March 2023 - Sugar Free...

 

This next month of March for the year 2023, I'm going Sugar-free to support the Gut Cancer fundraising.

It's going to be really interesting because it's been a while since I've been sugar free but I also it's not only about support a good cause that it's also about promoting our own gut health.

Unfortunately in NZ, I've read that everyday there's 17 people who are diagnosed with gut cancer. Up until I read about the promo for this campaign, I had never heard about how serious those stats are.

So I'll be posting next month as I start this as it's the first of it's kind that I've been a part of as over the years I've tried to support all kinds of causes such as the World Vision 40 hour famine (over many years since being a teenager.)

I've also supported and sponsored Refugee Week where you support the cause financially and are sent a pack whereby you eat the rations of a Refugee for a week and see how you feel. I remember losing 5kgs in just that week alone in eating flour and water with oil pancakes much like Indian roti with sardines as a basic daily allowance for the week.

So this will be an interesting challenge in that it's about me being very aware about not having any sugar whatsoever in my diet in March which will include not having processed food with it's hidden sugars and even some sauces and definitely no fizzy! but I will keep you posted...

Recruiting for new classes for 2023...

 

Yesterday morning was a very time setting up a market stall at our local markets to recruit for new enrolments for the year for my class and other classes at our Wānanga (Maori Tertiary Institute).

I still think that it's still one of the best kept secrets (still a lot of marketing to be done) for these courses as most of them are free, with the exception of the degree courses and they are also especially good for second chance learners who didn't do so well in a western lead education system.

Since joining the Wānanga firstly as a student, a student support officer and then a teacher, I've found the difference for when one's cultural heritage is taken into account and valued more so than trying to pretend that every one is the same i.e. from a western cultural background when that is usually not at all the case.

So it's a real privilege for me to be able to share my successes with new students and sharing with them of some of the knowledge of achievement through the experiences that I've had. Plus it's more real and local rather than me being a professor in some university that only the privileged would attend...

High winds and Valentines day...

It was good to see the tail end of cyclone Gabrielle which left a lot of destruction and debris all over the north Island of NZ in it's wake. We were fortunate as in not having any flooding or debris flying our area but other parts of Auckland didn't fare as well.

Although we did have Valentines day yesterday with high winds and all, it didn't stop the celebrations and I also got a nice surprise with my eldest bringing some flowers and chocolates to add to our family celebration.

In fact, I believe that it's good to celebrate and have made it a family tradition to enjoy birthdays and graduations to encourage that spirit and hard work ethic of enjoying the hard work well done.

Even in the midst of turmoil, it's always important to take time out and thank God for blessings and protection as there's a lot of negativity and general nastiness out there that self love and sharing love and appreciation is very important.

So we took the time out yesterday to celebrate Valentines day and to enjoy our time together with dinner and dessert. I've also encouraged our family to interpret various holidays for ourselves and would even encourage those who don't have a valentines to treat yourself to flowers or chocolates or whatever you enjoy to celebrate love in your own special way rather than lamenting...

Awaiting Cyclone Gabrielle...

 

Whilst New Zealand awaits the next 24 hours with acute weather warnings with instructions to batten down any loose items around residential properties, I was aware when out shopping locally today that many people were picking up supplies such as food, water, toilet paper and other essentials in anticipation of the wet and windy storm ahead.

Even local universities and tertiary education institutions have instructed students to stay off campuses have any Zoom classes instead in order to not have students second guessing for what next week will bring.

As for Primary, Secondary schools and Early childhood centres parents have been asked to keep an eye on weather warnings to keep safe and have minimal travel plans over the weekend with only essential travel encouraged.

That's because the top half of NZ has been issued with the highest weather warning in awaiting for the cyclone named Gabrielle to pass over NZ sometime tomorrow. Some Aucklanders are already worried having already suffering from a surprising deluge a fortnight ago with massive flooding and to now await another with possibly more devastating and far-reaching weather phenomenon is very sobering for some.

As for my family, we are taking it easy and have been as prepared as best we can for the weather event with the essentials. Our thoughts are with those families who are again bracing themselves for this having already lost much that they won't have to suffer through another. Our thought and prayers are for protection for all over the next few days...

Weathering the storms with Tapa...

 

The devastation of the flooding in Auckland has affected many families on so many levels that we are again being warned to brace ourselves for the possibility of another onslaught this weekend with stormy weather predicted.

For the Samoan Early childhood centre that I have the privilege of serving and am currently on leave as the Chairperson (in trying to finish my PhD thesis), our centre also was affected with our babies' room being flooded.

So we were instructed, by the visiting Ministry of Education assessors who were checking through on affected centres, to construct a noise barrier for the new space where I babies would be placed. This involved measuring the area to ensure that it was compliant and also we were given some guidelines on what it could look like.

In the end, we opted to purchase two large room dividers that were secured to a partial wall partition with thick Tongan tapa draped over the dividers (as seen above). I thank my dear friend who gifted this tapa to my family with the memorial service that we had for him last year after a year of mourning. It was such a gracious gift that I know my late father would have wanted for our Aoga (school) to use.

So now awaiting to see if it passes the test of the Ministry of Education assessors and then we are good to go for our babies to return to the centre in their new space whilst awaiting for the church's Insurance assessors to allow for new carpeting after having taken out the wet carpet.

Hopefully, the predicted storm this weekend won't have the same devastating effects that the last one had but definitely keeping a watch out for new erratic weather as a result of the effects of climate change and global warming as we are told...

Hope and the devastation for some families with flooding in Auckland...

Whilst going on my irregular 5km walk, I came upon a lone red hibiscus flower on a neighbouring fence that I could help but take a picture of. It reminded me of the hope that there is with a single flower that more will blossom in time.

It's with sadness that I was able to witness some of the devastation that families have gone through the 'freak' storm that hit Auckland, within 24 hours, last Friday that left 3 people dead and 40+ homes written off with over 5000 homes somewhat affected from wet carpet to whole houses ripped off their foundations.

On many roads throughout my local area, there are large skip bins that evidence the tremendous toll that the freak weather had on families in communities. We have a local help centre that offers to support displaced families as some don't have liveable homes to go to or food on the table with livelihoods interrupted with some businesses going under.

It's so sad to see and so seemingly random as one house could be fine with no water damage at all and it's next door neighbour could be in dire straits. I've seen that bad drainage is a massive reason for flooding in many areas and also streams that have burst their banks.

What's so sad is that many children are also caught in this with the government calling on a week's deferment for schools to start Auckland wide but then changed their minds and allowed schools and Early Childhood centres to start if they were not affected.

Even my workplace has been affected with flooding and we have been encouraged to work from home until they are able to get everything sorted. This is a bit daunting as we are still recruiting but will see how it goes as this was a similar situation when COVID-19 struck.

Our classes have also been put back a week which gives us an extra week of getting things ready and also checking with potential students to see if they were at all affected by the floods and if they have been offered any help with their situation if needing attention.

All in all, I'm really encouraged by the support that's out their for out community peoples and families who have been affected. It's definitely not an easy time to be out of work or without a house with the cost of living soaring with inflation but there is hope, like the hibiscus flower, that there will be another day with many caring enough to lend a helping hand...