Profiles
- Focus on Employment
- Kids Day Out
- Farewell to a dear friend
- Oppenheim Trust Grants 2006
- Sam Brown
- Mike Walker
- Tim wins gold in Sweden
- Janet - friendship, companionship, dedication
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Focus on Employment
Rosie Salmon has a dream, and isn't about to let her vision-impairment stand in the way. Rosie wants to be a hairdresser. She's already completed two courses at the Eastern Institute of Technology and found work in a salon. At Hair in the City, Taradale, Rosie (20) is a shampoo assistant and front counter and phone receptionist. She also removes dye colours and perm neutralisers. Getting this far has required sheer determination. "I went to probably 150 salons. They would say, 'we'll get back to you', then shut the door."
After three months, she found an employer with a different outlook - an employer who was impressed with Rosie's attitude and could sense that Rosie has, what she calls 'the vibe'. "Cutting is more about feeling the hair between your fingers than seeing," says Rosie. "There would be some clients who wouldn't let me cut their hair, but I don't think there'd be a big issue."
Kids Day Out
Aunty Jo's Kids Day Out is the brainchild of Jo Legge. The 65-year-old Foundation member from Mt Roskill had a major life change 12 years ago when her youngest son died at 18. She refocused her life on helping kids from low-income families.
Her first Kids Day Out attracted 200 participants. This year's event at Potters Park in Auckland in November is expected to draw over 2,000. Already her house is piled high with everything from toys to tomato sauce - products donated by companies and given away free on the day.
Jo's not the sort of person who takes no for an answer. "I'm straight to the point," she says. I spend almost every waking hour on the phone. The council thought I'd go away after a couple of years but I didn't." Auckland City has recognised her determined contribution with a Good Citizen's Award, one of many community awards that compete for space among the piled up boxes."I never let my blindness get in the way," she says. "Never say can't."
Jo wants to take her Kids Day Out concept further afield than Auckland, and is talking with other councils. To donate to the Kids Day Out in November, contact Jo on: j.g.legge@xtra.co.nz or ph 09 620 1960.
Farewell to a dear friend
When Lottie Trevarthen (1941-2006) died on 30 March the blind community lost one of its most passionate advocates. She was, as past Foundation Chair Jonathan Mosen says, "a person who felt the pulse of the blind community and spoke for those who might
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otherwise have been forgotten."
Lottie, who was deafblind, will be remembered for her warm and relaxed style, her cheeky grin, her hospitality and strong sense of who she was and what she believed in, says current Chair Don McKenzie.The niece of Sir Graham Lattimer, Lottie was called "Lattie Lottimer" at Epsom Girls Grammar School.
She worked in the public service as an audio typist, played the piano and sang. Lottie married one of Auckland's leading saxophonists, Derek Trevarthen, and with him forged a professional, international musical career.
She was an active member of many blind consumer organisations, including being Vice President of the ABC NZ, President of NZ VIEW, a member of Deafblind NZ Inc and Ngāti Kāpō, and on the Board of Trustees of Homai School.
Two weeks before Lottie passed away, Sue Cunninghame from NZ VIEW was chatting to her at her home, and as she was leaving suggested that next time they had a teleconference she would give Lottie a call to see if she felt like joining them. Lottie thought for a while and said, "Depending on where I am, if you can find me. I might be over the rainbow by then!" And ironically, she is, undoubtedly making the most of this next stage. Blind, deafblind and vision-impaired New Zealanders are richer in so many ways through Lottie's life and contribution.
Oppenheim Trust Grants 2006
Every year the Oppenheim Tertiary Education Trust gives grants to Foundation members to help them start or continue tertiary education.
The Trust was established in 1989 to commemorate Dr and Mrs Oppenheim's 50th wedding anniversary. From 1992-2006 over 360 grants were given to members totalling over $435,000. We talk to two of the 2006 grant recipients - Sam Brown and Mike Walker - about student life and their future careers.
Sam Brown
The number five is featuring strongly in Sam Brown's year. He received $5,000 for fees and textbooks, is in the first year of a five-year Master's degree in osteopathy and is sharing a student flat with five others. Sam's been at Ashburton College until now but there's only one
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place in the country where you can study osteopathy, and that's Unitec in Auckland. At 19, he's away from home for the first time. His eye condition, called rod monochromism, means that without his tinted contact lenses Sam would be totally blind in daylight but still has good night vision. His brother George has the same hereditary condition.
Osteopathy's been on his radar for a few years. "I always wanted to do something in medicine," Sam says. "The surgeon stuff wasn't the best idea. Being an osteopath I'll work mostly with my hands so it's ideal."
Unitec is well set up for students with disabilities. There's a study room with a CCTV, scanner and adaptive computer with the latest software. Sam has extra assistance from a reader/writer for notetaking in lectures.
Mike Walker
At the end of this year Mike Walker will graduate without any student debt. That remarkable achievement is in large part due, Mike says, to his annual Oppenheim grant. "If it wasn't for the grant I'd be in debt to about $8,000." Mike received $2,000 this year to complete his Bachelor of Teaching degree in Hamilton. Teacher trainees are discouraged, he says, from having part-time jobs while they study because of the high workload.
The only specialist equipment Mike has for his ocular albinism is a bioptic, which is a pair of robustly framed glasses that hold a telescope in the shape of a small plastic box. He uses the bioptic for reading. "When it comes to reading I get fatigued quickly," he says. "I can't skim read like my classmates and in classes I have to rely on my hearing rather than the overhead projections or Powerpoints.
Other than that it's been a pretty level playing field." A Hamiltonian, born and bred, Mike's setting his sights on a job in either Taupo or Turangi, where primary school teachers are more in demand.
Tim wins gold in Sweden
In March, Tim Prendergast, Foundation Recreation Advisor and member, competed at the World IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Indoor Athletic Champs in Bollnas in Sweden. His first time running indoors, Tim won gold in the 800m.
Instead of 3-4 weeks to acclimatise he was racing within seven days after arriving. It was also the first time he had raced on an indoor 200m track instead of the usual 400m tracks. That changes the way he mentally approaches the race and means the bends are a lot tighter. Tim is currently in the UK for the Northern track season to prepare for the September World Outdoor Champs in Holland.
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Janet - friendship, companionship, dedication
The Marlborough Community Committee is a vibrant and busy one. Its 13 members are the first point of contact for 175 local blind, deafblind and vision-impaired people, as the nearest Foundation office is in Nelson. Janet Armstrong has been on the committee for 16 years and chair for five of those years. Her initial interest in the Foundation's work grew out of her father's diabetes-related blindness, but friendship is the key to her ongoing dedication.
"I love the companionship it offers," she says about being on the Community Committee. "I also very much admire the vision-impaired folk I meet." Committee members have a good understanding of services available to Foundation members and are available to brainstorm solutions to common problems that arise from restricted vision. They take on a public awareness role, attending Marlborough Council access and mobility meetings. Their input into issues such as changes to the total mobility scheme is valued and listened to.
Highlights of the annual committee calendar are the Christmas party, a garden party in February, monthly socials with speakers and entertainment, weekly bowls in winter, and two equipment display days. A walking group is about to get under way, along with a one-off project to distribute laminated posters with hints for the public on helping blind and vision-impaired people. The committee works with an additional dozen or so volunteers who provide a range of support from transport to social events to being part of the telephone tree. There is also a CCTV available for loan and the Committee hopes to purchase further CCTV's in the future.
Community Committtees provide valuable support to members in their area. With the Community Committee Annual Public Meetings coming up it's a good time for people and members to think about getting involved in their local committee.