Monthly Archive for October, 2009

Spring in our Step

Published by Tiffany on October 20, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
spring-in-our-step
Spring kicked off with the senior volunteer leaders (aka Buddies aka Mentors) celebrating their work and dedication in a weekend away at Antara Retreat.  And it was certainly well deserved with close to 200 Mentoring hours achieved in the Auckland hub this month! So with the sun shining and brisk chill in the air we set off early one Saturday morning on an hour cavalcade north towards Welsford and Pakari beach.

Antara Retreat opens the doors of its beautiful earthbrick home to young people as a place of learning and support. Set amongst organic gardens, streams and native bush, the retreat is founded on the principle of people helping people, and all stays and programmes are free of charge.  We were hosted with warmth and generosity by Josephine whose zen-like aura and heavenly organic vegan kai offered us a tasty experience of health and wellbeing.

Saturday was Buddies Time. The team chilled out in the house, played in the bush and gamboled in gumboots as they put their energy into a few hours of solid work on the organic farm (not without some shenanigans in the hay!)

The Buddies Team at home on the farm

The Buddies Team at home on the farm

Witnessing the fun spirit with which this team came together to connect with each other was the highlight of my WOD year.  The gusto with which they put their hearts into the work on the farm mirrored the commitment they show to their work in mentoring trainee counselors on the helpline. These volunteers are awesome; to me they are the heart of Youthline! The day ended with a bonfire under the full moon accompanied by Josephine’s organic Apple Crumble, (YUM) before some well earned sleep!

Sunday we welcomed 20 of our solo phone counsellors to join the buddies for a day of fun, connection and learning. This was a unique opportunity to learn about the buddies team and attend a workshop on Transference and Counter-Transference, to further develop their counselling skills.

The sunshine and fresh air seemed to dissipate any caffeine withdrawals (it is embargoed in Antara) and everyone was in fine form. The number of attendees again reflected the commitment to learning and community building our solo counsellors make. There was a real sense of the joy of being together as Youthline volunteers.

Spring represents a time of growth and renewal; this metaphorical beginning is pertinent to the Buddies team as this year’s WOD funding springs us forth into a new era and signals our step towards better, more sustainable, times ahead.  

With love and daisy chains,

Tiffany

Together/Ngatahi/Tufa’atasi – This is the time

Published by Bridget Roche on October 20, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
togetherngatahitufaatasi-this-is-the-time

Touch rugby tournament

Friday 9th October 2009 was a wild, wet and extremely windy Wellington day as we all assembled together at the St Patrick’s College hall in Kilbirnie, to mark the 21st birthday of Challenge 2000.  This is a significant achievement for an organisation that started in 1988 as a project with one youth worker. 

 

The celebrations began with a cocktail evening on Friday night.  Despite the bitterly cold weather outside, Challenge 2000 friends and whanau (many who had travelled great distances), turned out in force to honour the work of this unique and special organisation.  The conference was officially opened on Saturday morning with a powhiri.  The conference included a number of very interesting and relevant workshops.  These included discussions on restorative justice with Jim Consedine, HIV/AIDs with Simon Harger-Forde, and a youth justice workshop with Judge Walker and Steve O’Connor of the NZ Police.   

 

At the same time as the afternoon workshops, a mammoth touch rugby tournament was taking place.  Lillian Moore our Vodafone ‘Hands Up’ recipient was instrumental in getting some great Vodafone support for this event.  Our celebrity guests were Wellington Lions players Mark Reddish and Michael Hobbs.  The teams for the event included Porirua colleges Mana, Porirua and Bishop Viard, a combined Wellington Colleges team and a Challenge 2000 team.  The Mana College team took out the overall prize for the tournament. Many other players and the other teams were also recognised for their contribution to making it such a great event. 

 

Saturday evening was rounded off with a formal dinner and much celebration including a barbershop quartet from St Patrick’s college, a Samoan cultural group from Bishop Viard College, and two staff from Challenge 2000 performing an original song written for the occasion.  There were also two significant presentations to honour two special Challenge 2000 staff – Felise So’oa and Kitty Mckinley the founder of Challenge 2000.  

 

Throughout the weekend there were powerful testimonies from those who have been involved with Challenge during the past 21 years. Multiple generations of some families were present, and stories were told of overcoming significant adversity to make it possible for themselves (and their children and grandchildren) to achieve their potential.   

 

The aftermath of the weekend is still with us – the vocal chords of our male staff are only just recovering from their efforts in the haka.  Photos are now being collated, and people are contacting us to give their feedback on the event.   

 

It was humbling to be part of this weekend, and to recognise the responsibility in the hands of the current staff (myself included) to carry this amazing work forward.    The most significant things that I will take away from this weekend are the chance to truly capture the vision of Challenge 2000, to see ‘community’ lived out over the course of the weekend, and to be challenged with the idea that that if we can ‘do what we can, with what we have, where we are’ (original quotation from Theodore Roosevelt), amazing things can happen.    

 

  

Bridget J

 

 

 

Ready for summer?

Published by Sally Wood on October 20, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

Hitting the half way mark of my WOD year provided some time for reflection of what we have achieved so far and what we still want to achieve in the coming year. I felt extremely proud of my six month report as I genuinely feel we have made significant progress in ensuring HYPE-GS is going to be sustainable in the long term and made a difference to local young people via the YOUTHTRAIN programme.

Just this Friday I had a stark reminder why HYPE-GS needs to exist and the contribution this relatively small not for profit makes to the community. The annual Nelson Masked Parade and Carnivale is a great celebration of the creativity in Nelson/Tasman. To young people this event has signalled the start of summer and an opportunity to gather in large groups and enjoy the atmosphere. The four HYPE-GS workers and myself were significantly overwhelmed by the amount of intoxicated young people on the streets and as we went from intervention in disagreements and fights to providing first aid or organising safe transport I was surprisingly stopped by a number of young people (and a police officer) that were openly thankful for the services we offer. Unfortunately the police had to make 9 arrests of young people and therefore the media has focused on that negative behaviour of the minority which doesn’t recognise the hundreds of young people that were there that caused no problems. Hopefully as a community we will have some learning’s from this year’s event so we can better manage the large amounts of young people that obviously look forward to this event.

Good news came this month from ALAC who are funding us to develop our CHOICES Safer Partying theatre in education programme. Next year we will be able to further develop the performance and post performance workshops, tour all schools in the top of the south and develop the programme into a “how to guide” so other regions, communities or schools can run the programme themselves. This work is important to us as CHOICES enables us to be proactive and reach young people via youth friendly methods to informally educate them on the risks of not partying safely. This national recognition of CHOICES is a credit to the young people who gave their stories of when their parting had gone wrong for the original script and also the youth actors who made the performance so professional and realistic.

The rest of my busy month has been spent inducting our new summer staff team. Dave Crocker has moved up from Christchurch to oversee the service’s coordination and will be supported by Jasmine, Marv and Matt who will be 2IC Coordinators for specific services. You guys rock and it is a pleasure to work with you.

The YOUTHTRAIN weekend last month was the best so far for me. We have been lucky to receive funding from Tasman District Council to buy in specialist trainers so the young learners are getting the best experience possible. Cheryl Kingi came to deliver the Te Tiriti o Waitangi unit standard alongside Katie and some great discussions and activities really brought the topic alive. Darney Takao also came along to the weekend to talk about his passion for youth leadership and dance and quitting his government job to work voluntary in the community! Thanks you guys for sharing your knowledge and personal journey’s to become youth workers.

Finally one more acknowledgement to my board of trustees especially Nicola and Daniel – you’ve helped me personally over the last month to keep my sense of humour J You have also made big contributions to HYPE-GS and we need to acknowledge and celebrate that.

Electric feel

Published by Cameron Calkoen on October 11, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments
electric-feel

With the calendar year speeding towards a finish the energy up at the Yes Disability Resource Centre is Electric. Christmas cards are appearing on the stationary list and parties are being organized. With celebrations on the horizon we have an action packed next couple of months with Carabiner.

Between monthly reports we have had our very first mentor / mentoree training under the new model which was developed with Shona Ballinger. It was such a rush to see our new matches sharing stories with one another and taking the training on board. The final training for the year is going to be in November so between now and then it is about making as many matches as possible. With some great publicity lately we have steadily received applications from interested mentors and mentorees, we have the pieces the puzzle and now it is about linking the pieces which fit.

In August and with thanks to my fellow World of Difference brother ‘Josh’, it was awesome to join in a meeting with Ihc. Looking at a youth volunteering program we discussed what this could look like so more young people can be encouraged into a mentoring type role with you people with intellectual disabilities. Still in its early stages, this is an exciting process to be part of as I am a strong believer in collaboration and if we can work together to achieve our visions, the world will be a better place.

Over the past month I have been slightly (well quite a bit) immobilized as I recover from a knee operation. After a skiing accident where I’d torn the meniscus of my right knee, the surgeon made a full repair but I haven’t been able to put any weight through that leg until now. Using a wheelchair I have experienced a new perspective of life and come to appreciate how mobile I am. In a job which is all about building relationships and the capacity of an individual I have found it really hard to be stuck behind my desk and be limited to certain work hours due to giving the knee the recovery it needs. However I have had the opportunity to design the first Carabiner workshop which will take place at the end of October. With a focus on personal development these workshops are for current matches as well as past matches and those who are waiting to be paired with a mentor. I am really excited that we have found away to be contributing to the lives of youth who are not yet paired with a mentor.

With preaching the importance of mentoring, I decided to give it a shot myself and I’m loving it. Through Carabiner I have been paired up with a dude who aspires towards representing NZ at the Paralympics. With an opportunity to share my experience it has been so rewarding to see this young guy set goals and be part of the journey. With trips to the golf course, speech writing, and driving lessons we have found many similarities despite differences in age and culture.

With a repaired knee I’m ready to escape this desk and match up as many inspiring people as I can so that they can move, touch, and inspire those who cross their paths.

Dream big