Ashburton Courier: May 06, 2021

NEWS
6 Ashburton Courier, May 6, 2021
Invitation to
refugee talk
Afree seminarwillrun in AshburtononMay 11
for people to find out more about theAfghan
culture and how they canhelprefugees settle
into lifehere.
Theseminar will be presented by Ashburton
Settlement Support Services teamleader
Kathy Harrington­Watt andculturalnavigator
Navid Bashir to provideinsight intothe
refugeeexperience.
It willconclude with information about
Hazara Afghan cultureand willtouch on some
basic language greetings.
Ashburtonisexpectingits first intake of
Afghan refugeesatthe end of May.
Theseminar is organised by Mid Canterbury
LearningExchange andwill be held at
CommunityHouseMid Canterbury.
It runsfrom 7pm until 9pm.
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Flowers at the Gate
Hampstead School pupils (fromleft) Lanuola Perenise,Burnedine Kelsalland Jumeirah Iolama tuck into lunch on the
first day of Kai for Kidsatthe school.
Fabulous freshflowersfor Mother’sDay andevery day.
Orders recommended
77 Racecourse Road,Ashburton 027 313 0615
“Openeveryday...early till late”
#weloveflowers
www.flowersatthegate.co.nz
German Style Handcrafted
SAUSAGES
Pork flavours include cumberland,jalapeno and
cheddar (not hot), caramelised onion and apple,
roasted pumpkin and walnuts Venison and pork
Lamb,mint,garlic and caramelised onion
Oursausages have no
preservatives,flour or water.
Allnatural ingredients,salt,
pepper and spices.They are
filled out into natural hog
casings –not synthetic.
027 206 0503
thesausagemannz@gmail.com
‘
2380316
2376344
Kai for Kids service expands
MICK.JENSEN
@ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Kai for Kids CharitableTrust has
expanded its healthy lunch service
into Hampstead School, and from
next Monday will also supply meals
to Chertsey School.
The optional lunch has been a
successatNetherby Schoolsince it
was introduced as apilot last July
and nearly 9000 luncheswere given
out last term.
The expansionofthe service
means an extra 350 lunches each day
for HampsteadSchool pupilsand 30
for Chertsey School students.
Three trial days were held at
Hampstead last term ahead of the
formalstart of the service on
Monday.
Initial funding for Kaifor Kids was
given through the Advance
Ashburton Community Foundation
2380240
and supported by ateam of
volunteers who helpedprepare and
cook the lunches before they were
handed out through aroster of
parents.
Kai for Kids founder Jo Taylorsaid
the projecthad been able to access
funding from the Ministry of
Education’s healthy school lunches
programme (Ka Ora, Ka Ako).
Funding enabledmore meals to be
providedand also meant the need to
employ people in part­time and
casual roles to help produce and
deliver meals.
She had been overwhelmedwith
people applying for roles,which
were ideal for parents because the
work was duringschooltime.
Mrs Taylorsaid Kai for Kids had
been grateful for the use of the
kitchen at the Ashburton Trust Event
Centre, but had now secured the use
of the bigger kitchen and space at
Ashburton Racecourse, which would
be operational in afew weeks.
Each meal provided through Kai
for Kids contains abalance of
vegetables, meat and grains along
with fruit and yoghurt.
Main lunch offerings over the last
threeterms at NetherbySchool have
included butter chicken, cottagepie,
pizza, lasagne, vegetable soup and
sandwiches.
All mealsare madefrom scratch
usingasmuch locally grown produce
as possible and specialmeals are
madefor gluten­free and dairy­free
children.
Compostable containers are used
and Wastebusters Ashburton is on
board and disposing of them.
Donatedmince for the programme
has comefrom the Meat the Need
project that Mid Canterbury farmers
havedonated through Silver Fern
Farms.
Pasifika clinics reach out
Newsatellitehealth clinics
will be set up in Ashburton to
supportthe growing number
of Pasifika families living in
MidCanterbury.
Over thelast 12 months Etu
Pasifika has run community
vaccination outreach
sessions that has seenteams
of vaccinators, nurses,
doctors and navigators
deliver arangeof
vaccinations, andalso
engage in informal
conversationswithfamilies
abouttheir general health
andwell­being.
Canterbury DHB Maori
andPacific Health executive
directorHector Matthews
said those outreach sessions
would now be extended to
include other social
outcomes that impacted the
health of Pasifika
communities suchas
employment and economic
factors.
The programmeofwork
would berampedupover the
next 12 months andregular
Hector Matthews
satellite clinicswouldbe
held.
An integrated team would
be in Ashburton up to twicea
week to catch up andprovide
support to Pasifikafamilies.
PasifikaFuture’s primary
mental health care
programme known as ‘Ngalu
Fanifo’ would also be
available to families as part
of the rollout.
Theprogrammehad a
strong focus on the mental
wellbeing of families,
including pregnantmothers,
mothers with very young
babies,addictions, young
people’shealth, elderly
wellbeing and the health of
school­aged children.
Mr Matthews said the
Canterbury DHB looked
forward to bringing more
health servicestothe
Pasifikapopulation in
Ashburtonover time,asit
continues to implement the
PacificHealth Strategy.
Canterbury’s Pacific
population has increasedby
31 percent overfive years
and at the 2018 census was
18,927.
The largestethnicity is
Samoan(10,092), followedby
Tongan (3,192).
Ashburtondistrict’s
Pacificpopulation
numbered 1716 at the 2018
census, up from 1017 in 2013.