June 2016 Number 20

Ka tangi te titiWeaving Wellness – Whanau Ora

In This Issue Toi Toi Maori Art

& Gift Shop The Process of

Transitioning Camp Mother Stop Smoking

Service Fun Day

Contact Us92 Spey StreetInvercargillPh: (03) 214 5260Fax: (03) 214 5262Free phone:0800 925 242Check out our website

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HoursMonday-Friday 9am-5pmLate night Thursday by appointment.GP service is open 9am-7pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Southern Stop Smoking

Service

We have some fabulous new stock over at Toi Toi Maori Art & Gift Shop! Pop in for a look at 119 Dee Street, Invercargill.

The Process of Transitioning* John (not his real name) wishes to remain anonymous.

A Southern man who has recently started the process of transitioning from male to female says he couldn’t have done it without the help of Nga Kete, and is urging others who want to do the same, to go for it.“Anyone out there who wants to do this - get help! Don’t hold back. Ask and ask and ask and don’t stop.”John* was referred to Nga Kete’s Whanau Ora service in March for help through the process, and has been assisted by Whanau Ora Navigator Davina Mackley.“Davina has gone right out of her way to help me. She’s talked to people, got me the information I required and she doesn’t judge me.”Davina will assist John to visit a psychologist who will carry out an assessment, and he will then be referred to an endocrinologist for hormone therapy. John has made a date in which he will appear as a woman in society, and has given himself a female name.Growing up, John was raised by parents who insisted he dress and appear to the outside world as a female. He was treated as a female from the day he was born; dressed in girl’s clothes, hair tied in pigtails, makeup applied and sent to an all-girls school.

He knew no different, but he knew he wasn’t the same as the other girls, he says.As a teenager John rebelled against his parents wishes and spent his adult life identifying as male, he was married and had a child. But after the relationship ended, he made the biggest decision of his life.It was a decision he says had been with him all along. He decided he knew in his heart that he was not the man he was portraying to be. He knew he had to become the woman he was raised as.

Toi Toi Maori Art & Gift Shop

Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust is pleased to advise that we are extending our Stop Smoking Service Southern-wide (south of Waitaki) and invite you to apply for the following positions:

Service Manager Site Coaches Service Profiler

For more information please contact:Sheryl HenarePh: 03 214 5260Email: sheryl.henry@kaitahu.maori.nz

Vacancies close June 17 2016, 5.00pm

Kaumatua Fun Day

Making that decision felt like a huge weight off his shoulders, he says.“It made me feel real happy within myself like I finally knew what I wanted to do.”John says he couldn’t have come this far and would still be struggling if it hadn’t been for Davina’s help.John’s advice to others who feel the same way he does is to continue asking for help until someone listens, and above all – don’t hold back!

Our Very Own Camp MotherSupporting and helping people is what our extraordinary disability kaiawhina (aka Camp Mother!) is all about.Sandra Stiles, who encompasses the words warmth and compassion, started working at Nga Kete 12 years ago at the Maori Support Centre at the Southern Institute of Technology before moving into administration and then disabilities.Sandra, who was brought up in Tarras (a small farming settlement in Central Otago), says outside of Nga Kete working in the community as a Murihiku Maori Warden is a large part of her life, as well as catering. “I love seeing everybody happy and content. I love it when there’s food left over and people get to take it home.”Sandra caters for events such as weddings and rugby clubs but treats it as a hobby and simply asks for a koha for her services.Sandra’s hobbies encapsulate who she is as a person - she radiates kindness and caring, which naturally spills over into her role at Nga Kete as Disability Information & Advisory Support Kaiawhina.Sandra says she loves being around the people at Nga Kete, supporting people and being able to help.She even goes out of her way to attend expos at weekends because she enjoys being able to promote Nga Kete in the community.Sandra enjoys her role at Nga Kete and intends to stay. “They will have to sack me to have me leave as I’m here to stay for as long as they want me.” “I love it here. They are my second Whanau.”

Our Whare Executive

Kamatua Fun Day will be held at the Murihiku Marae.

Tuesday 19 July, 201610am-3pm

We can awhi with rides. Naumai haere mai, hope to see you there!

We will post updates often but mark your calendars now!

He’s our cleaner, our maintenance man, our whare executive, our multi-talented tane pukumahi – Introducing Donald Wright.Not that he needs an introduction. Donald has been a part of the team here on and off for about 10 years.One of Nga Kete’s first ever staff members, Donald started with a role in driving clients to and from appointments, which evolved into supported youth work and cleaning and maintenance, among other roles.Originally from the Bay of Plenty, Donald moved south in 1982 for a holiday but decided he couldn’t leave. He started working at Tiwai and enjoyed living in Southland.“It’s a nice place to be - Awesome people.”Throughout the years Donald has held several job positions in Southland, including care giving, a security guard at the hospital, health care assistant at the mental health unit, a supervisor at Corrections and a bus driver.And throughout it all, he has continued to work part-time at Nga Kete.Outside of work, Donald enjoys diving, watching sport, going to the gym, bike riding and hanging out with his family.And he loves working at Nga Kete, especially the atmosphere and being part of one very large family, he says.

Mauri Ora! Kia pai to ra