Fri 17th – 19th Feb. What an exciting month it promises to be!
