Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Marae visit
about 40 of us went to the Marae at Unitec. It was like a United Nations delegation. We had students from Armenia Italy, Colombia, Peru, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey, Thailand, Japan, India, Tonga, China, El Salvador, Russia. And teachers and admin staff from New Zealand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Filipino style noodles( Palabok)
Filipino style noodles( Palabok) cooked by my friend and neighbour in NTU, Teresa Acosta Richards. We were faculty wives, and she was very faithful in supporting my Charity for the Deaf in Kenya.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Visit to Marae
My Mt Albert Baptist ESOL class are preparing for their first ever visit to a Maori marae. This morning we had a Couple Bill and Violet Tangarikin, pastors of the Waitakere Communuity Church in Henderson agreed to represent us on the protocol part of our Marae visit at Unitec. They came today, to enrich us the customs and protocol of a culture of the country some of the students have chosen as home, or visiting.
I am teaching my students the Marae, the meeting place of the Maori people. I have been to Marae before, and I show you photos of earlier visits. I spent an evening there, and later I went with my sister. I learn quite a bit of protocol to teach my students.
This is the first entrance, where visitors wait until they are invited to enter the grounds. There is a Powhiri. The visitors sing a karanga, telling the hosts they come in peace. The women will enter first, to show indeed they come in peace.
From Sarawak to New Zealand.
On Thursday evening, Ngarimu of the Ngatiwhatuaorakei Marae invited some 75 volunteers to a formal welcome, a Powhiri with an female elder singing the welcome or the Karanga. We had a Pakeha Natasha who could reply in Maori. It was a symbolic gesture that we came in peace and the females entered the Marae ground first,and the men behind us.
When
we entered the Marae, the men sat infront , and women behind. This is
Maori protocol. The elders spoke to welcome us,at the end of it, we went
to greet the elders with the Hongi, the Maori greeting with rubbing of our noses. We were treated with a sumptious vegetarian dinner.
Ngarimu
asked the volunteers why we came. Some came because they were
environmentally conscious, and some came because they came last year and
were commited to this "Zero-waste" concept. Some of us were new Kiwis
and students. Coming to this occasion was a privilege to experience the
Maori way of life. Among these foreign contigent, there were volunteers
from China, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, France,
England, Germany, Canada, and probaly more, but I didn't talk to them
all. There some children.
As for me, I
explained I came to New Zealand in 1978, when Bastion Point was in the
fore front of controversy. This was an excellent chance for me to be
part of it. besides I have always been a proponent of recycling when I
was living in Singapore.
I went away with
some insight of the spiritual aspect having spoken to a Maori grand
mother who invited me to sleep beside her grand daughters. We spoke the
protocols of why we should not take photos inside the Marae because of
the mana of the spirits, and to ordinary things like the puha
vegetable that I had posted before. The Maori Culture is very
interesting, if you go to my links, you too will find it very
informative.
We became Whanau or family. I want to thank Ngarimu and his Marae family for this opportunity. Next year, I will be back with Sam.
***I photograph a T-shirt with the symbols from my birth country and the photographs fo the marae taken from the outside.***
Pre Marae visit
At last it is happening, after years of discussing about visiting a
Marae, a New Zealand meeting place and to teach our International ESOL
students, we will be going next week.
Bill and Violet Tangarikin, pastors of the Waitakere Communuity Church in Henderson agreed to represent us on the protocol part of our Marae visit at Unitec. They came today, to enrich us the customs and protocol of a culture of the country some of the students have chosen as home, or visiting.
Bill is a pastor of a Maori congregation in west Auckland. Violet taught us the Waiata and explained to us what will happen on the day .
We learn and practise some Maori songs, and the students chose the Te aroha t
o sing when we arrive at the Marae.
Bill and Violet Tangarikin, pastors of the Waitakere Communuity Church in Henderson agreed to represent us on the protocol part of our Marae visit at Unitec. They came today, to enrich us the customs and protocol of a culture of the country some of the students have chosen as home, or visiting.
Bill is a pastor of a Maori congregation in west Auckland. Violet taught us the Waiata and explained to us what will happen on the day .
We learn and practise some Maori songs, and the students chose the Te aroha t
Maori Customs
Kia Ora, hello. I have been to Marae and slept in them. I like to share this with you.
When visitors come, the home marae "family" tangata welcomes them with a call, karanga. A guest female replies.
You take your shoes off at the entrance.
ABC Letter V for Vegetable. "aluchi wadi" in India and Seina in Fiji
Fijian Indian recipe. I am very fortunate to meet friends from different nationalities and eat their food.This one was very unfamiliar to most of you.
It is made of Taro leaves ( Yan in South East asia)
My Indian friends told me it is called "aluchi wadi" It is a maharashtrian delicacy.
Seina
Ingredients:
10 taro leaves, washed
1/2 cup uradh dhal, soaked overnight
1/2 onion, optional
Juice of 1 lime
3 chilies
3 cloves garlic
1 tspn. Salt
Cooking Instructions:
Grind dhal. Add lime juice and salt. Make a paste of garlic, onion and chilies and add to ground dhal. Smear dhal paste on the wrong side of a taro leaf. Take another leaf, put paste on and place the second leaf on top of the first one. Repeat spreading the paste on every single leave until about 5 leaves are done. Roll up tightly, plastering loose ends with the dhal paste. Tie with a string and steam for about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove string, cut into 1/2 inch slices and deep fry in good quality oil (preferably olive oil) a couple of minutes each side or until slightly golden.
http://www.healthy-life.narod.ru/wor_ek71.htm
http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/
Taro root.
Isabella thought she killed Jamie and buried him in a disused vegetable patch.
Christine and Connie the potters
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Rebecca Blithe
Always grateful to the first newspaper write-up by Rebecca Blithe. Rebecca gave me my first break. She contacted me and wrote this wonderful piece. From there, I was interviewed on national TV on Channel one on a documentary, my book was exhibited in England, and I had that dream of launching my 3 books, and meeting media.
Rebecca is now the editor at Girlfriend magazine NZ
- Editor at Girlfriend magazine NZ
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/aucklander/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503372&objectid=11030495
The New Zealand Herald is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by APN News & Media. It has the largest newspaper circulation of any in the country, peaking at over 200,000 copies in 2006, although numbers had declined to 162,181 by December 2012.[1] Its main circulation area is the Auckland region. It is also delivered to much of the north of the North Island including Northland, Waikato and King Country.[
Words of healing
6:00 AM Friday Jun 3, 2011
A mother's account of the death of her newborn son has been turned into a book in the hope it will help other mothers heal. Rebecca Blithe meets the author.
"The specialist said, 'You're going to have a normal baby',"
says Ann Chin, as she sits with a pile of her recently published book,
Diary of a Bereaved Mother.
But the days that followed the birth of her son, Andrew, proved anything but normal.
"Once I had my baby they realised he was dying," she says, of his diagnosis of Campomelic syndrome; a bone and cartilage condition resulting in short limbs and breathing problems because of a small chest capacity.
"They knew because of the scans, but they didn't investigate because it was a rare thing," she says, of the abnormalities. "When the baby was born, they resuscitated him. He was going to die that night. He survived for 55 days.
"One afternoon I was told he had died. He stopped breathing, he turned black, he was dead for half of the afternoon. Then he began breathing again." Describing that afternoon, the author seems lost for words. "You can't really give words, except that it was heart-wrenching, I was in a black tunnel."
During this period, Mrs Chin stayed in the nurses' home at National Women's Hospital, awaiting her baby's death, and writing.
"It was not only a diary for myself but I was writing letters to family in Australia and Singapore. I kept carbon copies," she says, adding her father had made his six children write daily compositions from a young age.
Twenty-one years later, after meeting other women who lost children, she decided to revisit her ordeal, in the hope of helping mothers cope and those close to them understand.
"Six hundred babies a year die. That's more than the road toll. [Compared to the funding for road safety] there's just nothing provided for us."
Mrs Chin, who teaches English as a second language, says reliving the experience was difficult but cathartic.
"I took out all my old files. I read them and I cried. I sat at the computer and I cried. But after a while, I was okay. Then I finished the first draft on his anniversary."
She says the feedback so far has been positive, especially from those who have had similar experiences.
"One of the mothers [from a Stillborn and Newborn Death support group], she just cried. She said to have someone writing about it was really helpful. I've spoken to grandparents as well. People tell me, 'Now I understand'."
Her story also tells of her disappointment with some of the staff at the antenatal unit and the importance of cultural sensitivity. "We had two doctors who kept saying, 'This is his problem'," she says, of medical staff shifting the blame.
The book has been requested by one of Mrs Chin's doctors, who is now based at the University of Toronto, Canada, to assist with training and hospital management procedures.
Dr Simon Rowley is a consultant at Starship Children's Hospital who's been given a copy of the book.
"It is a good reminder to all health professionals that when our patients leave us, the story does not end for the parents. The detail is amazing, and every little thought and action seems to have been recorded as it happened, and then has been reflected upon.
"For parents undergoing similar experiences this book could be a great comfort. For health professionals, I would see it as essential reading."
Further reading
Diary of a Bereaved Mother is available at The Women's Bookstore, 105 Ponsonby Rd, or email Ann Chin: annkschin@yahoo.com
But the days that followed the birth of her son, Andrew, proved anything but normal.
"Once I had my baby they realised he was dying," she says, of his diagnosis of Campomelic syndrome; a bone and cartilage condition resulting in short limbs and breathing problems because of a small chest capacity.
"They knew because of the scans, but they didn't investigate because it was a rare thing," she says, of the abnormalities. "When the baby was born, they resuscitated him. He was going to die that night. He survived for 55 days.
"One afternoon I was told he had died. He stopped breathing, he turned black, he was dead for half of the afternoon. Then he began breathing again." Describing that afternoon, the author seems lost for words. "You can't really give words, except that it was heart-wrenching, I was in a black tunnel."
During this period, Mrs Chin stayed in the nurses' home at National Women's Hospital, awaiting her baby's death, and writing.
"It was not only a diary for myself but I was writing letters to family in Australia and Singapore. I kept carbon copies," she says, adding her father had made his six children write daily compositions from a young age.
Twenty-one years later, after meeting other women who lost children, she decided to revisit her ordeal, in the hope of helping mothers cope and those close to them understand.
"Six hundred babies a year die. That's more than the road toll. [Compared to the funding for road safety] there's just nothing provided for us."
Mrs Chin, who teaches English as a second language, says reliving the experience was difficult but cathartic.
"I took out all my old files. I read them and I cried. I sat at the computer and I cried. But after a while, I was okay. Then I finished the first draft on his anniversary."
She says the feedback so far has been positive, especially from those who have had similar experiences.
"One of the mothers [from a Stillborn and Newborn Death support group], she just cried. She said to have someone writing about it was really helpful. I've spoken to grandparents as well. People tell me, 'Now I understand'."
Her story also tells of her disappointment with some of the staff at the antenatal unit and the importance of cultural sensitivity. "We had two doctors who kept saying, 'This is his problem'," she says, of medical staff shifting the blame.
The book has been requested by one of Mrs Chin's doctors, who is now based at the University of Toronto, Canada, to assist with training and hospital management procedures.
Dr Simon Rowley is a consultant at Starship Children's Hospital who's been given a copy of the book.
"It is a good reminder to all health professionals that when our patients leave us, the story does not end for the parents. The detail is amazing, and every little thought and action seems to have been recorded as it happened, and then has been reflected upon.
"For parents undergoing similar experiences this book could be a great comfort. For health professionals, I would see it as essential reading."
Further reading
Diary of a Bereaved Mother is available at The Women's Bookstore, 105 Ponsonby Rd, or email Ann Chin: annkschin@yahoo.com
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/aucklander/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503372&objectid=11030495
Violence Free Waitakere
Violence
Free Waitakere creates family focused events that are both fun and
free, while promoting great parenting at the same time. We
develop and facilitate effective projects and resources, which promote
violence prevention in our own community and beyond. We are at the heart
of collaborative projects that not only outreach, but build lasting
community resilience. Empowering, engaging and networking with a
multitude of agencies enables a brighter future for our community and
their families.
We invite you to browse our site to learn more our organisation, our projects and events.
Robyn Brady-Operations Manager
Robyn
comes from a strong business background combined with both Community
Centre and Event management for an Auckland Council contracted YMCA
facility. She is very passionate about community support and networking,
project coordinating and managing operational systems within this
great organisation.
Robyn
sings in my church, Mt Albert Baptist Church. I don't have a close-up
photo of her, but I have photos of the day she and I went on a working
bee to plant the garden at the Mt Albert YMCA. I went back this April
and saw the ferns growing.
http://mondaymellowyellows.blogspot.com.au/
http://mondaymellowyellows.blogspot.com.au/
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