Monthly Archive for March, 2008

March 2008 – Fa’amatuainu Wayne Poutoa

Published by Wayne Poutoa on March 19, 2008 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
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March has been an interesting month filled with networking and meetings to fine tune the next Streets Ahead 237 programme scheduled for April 2008. Our youth committee has really embraced the challenge of leadership roles which has seen the majority of them enrolled in courses and employment with other still enrolled in school. Streets Ahead 237 has also been presenting to various community agencies and schools in our district to promote the message of Brothers not Colours.

I am also part of the Waitangirua Residents Focus Group which has also been a great way to connect to the community. Members of this group include all ages and ethnicities and walks of life of notable interest is the involvement of the Porirua Mongrel Mob leaders. This is a huge step in creating a forum where people can speak openly and without reservation. The group is mainly focussed on addressing violence and two months into the group we are seeing some real progress.
Relationships with the Police have also been nurtured and invitations to the Porirua Police Station and Police College are diarised for the month of April. The community constables are also presenting at the next Streets Ahead 237 programme.
We are also coming into more contact with other youth gangs and our name is spreading far and wide beyond the scope of Porirua especially with an awesome relationship built between Louise Roebuck and our programme.

Louise is sending youth from Taranaki to our next event and we are overjoyed at the prospect of housing them under our roof for a week in April.
Thanks again to Vodafone for the awesome technology and we are in motion to produce our second DVD in May. Cindy Kiro the Childrens Commissioner has also contacted us to implement a project with the theme of poverty which will see information from opur young people in the form of written stories and photos submitted to policy makers as a way on including the voice of youth in Porirua around decision making. I wish you all well and look forward to seeing you at Involve 08 where like Veronica I too have been accepted to present. Enclosed is our logo designed by Terry Uluilelata who is 18 years of age. Keep well and God Bless.

March 2008 – Veronica Marwitz

Published by Veronica Marwitz on March 19, 2008 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
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As I write this I am listening to some very obnoxious sounding crows sitting here in my hotel room in Brisbane. I have been over here for about 3 weeks now- Melbourne, then Sydney and now Brisbane. It has been just fantastic! I have been meeting with people and programmes that look at the area of sexual violence and/or healthy relationships and finding out what they’re doing, what they think works and what doesn’t.

I have been humbled by the generosity people have shown me in both spending time with me and just giving me so much information and resources. There is a lot of work happening over here in the area with a number of well established and evaluated programs. I will be coming home in a couple of days with a lot of enthusiasm, ideas and motivation to really get the impetus going on improving BodySafe. I have come to view this trip as a scoping and networking exercise- I

have made some great connections and got some great info but have not had enough time to really go into as much depth with some people as I would have liked. I am returning home with a huge amount of things to read- including whole program outlines- with the idea that I will utilise a reference group and youth advisory group to begin to get a picture of what aspects will work in NZ. Given there are so many programs here I don’t want to go about reinventing the wheel but I am definitely aware that we need something that is right for the NZ context.

What I would ultimately love to do (next year I hope) is some research with young people about their experiences of sexual violence prevention and healthy relationships work (these go hand in hand) and find out what they want and need and then continue to develop BodySafe so it fits with the findings. There are a few hoops to jump through before I could do that but I am going to start talking to some of the right people once I get back. I am looking forward to getting home in a couple of days and getting things rolling (and I am missing people and pooches and my own home). But it feels like this trip to Australia has set me up really well to have a very fulfilling year.

March 2008 – Swanie Nelson

Published by Swanie Nelson on March 19, 2008 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
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I know I said in the last two month reports it’s been a busy month, but man for real March was crazy busy! As well as running more drop in nights which have been going really well, our new Youth Leadership Committee has slowly began to find its feet and have been very busy with a number of events.

My highlight in March was seeing the young people we have been working with do a presentation at the Otara Network meeting which had a Youth Focus. Each of them go up and presented things that they would like to see done in South Auckland for young people. As well as that we have started our major fundraising venture for the year to get them all the New York in the last school holidays to the “perform the world conference”.

They had the opportunity to showcase at the Otara Town Centre and the FOBO “for Otara By Otara” Community Event. We have also finally moved again to I think what will be our long term office place in the heart of the area we work in, CloverPark. We are now based at the CloverPark Community house and it now feels like everything is coming a lot more together. I have an awesome base of volunteers who have been helping me keep my head above the water while I continued to seek funding for extra staff to come on board and help with the delievery of our current programmes which are “Da Kick Back Shack” drop in nights, Youth Leadership Committee and the “PASSION” (Pacific Arts Success Stories In Otara’s Neighbourhoods) holiday programme.

We had a wealth of donated goods come in this month too from other local service providers and Donatenz to set up our office base which we are extremely grateful for. Things are chugging along and I am soooo excited about what this year is going to bring and especially about the current group of young people we have on the leadership committee this year. They all range from the ages 13-18 and represent Hillary college, Otahuhu College, Tangaroa college, local alternative education and some still trying to figure out where they want to be with our support and they all live local.

here has been a lot of expressed interest from different services locally to use them as a consultation group and this is awesome because when it comes to youth issues and finding solutions its important for our young people to also be involved in those decision making processes.
Till then feel free to check out our pages where you can view video footage of some of the things we’ve doing.
www.youtube.com/canopytrustotara

www.bebo.com/canopytrustotara

www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/canopytrust

March 2008 – Billy Graham’s Update

Published by Billy Graham on March 12, 2008 in Diary Updates. Closed
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Because of unbelievable weather in Wgtn this year we’ve had all our boys coming to the gym early. They’ve been playing cricket on the front lawn, throwing a rugby ball around, and generally getting to know one another. The smaller ones climb all over our trees which are fortunately made for that.

The boys have stepped up in their training this year and the standard of their fitness has improved. Their competitiveness has increased due to the fact that most of the boys have been there for two years now and are getting to know their way around.

Our first tournament will be in May and we will have the largest number of boxers competing. A lot of the younger boys are stepping up this year and realising that because they’ve been taught properly they can get in the ring and not be intimidated.

Its 100 years of NZ boxing and the championships are being held in Wellington this year. We anticipate having a good number of our boys participating. I have also been negotiating with the heavyweight champion of the world; George Forman. We are dreamers but we are intending sending him an invitation to be our guest at the NZ Champs, at corporate businessmen’s dinners etc., but most of all coming into our gymnasium in Naenae. I know it sounds unbelievable but that’s our business. Watch this space!

In spite of all the good things that are going on we’ve had a few of our boys whose families have had suicides, the normal brokenness of broken homes etc. but it’s great that the kids open up and talk to me about it. We don’t have all the answers but we know where to find them. David my younger son whose only 13, just steps up without being asked when I’m busy now, and kids older and younger listen to him and follow his counsel. That’s reassuring that we’re on the right track for discipline and respect. We encourage children teaching children, which is the forerunner for leadership.

My wife and I have decided to put our house up for auction in April and intend moving into the church we own, next to the boxing gym, as we feel hands on and more availability will get better results. My whole family are enthusiastic about this decision. When we’re not in the gym training, we’re painting, wallpapering, and knocking chimnies down.

There’s so much going on at the moment its hard to give you something brief that summarises it all when on the way home from the gym I’m ringing my mates saying guess what happened tonight, because everyone wants to know about it. I do a regular article for The Hutt Alive; a bi-monthly magazine put out by the ex-mayor of Lower Hutt. It’s really popular and gives us the opportunity to keep the Hutt people informed about our sports academy. If you’re interested in looking at it just email leigh.sutton@xtra.co.nz

March 2008 – Annalise Myers

Published by Annalise Myers on March 11, 2008 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

This month has just flown by; with Easter being so early and all the training I’ve attended, the rest of my work has involved meetings and report writing.

Saying that, this month we have very exciting news: our board has endorsed setting up a new Teen Parent Centre, which is fabulous! It has meant I’ve spent heaps of time when I’m not at work thinking about how we will develop a new Centre. I’ve got heaps of questions going over in my head – where would the Centre be best located; what are our long term objectives and how do we achieve these collaboratively; how can we involve our key stake-holders – young parents, the community, funders and the Government? All these questions need answers and time to ensure we get it right.

What’s amazing is that the Vodafone Foundation has not just invested in this year’s sustainability of our Teen Parent Project by granting me the World of Difference award, but they have enabled us to develop a long term vision of how teen parents can be supported to reach their full potential by establishing a new Centre.

I have been fortunate to attend lots of training this month; I started the Family Partnership training which uses an explicit model of helping to facilitate positive outcomes for vulnerable families. It’s been developed in the UK and Plunket have brought it into New Zealand. We are very fortunate to have been invited to have two of our staff attend, we hoping to use this opportunity to explore how this model could strengthen our work with teen parents. Later in the year I’m hoping to visit the Centre for Parent and Child Support, who developed the partnership model, and I’m planning on meeting with some of the key people who support and evaluate its use all over the world.

My most challeging moment this month was attending the ‘Service Costing for Providers’ two day training organised and funded by Ministry of Social Development. I always thought I wasn’t too bad with numbers but man this work was out of my comfort zone – it made my head hurt! Our facilitator, Moses Armstrong, had the patience of a saint and he used great exercises to make our learning more palatable. Moses mentioned we had got through a level one accounting paper in two days and we had all done really well. I’m really proud of myself sticking with it and getting the right answers, and I know this knowledge will help me with writing funding applications, but what I really learnt from the training was when you found a fabulous administration/accounts person, treat them like gold and don’t let them go!

On finishing this month’s blog I’d like to thank the awesome young mums attending our Young Mums Support Programme, who kindly allowed Rob Harvey from Vodafone to come and catch some of my work on tape. We had a few mums away with sick kiddies, but I really enjoyed joining the group for a warm-up game. We had to guess what famous person we had on our hat. My famous person was described as a celebrity, singer and stunning! When I found out I was Posh Spice, my response was “damn I’m not stunning – I’m staving!” Maybe I’m showing my age.

March 2008 – Frank Bunce

Published by Frank Bunce on March 10, 2008 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
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First off it’s an apology, 2 in fact!

Not only is this report late but I’ve incorrectly labelled the first one as January, I didn’t even start until February so please excuse the gap!

My second month into it has seen the pace lift quite a bit. My meetings with providers continue on and as with the first month I am still very much in awe of the people working in this area of Youth Service.

People the calibre of Charles Crotty (TYLA), Brother Steve Hogan (De La Salle), Ken Allen (CYFS) and others have allowed me time and I have enjoyed sitting listening to people with passion for what they do as well as for our young people.

As well as my face to face meetings I’ve done a lot of reading. Some of the research I’ve see being invaluable as to changing and shaping my opinions on something that’s not easy, the business of being an adolescent.

As the first stage of my year is somewhat of an information gathering exercise I must admit to feeling a little humbled by the fact that I’m seeing and hearing all about great work being done but don’t seem to be getting my hands dirty.

I am however being asked to speak to quite a number of different groups and my diary is fast filling with all sorts of requests.. A boys group at De La Salle, a Cook Island boys group, a MCC welcome, a Canopy event and a Vodafone leaders group being some examples. It always turns out to be not only enjoyable but often quite inspiring as well.

For me it’s all about relationships, it’s all about the people.

March 2008 – Shirley Allan

Published by Shirley Allan on March 8, 2008 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
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Kiaoracations everyone!!! This month has been full on with, amongst other things, a week spent down in the mighty capital and I would like to say it was my warmest trip down. Ever.

The trip was fantastic all round actually, I went to find support around a model for youth participation based events we’ve been working on for a while now. We’ve got the perfect opportunity for a tutu in the Smokefree Pacifica Beats event and so will trial the process here at home, up in the tropical climes of Whangarei and also in what I think might be the youth capital of Aotearoa; Porirua.

Did you know that approx. 40% of people in Porirua are aged 20yrs or less??? Food for thought whanau, especially when our politicians keep telling us we’ve got an ageing population…

… lol, maybe someone should’ve told us brownies…

Aaanyways, I was completely blown away by the phenomenal amount of enthusiasm shown around our ideas. To cut a long story short it looks like it’s going to fly really well down country and so the challenge is on now for us here in North to represent.

We had several other wins this month; YPT delivered the stage management contract for the inaugural ASB Polyfest Showcase – basically they took a selection of winners from all the stages at the festival and gave them a platform at the Telstra Clear Pacific events centre. A giant tautoko to all the schools, teachers, young people, and of course the families who all put on an amazing show. Check out some of our pics.

Wonder of wonders, we’ve found someone to facilitate our strategic planning exercise!!! I know, I know; I’ve said this before. But this time it’s for real!!! This time next month we’ll have it all sorted and will finally be able to move onto our business planning etc. Yaaaaaay!!!

Locally there’s two youth participation projects about to get underway and we’re particularly excited about this as it’s where the hard work begins. I’m not shy to say we like it most at the local level because for us it means the wins are more satisfying and more importantly, we’re able to see immediately what works and what doesn’t.

Glen Innes will be our focus for these projects, one of which is a Youth Services Map and the other is a tikanga based series of arts workshops in the July holidays called RAW. Both of these processes are very collaborative in nature and I’m confident that if we can pull this off we’ll have a couple of cool projects that will translate easily across our invisible Auckland geographic boundaries.

And last but certainly not least we’ve just submitted an expression of interest towards a new Maori and Pasifika education initiative as well as an abstract for the upcoming Pacific Spirit conference. Phew. That’s all for now guys, hope this finds everything going well on your end and I’ll look forward to getting back in touch very soon!!

March 2008 – Nicole Robertson

Published by Nicole Robertson on March 8, 2008 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
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This month, March, has been an eye opener for me. I have been extremely busy with my client work. The young women I meet with on a weekly basis demonstrate such resilience when facing their abuse. I meet with young woman who again and again have the ability to find strength, support and relief at the most difficult times. These young women have often turned to friends for support when the adults around them can no longer be trusted.

Friendships help the girls to reduce the pressure or the anxiety, confusion and anger that follow abuse. Friends don’t have the expectation of grief that adults often do and allow the girls to have time when they can “forget” about the abuse and their problems or to have a place in their world that is somewhat free from pain.

The support of a mother, grandmother or aunty provides an anchor in these turbulent times. These young women need to have an adult member who believes them and who remembers them, one who will provide, support, protection and constancy at a time when emotions can over whelm.

As I listen to the experience of these young women and their families I am beginning to find common strategies and skills that may assist other young women who appear to have lost their connections with others and themselves and who remain at risk of further abuse. To this end, I am attending a conference in May entitled “Happiness and it Causes”. This annual conference brings together a number of people working in diverse fields from Neurology to Buddhism to debate the notion of resilience and the factors that enable some of us to overcome adversity. I am very excited to be attending a workshop by Dr. Martin Seligman, who many years ago wrote a book called the “Optimistic Child” and developed a programme to combat depression in school with much success.

May 2008 – Swanie Nelson

Published by Swanie Nelson on March 7, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments
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Well what can I say this month. Every month brings new challenges but further opportunities for the young people I work with. It feels like everything is running on task like a rollercoaster and although the work at times gets very tiring it’s very rewarding. This month the core leadership group I work with have really stepped up to the point where I almost have to do nothing and that’s an awesome thing because they all have leadership potential and the ability to do things that sometimes us adults think they can’t. I like to think of it like this:

I’ll Show you, You help me, I’ll help you, You Show me

Having the core leadership team collaborate with South Seas health care program (KIA – Kids in Action) has benefited both sides. Not only do the young people get to come and teach different elements of performing arts to the young people in the program and their parents on a weekly basis but it has also created an opportunity for the parents to participate more through dance. It also has given our leadership team the opportunity to build their confidence, and skills in planning/delivering a program for the participants as well as their public speaking skills. Aside from that they get all the benefits of the program too being “keeping active”. Also the young people have really ganined a reputation for themselves. They always make sure to have representation at the Otara Network meetings as well as any other meetings held in the community that directly impact the future of their community and themselves as youth. It’s really been awesome for me to see them grow and be more connected to their community through our current initiatives and their participation in local meetings.

As a result of all the hard work the youth have been doing I really wanted to treat them to something special this month and just acknowledge the work they have been doing and so I got in touch with my contacts and the end result is that I was able to take them all to the Pacifica music awards held at Telstra at the end of May and boy did was have a “solid” time! They got to dress up and just enjoy the night of awesome NZ Music talent and top it off with the free food provided at the end of the night. It was definitely a good and fun way to end the month!

Untill then we are still busily chugging along and while our leaders of today continue to grow in the opportunities we have been able to place before them I look forward to what the rest of this year will unfold.