News & Resources

a 2 day workshop titled " working with trauma" for Rainbow Place, Hamilton new Zealand

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:03:00 GMT

A summary of workshops and trainings for the year

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:59:00 GMT

The workshop and training component of my work has finished for the year and I would like to summarise and give thanks to the people and organisations who gave me the opportunity to work together. I am also looking forward to work in the new year.

a worksop in Timaru New Zealand

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:21:00 GMT

Yesterday I returned from Timaru where I conducted a one day workshop on "resilience and hope" for the staff of the South Canterbury Hospice organisation.

Report of the inaugural 5 day workshop " Introduction to Palliative Care" in Apia Samoa.

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:34:00 GMT

The workshop was an inspiration and the result was that at the end of the 5 days a steering group has been formed to take palliative care in Samoa forward.

start of the inaugural Palliative Care Workshop for the Oceania University of Medicine, Samoa

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:49:00 GMT

many workshops later

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:40:00 GMT

Since my last entry in February 2010, much has happened.

I had the privilege to be invited by Steven Pitman, co-ordinator of the rural GP network in Wodonga, Australia, to conduct a workshop with a very inspiring group of health care professionals who mainly work in rural palliative care.

Their enthousiasm, imput and creativity into the work has been amazing. For some feedback of this workshop, please see under the heading TRAININGS- TRAINING BENEFITS".

The work in Samoa is continuing, I have been back for visits conducting ongoing training for WIBDI (see heading training) in April, June and more visits are planned for the end of September, the one year anniversary of the devastating tsunami as well as towards the end of the year. In April Dr. Sue Marsden and i worked together with the team.

The Samoan people have responded with much courage after this disaster and we have seen a lot of rebuilding and growth. However, what is also slowly emerging is the post traumatic stress in people affected by the tsunami. Now that many houses have been rebuilt and people have some sense of restored livelyhood, the psycho-social/spiritual trauma is emerging. In my opinion, it will be still quite a while before that trauma impact is healed and will need on-going attention.

A new year is in full swing

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:15:00 GMT

Since my last visit to Samoa in November 09 there have been many developments, culminating in a 6 visit contract with the NGO Women In Business development Initiatives in Apia Samoa.

Sue marsden and myself will be working closely together with the team of WIBDI, working on self care as well as training togethere in how to support the team and provide basic counseling skills for the field workers of WIBDI. They work a lot with many families being severely affected by the September tsunami.

I am very much looking forward to continuing the work, and many thanks to Adimaimalaga Tafunia, Executive Director of WIBDI and all the staff for trusting me with this collaborative work.

Back from Samoa, a report for my generous sponsors AMDA

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:17:00 GMT

A request to come to Samoa after the terrible devastation of the Tsunami

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:25:00 GMT

Last Friday I received an email from RoseCharities Canada, with a query whether I would be able to respond to a request from the Samoan government for assistance with grief couseling stated as part of their 5th Government Release of the Tsunami Event.

I am leaving for Samoa on Thursday, initially for a week to do much listening and hopefully get some insight into the need for ongoing Trauma and Grief counseling and counseling training and maybe support workshops for relief workers.

AMDA japan is generously funding my airfare, with many thanks to you all!

Will Grut from Rose Charities Canada and New Zealand has been very supportive and I hope I can be of service in some little way

I am intially going for one week and intend to report back as soon as I return home

"Together" palliative care conference, Perth Sept. 24-27th 2009

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:05:00 GMT

This conference combined the bi-annual meetings of Palliative Care Australia and the Asia Pacific Hospice Network, called "Together, cultural connections for quality care at the end of life"

I have come back to New Zealand from this conference with many new insights and knowledge, the quality of the keynote speakers was tremendous and much development is happening in the important area of research as well as the constant strive for excellence in care. One of the highlights for me was the presentation of Dr. Bee Wee on the Sunday morning

For me it has been a real privilege to have been part of this combined meeting as an invited speaker. I realise that over the years I have met many people from places like India, Malaysia, the Philippines as well as Australia and NZ and that a true network has been established.

The topics of the presentations I gave at the conference were:

Grandparents Grief as part of the pre-conference pedeatric stream, with many thanks to Sara Fleming for the invitation to participate in this day.

Emotional and spiritual Self-care and self-awareness for health care professionals, with many thanks to Trish Wilson and Geoff Mitchell for kindly offereing me a space in their Masterclass

Spirituality in Palliative Care

Recent developments in grief and bereavement

Embracing difference as a bridge for connections.

I want to thank the conference organisers for extending the invitation to speak and for all the care and attention that went into this conference.

And many thanks to all the people I spoke with and who gave such generous feedback.