Monthly Archives: May 2019

This morning I was teaching the students in NZSL class, then just about to wrap up the closing of the lesson. I received an emergency text call from a social worker – Bob (the name is fictional)  in regarding one of the stubborn elderly disabled ladies in her own home. Bob could not get inside the disabled client’s house, and he asked the neighbour, but the neighbours were away. There was no instruction of where the key is, who is holding the emergency key as a backup person such as a family member etc. No luck of finding the key and realising the family member of this elderly disabled lady Poppy (the name is fictional) living in South Island. One last hope was letting me know if I know the key are or how to get inside the house etc.

I replied to Bob that I may have some idea on how to get inside the house. I arrived at the property and managed to get inside the house but not breaking the window. We found the house was so cold and we walked around the house – two level story house. Bob found Poppy lying on the floor in the bathroom, and she was not wearing warm clothes. I texted the emergency through my Deaf Text 111 and text for ambulance and police assistances.

Perhaps you are wondering where is the St John Medical Alarm if she is wearing. Why her house was so cold and why she was lying on the floor plus not wearing warm clothes??

I met Poppy six years ago until this afternoon. Bob tried to visit her from time to time, but he was turned away, which I was not aware of these problems. I gave up and gave the job to another person because there was nothing I can do for Poppy.

The results were: – slipped on the icy floor in the middle of the previous night

–  the portable phone was downstairs.

– The heat pump was off instead of low heating 24/7 days a week. She tried to save money on heating bills.

– clothing and we leave to her to explain to the family member and social worker later on.

– Refused to pay and to use St John’s Medical Alert Alarm. She fears for her financial problem and thinks that she can look after herself without help.

If you are wondering if she is okay or not. She is okay BUT suffered broken ribs, bruised arms, face, broke one of the pelvis and hypothermia. She is staying in a hospital and will be transferring to a rest home. There will be no guarantee if she will stay there or demand to move back to her home against her family’s request because it was Poppy’s choice. Bob and Poppy’s family members thanked for my work.

When I got home and have a good rest from this afternoon. The weather was wild – heavy rain, wind and thunderstorm day. I prepared the fire for our heating the home. I looked back to my past job and recalled the work I went through as a Disability Healthcare/assistant for nine years. I completed the Certificate in Human Service – Disability Support Worker and Nursing Assistant, including lifting and transferring (note it is not a fully qualified Nursing course).

Two of my ex-patients were the most stubborn – one was diabetes, and the second person was dementia with a severe heart condition. Both of them refused to live in a rest home/hospital since their health took tolls, refused to have someone as a home help such as cleaning the house, personal showering, preparing meals. Their families were unable to take care of these people. It was too much hard work and trying to make their fragile family members understand that they need help even to lighten the burden of health issues.

Two of my ex-patients were refused to live in rest homes, and their family gave up. I continue to visit them because I was instructed to continue to work by the manager of the Healthcare Providers and the GPs. I respected these two patients and their choices over many years. But these two patients enjoyed having me and talked for an hour about gardening, weather etc. Several years after I left this old job as a Healthcare/assistant for my University papers and a trip overseas, these patients passed away in their home alone and left undisturbed. No one notices any strange patterns like mail or junk mails still in the letterboxes, cold house, the light was still on during the day time, or the grass had not mowed several weeks.

There are several organisations out in the community such as Age Concern, Healthcare Providers, Disability Support Link and the list go on. The most severe cases are Mental Health/illness and Well Being Issues. It is the high rate where people, including children, suffer mental illness in the community, and they need help urgently.

Tonight, sadly I learnt the Budget 2019 from our Government, will invest $1.9 billion “Wellbeing Budget” and is that enough? There are thousands, thousands of people with mental illness, elderly people living alone and want to be left alone, child poverty, young people going through suicides etc.

the major initiatives in mental health, the Government has promised to set up a new universal frontline mental health service, expected to help 325,000 people with mild to moderate mental health needs by 2024. That will see trained mental health providers placed into doctors’ clinics, iwi health providers and other health services.

But it came with the caveat from the Government to address a chronic skills shortage – it recognised the need “to train more qualified mental health workers and build new facilities”.

A further $200m will be pumped into existing mental health facilities, and $40m over four years will go into suicide prevention services. Wellbeing Budget NZ 2019

How can we encourage those fragile, insecure or resentful people to accept or to understand that they need help?

We must find a way of any solutions to solve this problem and to increase more staff training in mental illness, preventing child poverty and healthcare providers. Also to provide more ‘education’ training such disabilities awareness, elderly people with disabilities and their financial needs, preventing from suicides or addiction.

A couple of years ago, I thought myself – why not grow garlic again in our new rural home?

My partner – Peter said to me, ‘why not? you can do it even you grew many vegetables, herbs and plants successfully at our old home in Hamilton City in the past!’ So I went ahead planting garlic bulbs in the new garden section of our new home on the shortest day in June. It was a beautiful day that I recalled several years back when I planted the garlic bulbs. From the day, the garlic bulbs grew and grew, and the weather was good for there was no rust disease. Finally came the longest day in December, it was ready to harvest many garlic bulbs. I was pleased with the result, and I dried the fresh garlic bulbs then tied and plaited several garlic bulbs just like the Italian and French do.  I attached the photos.

The second year I grew medium-size garlic bulbs and one elephant garlic bulb which the kitchen tutor from my workplace gave me to produce it. It cost me nothing because I gave them feijoa fruits since 2014. I never grew an elephant garlic bulb before, and I went ahead to grow along with other garlic bulbs on the shortest day in June. Then I pulled all the garlic out on the longest day just before Christmas Day. It was the same routine I do every year since we moved to our new home here.

Every garlic bulbs in plaited and tied up, I gave to the kitchen lady for the cookery classes and every Monday lunch meals except over Christmas season and New Years. A few garlic bulbs I gave to two people that I am supporting and assisting.

Last year, I had a lucky escape because the other people grew garlic bulbs, but their plot suffered rust diseases due to the bad weather. This year it is almost time to grow garlic bulbs, and I received a couple of packets of elephant garlic bulbs from the kitchen lady.

Of course, again, it cost me nothing, and it is a gift of thank you for growing garlic each year. Here comes Queens’ Birthday, I will be busy reaping the new fresh section in the new herb garden in time for the garlic planting next month.

From November 2014 in Eureka, Waikato, the extensive property of our garden including the fields, was a bonus for me with some bits of help from my partner – Peter. We bought off on a reasonable price from an elderly couple who were moving into a lovely rest home in Hamilton City because of their health failing. The previous owners prayed for the right couple to buy their home and garden, and their prayer answered.

My project on gardens in the large property was to transform into five senses for anyone, including people/children with disabilities to visit here. The five senses are smell, touch, taste, feel and hear/see. These senses are fundamental for everyone to learn about gardening such as growing vegetables, herbs, fruits, evergreen/bare trees and flowering shrubs. The primary keys to increasing any plants through four seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. My original plan on this project was 4-5 years from 2014, BUT from my right side of the body – neck, shoulder, arm to fingers started to have nerve and muscle pain in 2015. The current plan of this project is about to complete by late 2020 to early 2021. I am taking easy when I am doing the work in the gardens from time to time where there is no work to do around Waikato, including the city of Hamilton.

We have got two dogs at the moment, and the last four years we used to have three dogs. Our dogs love to walk around the garden with me, often spies on wild rabbits and chase them around the vast fields. One sunny and chilly morning, I was inspecting the young camellia hedges along the fences and our dogs walking under the most abundant tree, which is a Liquidambar styraciflua.  Beautifully leaves falling on the ground and dogs love to make noises on the fallen leaves. I can not hear the crushing sounds they ran on the leaves BUT when I walked on the leaves, and I felt the crushing underneath my gumboots. The sunshine warmth us by contacting the warm heat on my face.

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There are several roses around here and there in our homes. Sweet smelling perfume by bringing the scents of many rose perfume floating in the air when we walk. Plenty of climber roses along the fence and several shapes of rose shrubs in the rose garden. I planted many different types of lavenders, and from each year, I used lavender cuttings to save the cost of buying more lavenders.

The first crops grews by a disabled man and for us.

Our vegetable garden in one of the many garden plots in our home

Our first largest crop of pumpkins

We grew many different types of vegetables and fruits from 2014 to present – pumpkins, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuces, garlic, capsicums, radishes, watermelons, several free self-seed grapevines that were there before us,  rhubarbs, cabbages and the list go on. With the fruit trees, we have are feijoas – the most abundant tree, apricot, plum, nashi, blueberry, crabapple, persimmon, figs, lime kaffir, lemons, loquats and mandarin. When we get too many fruits and unable to make more chutneys, jams so I gave some fruits away to a couple of people with disabilities who I am supporting and several schools and my workplace where there is a cookery class for low-income families/young adult. I often donated to one of the Food Banks in Hamilton, where they served many people who are low income or homeliness people come for a meal.

In the other field, there is plenty of rooms for anyone to play cricket, rugby, makeshift tennis, or to camp here overnight. Sadly not everyone able to do this except our friends used a tractor and had a picnic/having cuppa with homemade biscuits and cakes several times during the long hot summer seasons.

Overall, we enjoy living here than in the city of Hamilton. I plan to have a special open day for people/children with disabilities such as blind people, learning disabilities people or Deaf even elderly people to come here and go exploring around here within two years away.  Our dogs are a great company to anyone when our dogs know if anyone who has a disability or not.

A day out to Mangakino over the weekend in the early hours of the morning.

My partner thought of taking me out on a day trip plus to help him out with his work. I do not mind this by helping him out since we were busy with our own jobs from Monday to Friday. He worked last Saturday while I did the garden tidying up at our home. It was a tranquillity day for us and my partner’s old mate outside Mangakino. Over the weekend there were no texts or emails from our family at all. The early hours of the morning were so bliss, calm and the wonderful sights were dew foggy and the sunrise over the farmlands.

Are people with disabilities including Deaf people beginning isolated from family and close friends?

My partner’s old mate’s wife works for the people with disabilities at one of the organisations I know. We chatted about the topic – people with disabilities having been isolated from their family or friends. I asked the old mate’s wife – Jill (fiction name) why she bought up this topic because she found many people with disabilities including Deaf have been isolated for a long time and never keep in touch with their family and close friends. I asked her if she has thought about elderly people and the people living in the rural area. Jill replied that she did not realise this one.

quote: Having a physical, sensory, mental or learning impairment gives rise to many challenges with regard to feeling lonely…

For example in the Deaf community – Deaf people can often feel isolated or lonely. This is because they can have difficulty interacting with people on a day-to-day basis, so they feel disconnected from friends, family, their community and the world around them. They can also feel frustrated because there can be so much they want to do, but just cannot. They want to express themselves, be independent, do all the things that others may take for granted.

It is not just about teenagers, young adult, or older person even elderly feeling lonely or isolated from the city, family or friends. Everyone including people with disabilities has the same problem but in different ways of their lives such as a Deaf person who has the first language which is sign language, a person in a wheelchair etc.

Jill asked me what I am doing as a Deaf community support worker/advocator of the people with disabilities. Since moving out to the rural area, I start to explore what is the possibility of the rural people facing the problem away from the city. I learnt that there are many people who are living on low income and no jobs, having stressful lives by living on a farm and working long hours, the lack of contacts with many Health Providers and the lack of transports. Of course, to my dismay there were several young people with disabilities living in a rest home, in flatting on their own with no helps, families with children with disabilities who have no help or support helps.

Over many years, I have been advocating the MOH (Ministry of Health), MSD (Ministry of Social Development), MOE (Ministry of Education) and other Government agencies to listen to people with Disabilities including rural people and they were slow to support and receive minimum awareness of their urgent needs such as support worker in the home, equipments like hearing aid, flashing fire alarm lights and the list go on. However, the gaps between the city and rural have not been in touch with each other. We need more works by closing the gaps and raise more awareness urgently.