Bay Harbour: October 05, 2016

PAGE 20 BAY HARBOUR
Wednesday October 5 2016
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Exciting times ahead
for social workers
Fiona Maurice is focused on whanau. Midway through her final year work
placement at Child, Youth and Family, the Ara Bachelor of Social Work student
spoke of her hopes for the future for her family and for all Māori families.
Working for the Māori Women’s
Welfare League, as researcher and then as
kaiawhina, in 2011 to 2012, Fiona loved
community work but realised she need a
qualification to progress and be even more
effective. Coming to Ara was, she says, “the
best move I ever made”.
“I’ve learnt more
about myself and
what my strengths are
and I’ve realised that
determination and
perseverance are good
skills to have.
“I believe this
qualification will give
me more opportunities. I
want to register as a social
worker so that employers
will look at me more
seriously.
Working for Child, Youth and Family,
the social work agency of the Ministry of
Social Development, “didn’t faze” Fiona.
“I put my hand up to go there. In terms of
learning I can link a lot of my studies, such
as attachment theory and developmental
theory to the work, but I am also learning
a lot in the office about the systems and
processes.”
It’s an exciting time to be at CYF, she
says. “The agency is in a transformation
phase. They will have a new identity next
year and new processes. To be part of that
wave of social work is exciting.”
Her focus is clear. “It’s whanau that’s the
perspective I come with.”
Proud of her heritage, she
affiliates to Tuahiwi Marae near
Rangiora and Nga Ruahine
(South Taranaki tribe). It’s
an exciting time for New
Zealanders, she says, because
qualifications now involve
learning about the Treaty of
Waitangi. “More and more
we will see that knowledge
in action. Most of the social
work students want to learn
bicultural skills, but I already
had that.”
Receiving the Ara Eke Panuku
award last year and other scholarships have
been hugely helpful and Fiona says support
is there for other Māori students to enter
social work – a perspective the profession
badly needs to better respond to Māori
clients. “There are not enough of us! Only
three started in my first year group of 55!”
Fiona has made it a personal challenge
to share her story and inspire others to
consider social work.
Restoring McCormacks Bay
• By Barbara Crooks, of
Ferrymead Rotary
ONCE A month on
a Sunday afternoon
Ferrymead Rotary
members don their
gardening gloves and
gumboots and head for
McCormacks Bay.
There they join a dozen
or so other volunteers for
a few hours of planting
and tidying. Their aim is
to restore and enhance the
bay to a level beyond its
pre-earthquake state.
The work is co-ordinated
by the Avon-Heathcote
Estuary Ihutai Trust and
supervised by the city
council park rangers.
When Ferrymead Rotary
got involved two years
ago, the effects of the 2011
earthquakes were still in
evidence. The estuary had
tilted and liquefaction
had created new islands,
the stream edges needed
stones placed back on the
banks and the locals had
been too busy mending
houses and businesses,
mourning family and
friends to do much in the
community.
Ferrymead Rotary has
always been keen to get
involved in hands-on work
in the community. So,
when the Avon-Heathcote
Estuary Ihutai Trust
asked for help, members
HELPING HAND: Rotarians muck in at their
monthly McCormacks Bay clean up.
made it a club project and
joined the restoration
team. In June 2015, Rotary
Neighbourhood Trust
donated $750 towards tree
seedlings.
The team started pruning
the trees, bushes,
undergrowth and weeds
that were not natural to
the McCormacks Bay area.
Park rangers tagged trees
and bushes to be removed,
volunteers cut and slashed.
Flax, saltmarsh ribbon
wood and a variety of
trees that withstand salt
spray and wind have been
planted around the edges
of the bay.
The next stage, based
on the Sumner side of the
bay, is to prune, re-vegetate
and restore the three large
islands so that the birds
will return.
Tanya Jenkins, trust
project co-ordinator, stated
“that thanks to the dedication
and commitment
from Ferrymead Rotary
members, who will be
working closely with other
local residents, the trust
can now hand over the
restoration project leaving
it in capable hands.”
The difference is incredible
– everything looks as
though it should be there.
Plantings are growing
where it had been bare.
And the hope is that this
natural planting will attract
birds back to the area
for shelter, roosting and
breeding.
Your land. Your people. Your stories.
Every Wednesday at 7.30pm
on CTV Freeview Channel 40
live and on demand at ctv.co.nz
Brought to you by