Monthly Archives: Jan 2026

This morning, I received several newsletters from overseas. These hidden stories are being shared with others, not fake stories, as I work from home in a resilient, supportive rural environment. The post came through LinkedIn from Matthew Tukaki, Chair of the National Māori Authority, Aotearoa/New Zealand: “Just for a moment, let’s step back.

Put the politics aside.

Put the noise down.

Look around you and really see Aotearoa — the land of the long white cloud.
The beauty in every maunga and valley.
The reflection of the sky in our awa.
The quiet strength of our coastlines, our forests, our towns, our people.
We may not all agree. That’s okay.

But one thing is certain — we are stronger together.

We are not Trump’s America.

We are Aotearoa — a beautiful country with immens…..” Wish to read more and go to this link. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/matthewtukaki_just-for-a-moment-lets-step-back-put-ugcPost-7421706955297099776-T7uT?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAjOMIwBDoyWlGCoauJDu55eiFuBMvoUgY0

I took a break to refresh my thoughts and read Matthew’s post. It was calming to reflect with a cup of coffee and my two dogs beside me.

The world has been changing constantly and without warning. Global weather disasters, wars, trauma, rising living costs, lack of affordable housing, struggling businesses, and increasing poverty affect millions of people with physical and invisible disabilities.

Where is the compassion, empathy, and teamwork in leadership roles in a world full of egopaths? There are arrogant people, even among millionaires and billionaires, but only a few truly altruistic wealthy individuals. What about those who stand firmly against oppression, suppression, and tyranny? Have you thought about the true meaning of wealth, in giving to those who need it, investing in education and innovation, not in poor planning and design? Anyone can be filled with riches in their hearts.

Perhaps those who know me understand my improvisation in blogging, storytelling, mentoring, and sharing resources as a deaf person with disabilities, historian, advocate, and advisor. Their encouragement has helped me continue to grow, improvise, and learn. I am thankful to these people in my life and work.

“Just let people be wrong about you. It does not matter. Just be a good person and let them be wrong.

People will always form opinions about you, and not all of them will be right. You cannot control what they believe or say. What you can control is how you act and the choices you make. Focus on kindness, honesty, and integrity. Being true to yourself matters more than proving others wrong. Motivational Life Quotes

Recently, over the last few weeks, the D/deaf community lost their favourite teacher aide of Deaf students, the school principal of the Primary School in Hamilton, and a Deaf senior of the Deaf community and the Waikato Deaf Society Inc, from 1956 to 1999 (Dissolved in 2004). I listened to and read their comments in messages and during the funeral service. Several D/deaf students and families of Deaf seniors recalled their favourite memories to share with us. One person shared a speech from a son-in-law who remembered his Deaf mother: a strict upbringing, the uncertainty of communicating in sign language with his deaf mother and father-in-law, and the deaf mother-in-law’s famous phrase, calling someone a silly old man and giving him a clip on the head several times. A brother-in-law mentioned that his sister-in-law crashed into power poles without a seatbelt and wasn’t fazed by the police’s warning. The messages from the D/deaf students recalled their favourite teacher aide through their memories of her as a caring, warm-hearted person, compassion and empathy to many Deaf students through Waikato schools.

The disaster in Mauao, also known as Mount Maunganui, a 232-metre dormant volcanic cone, was the most significant landslide and killed six people this year. This was not the only disaster. There were several others in Welcome Bay, which killed two people, as well as in the East Coast, Coromandel, and parts of Greater Auckland, such as landslides. Mauao was the worst in many years due to heavy rain, poor understanding of soil environments, and failures in response and prevention. Mauao was a highlight of my childhood, where our family lived and spent school holidays.

What more can I put down at the moment, as I looked at the clock and the time flew by?

As 2025 ends and 2026 begins, we’re curious about what’s ahead. Now in our sixties and seventies, we live in the countryside near Hamilton. Over the years, we’ve faced ups and downs in work, relationships, money, family, friends, and health.

We have lived in Eureka, Waikato, for 12 years.

Life in Eureka isn’t without its challenges, but it’s pleasant here. We’re away from Hamilton but close to towns like Cambridge, Morrinsville, Te Aroha, Matamata, and Ngāruawāhia.

Living here has meant adapting to changes in life and finances, but we’re managing. I still teach, advocate, and mentor in our communities, learning about disabilities and how they affect people in business and health. We also spend time working in our large gardens and around the property, maintaining the woods for firewood, pruning trees, fixing the fence, and planting new bulbs and plants.

Recent government decisions have made things harder for many, with funding cuts, higher taxes, less support for seniors and people with disabilities, fewer retirement options, and business closures. Across New Zealand, people feel both hope and worry about money, inflation, changes at work, health issues, and moving to retirement villages or smaller homes near family.

Many countries are facing worsening situations and deeper crises, like Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Gaza-Palestine, Venezuela, Cuba-USA, and Iran. All except Greenland have fallen into poverty because of the economic crisis.

I think Trump should step back, since he doesn’t own any countries, control resources, or have the power to stop the drug trade and other problems. The same goes for Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, who want land and resources, build more housing for their own people, and push aside Palestinian communities as history repeats itself. It all comes down to greed and power.

Instead of focusing on the world’s chaos, I’m trying to stay positive. What will 2026 bring for us here?

“The future depends on what we do in the present.” – Mahatma Gandhi

With the New Zealand election coming up, I read about a group doing great teamwork in the Disability Sector and public communities. New Zealand relies heavily on debt, which has grown 4.7 times in 25 years—from $128.8 billion in 2000 to $608.7 billion in 2025. That’s a 372% increase, much higher than the 35% population growth. Debt per person tripled, from $33,378 in 2000 to $117,054 in 2025, a 251% rise. On January 1, 2026, net borrowing was $15.6 billion. Net worth dropped by $3.8 billion to $465.0 billion, after a $26.5 billion increase in 2024. Net debt went up $25.1 billion to $115.2 billion in the year ending June 2025. This is due to fiscal management over the past six years or more. New Zealand’s economy has faced significant challenges, including a deeper-than-average recession, low growth, and high inflation, affecting households and businesses.

Housing and jobs are the biggest challenges for many disabled people, D/deaf people, and thousands of homeless people across New Zealand. Low benefits, high inflation, and struggling businesses make things harder. It’s also tough to access skills and equipment in ways that are accessible and free of ableism.

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” – Victor Hugo

I am focusing on making time to keep moving on two projects: Waikato Deaf Units and Waikato Deaf Society Inc., 1956-1999 (dissolved in 2004), despite little help or support from other Deaf people in the community, except for a small number of seniors. I am updating the website domains through WordPress.com and budgeting the annual website costs. Work and Advisory Groups keep me busy as I juggle time to type stories, put photos together, upload them to the website, and store them safely in hard storage and on iCloud drive. Through spare times I was on leave for surgeries and took several weeks leave from 2 works so I can focus on my health resume last year.  I will try my best to finish these projects.

With the wild weather continuing to disrupt everyone’s holidays, the worst disasters were flooding and landslides in Northland and at Mauao in Mount Maunganui. Several people were killed in a landslide at Mauao and Welcome Bay, while one or two people died in roaring flooding that swept them away. The world is affected by global climate change, which creates man-made disasters faster than anyone can cope with the crises that follow.

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller

These words from Helen Keller can help remind us that while hardship and difficulty are a part of life, resilience is too. Even when things are difficult, there is always the possibility for growth and healing.