Life in Eureka

Tiki Tanne: No Place like Home in NZSL

 

You may know or heard many songs by Tiki Taane.

Here is the chance for you to watch him along with our Deaf community.

Celebrating our NZSL Week…

Enjoy watching this video…

 

Fund raise for my Deaf History Research

 

Yesterday it was Karl Marx’s birthday. He was born on the 5th of May in 1818. Yep, 200 years since his birth. Karl was a German philosopher, economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist.

I studied his papers under Marxism at the University of Waikato and I never studied Marxism at my high school even in the Deaf Education. This Marxism work was difficult for me to understand and gave me a huge challenge to learn such as the Government, politics, capitalism, labour’s power etc.

So, how about the quotes I found from Karl Marx and compare to the disabilities area in the communities today than in the past. First of all, the first quote as above is about any individuals who have their disability or no disability such as Deaf and he/she express their life as they are to the other people. Marx made this quote unambiguous and loud message to everyone.

The second quote – it is a bit tricky if you can understand or can not understand this message. There are many workers in any buildings, Education or the company and their wages are not all the same even in the working class. Recently on television, there were several issues on midwife and teacher aides’ income because they were receiving low pay on long hours of working in the education/health industries. All the nurses even teacher aides established a protest match in the public and sent off petitions to the Government for their right to the pay rise.

Mm, think about people with disabilities. The people with disabilities excluded in some workplace and education. What about the right to communicate in sign language in the workplace, education, health industries? How can the Deaf people achieve their goal and their right in the community? First of all, they must stand unite and sign their language as their voice out to the public to remove the barrier of discrimination.

Tomorrow in New Zealand, we – Deaf People celebrate our NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) Week.

I wore my hoodie sweater with a Sign Language message on the back. My hearing partner and I went down to Morrinsville yesterday. It is a message to everyone in the public and I am proud to wear it. Tomorrow night I will be wearing it and visit the Scout group in Ohaupo. The Scouts will be learning to signs in the Scout’s Promise and Law. I am a bit rusty in the Promise and Law, because I used to be a Brownie and Girl Guide many years back. My mother was a Scout Leader even my sister was a Brownie and Girl Guide and two brothers were Scouts. I could not find a replaced Deaf person who lives near Te Awamutu as the first Deaf person was not available.  I AM hoping that my right side arm,elbow and hand will improve and to allow me to sign easily without having nerve twitching all over. Then I will have a physio on Tuesday afternoon..

Roll On, NZSL Week starting tomorrow!!

May the 4th be with you! (For any Star Wars Fan)

I stayed home and resting on the May of 4th due to a lot of catching up work loads including travelling to Auckland for the two days workshop. A trip to Auckland and coming home on the second day, I found myself very tiring and it took me a week and a couple of days to recover. Why? I have got a nerve damage in the right elbow, arm and fingers. I am still on the waiting list for the second nerve conduction assessment before going ahead with the options such as a nerve implant transfer, a long-term medicine etc…. Moving on with something else!

What so special about the 4th of May? It was not the Star Wars stuff! It was the quote “May the 4th be with you” and it was my partner’s birthday as well.

The morning was glorious and sunny day, four of us – three dogs and myself basking in the sun room. It was a nice relaxing, to feel the warmth ‘sun rays’ and looking out in the blue skies through the French doors. Judging our dogs who loves sunbathing and I saw them how they were relaxing than me. It was the Mother Nature and the word ‘Mother Nature’ can be found as a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it. (en.wikipedia)

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities.^[1] It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.^[2]

Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotionsand natural forces like seasons and the weather.

The silence bought inside the sun room than any traffic noises can be heard from the other side of the house. Not me surely, just these dogs who keep on look out for me when I am home daily or not. I am a deaf person and I can not hear every sounds just like you but it make no different when I wear hearing aids.

How bliss is the country life here, a spacious property with many gardens such as flowers, trees including fruit trees and a couple of vegetable gardens.

LIfe in the rural was a better opportunity to live than living in the small town or in the city! It is easy way to de stress your work loads or to detox your life by coming home in the rural from the small town or from the city.

 

 

 

 

Robin Williams’ quote from the Dead Poet’s Society. It is an excellent message to everyone and to spread the positive message rather the negative message.

Many people with disabilities have been let down than a small number of people with disabilities around the world. Look at Robin – did you know that he had got disabilities or not? The answer was YES. He suffered from depression/anxiety, Parkinson Disease, Mental Illness, alcohol/drug addictions, ADD (Attention deflect disorder) and to DYSLEXIA. Wow!

The Deaf people in the community – they struggle to communicate with other people in the community, not in their own Deaf community. Why? Average people who does not have experience or a limit of understanding in sign language out there while other people thinks we sign like ‘monkey gestures’. Often the people are really clueless on what is Deaf and sign language mean to you.

We – the Deaf people, were lucky to have the ability to communicate in a loud noisy room, through the window, across the room or the road, having a sore throat or a person come from Sweden. Anyone who have hearing, they will struggle to understand what a person was talking about in a loud noisy room, unable to speak if they have a sore throat etc.

Did you know that sign language was the first language before speaking or writing?

The earliest written records of a sign language can be found in the fifth century BC in Plato’s Cratylus. Moving on to the sixty century A.D., there was another sign language recorded in the Bible – The first chapter of the Gospel of Luke: Luke:1:62. Fast forward to the 1980’s in New Zealand, our sign language family is BANZSL and BANZSL stand for British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language. This sign language may be considered dialects of a single language by using the same grammar, manual alphabet and the high degree of lexical overlap. I won’t go further to explain this lingiustic area.

World Sign Language Family

What I am saying that sign language is a visual language or method of communcation. How hard or easy for anyone to learn to communicate in sign language? Do not be put off if you do not know how to communicate with any Deaf person.  No other person will tell any Deaf person to speak than sign. What is Robin saying in the message – start learning the new words by sign language and you will be surprise that you sign naturally by asking for a pen or to drive. That is the sign language we use daily.

fund raising for my project on Deaf History

 

 

Mm, the quote in the photo may not be correct for any Blind person or any Deaf person.. perhaps I can re write the quote as follow in “Kindness is a language the blind can hear and the deaf can see.”

The NZSL Week run from the 7th to 13th of May this year. Reflecting back to the 6th of April 2006, the parliamentary bill need to approve the NZSL passed its third reading on the 6th of April 2006. The bill received Royal Assent, (a constitutional formality), on the 10th of April 2006. New Zealand Sign Language became an official language of New Zealand the day after the Royal Assent.

Today there are three languages which are Māori, NZSL and English in New Zealand.

This morning I took a deaf with speech impaired and CP man for his shopping and banking at Westfield Shopping Centre, Chartwell and Pak n Save. Several people including children were watching us in signing conversation. We were not bothered by people and children staring us, because they do not realise or to understand very little about sign language. The staff ask me to reply what are the signs such as in thank you, help, foods, and please. Then the team responded back to the deaf man in signs and his face lighted up and smiled.

 

I was reading the article about William Shakespeare in the newspaper at the Physiotherapy clinic and the date of my appointment for the physio was on the 23rd of April. What the fuss was about Shakespeare? The fuss about him, was the celebrated of his birthday – April 1564. The four hundred fifty-four years to this year since his birth.

One of his quotes, I recalled – “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

During my holiday stays in United Kingdom, I returned to Warwickshire where my cousins live there many times.  I revisited the village called Stratford-upon-Avon and William Shakespeare who was born and died there. It was a lovely village and the village draw many people who love Shakespeare, and to learn and understand his works every years. I bought the complete works of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon because we did not have these kind of books in Waikato, New Zealand many years ago.

I studied the Old English Language paper at University of Waikato and two professors gave us presentations about Shakespeare. These two professors have got disabilities – one born with disability and second have got a family member who have disability.

Why I choose to study the Old English language?  I wanted to understand why language keep changing from the past to present, is English Language culturally diverse, do everyone understand each other in writing or speaking even sign language?

Helena:
“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (I, i, 234)

Why Shakespeare? I never learn to read Shakespeare at the school and the teacher of the Deaf children thought it would be hard for any Deaf children/teenagers to understand his works.  That was a long time ago. I took up my courage to study his works and learnt to understand his language from his works. It was a bit of challenged for me to understand what he wrote the poems and the plays like Macbeth, Hamlet or King Lear. In the early days, the English grammar, spelling and pronunciation were less standardised than they are now.

Another person came along – Samuel Johnson and he was a lexicographer along with English writer, literacy critic and other roles. Johnson and George Steevens created The Plays of William Shakespeare – 18th century edition. Johnson and Steevens tried to re write the English language in order for everyone to understand Shakespeare’s writing. JOHNSON’S WORK ON SHAKESPEARE

Moving on – What about in the Deaf community? Can anyone understand Shakespeare’s plays with sign language or not?

Yes, there are few Deaf people understand his plays through using sign language. Here is a link. Sign Language in Shakespeare’s plays

Lastly, I am still pondering whether Shakespeare does have any mental illness despite on violence, torture or murder even hatred in the plays or not? mm

I was walking around the fields in our home. Many leaves are turning into brown, red or orange from green leaves. The Autumn season has arrived here.

The most massive liquidambar tree stand out in the middle of the ground, (in the second photo), showing much display of colourful leaves.

We sit down and have meals with drinks under this tree over a long Summer day. Our dogs love to sunbathe and to rest under the tree while we were doing gardening jobs.

During my travelling days to Europe, Uk, Ireland and Canada, I travelled during the late Summer and Autumn seasons because it was cheaper to book and visit many places. The Autumn season was the best time and the beautiful colour of leaves everywhere I go. During my stays in Ireland, I learnt one of the famous poets, and it was John Keats. He wrote the poem called Autumn.

John Keats – Autumn

Fundraising for the Deaf History International and New Zealand

The top link is through Facebook and I am hoping to continue blogs, stories and photos on the Facebook page – Deaf History International and New Zealand. It is the second option to raise money as well.

It is a good opportunity for me to start up again and unfortunately, I was forced to put myself to get a loan for the iMac Desktop due to insufficiently respond through the website – Givealittle.co.nz  I have got 86 days to go otherwise I will review and edit the page for an extra time. Now I am paying back to the loan from my work income. I would be grateful if you can spread my page to your family, friends and colleagues.  Raise money for the desktop and materials

Health issues forced me to cut back working from home and home visit including at the office in Hamilton City. I am still waiting for the second appointment on neurology conductive assessment at the Waikato Hosptial. This means I am on the waiting list for another 3-12 months along with the other people.

I enjoyed visiting two elderly Deaf men last week and I took notes down from the conversation of their early days at the school for the Deaf in Christchurch and Auckland. One elderly man – Les, gave me two books which called N.Z Deaf News dating from 1963 to 1973.

Last week I received a good new from Queensland Archives and they have got a few records on Mrs W. Mitchell Skerman, who she was a teacher of the Deaf children. Her sister was Dorcas Mitchell whom I am tracing her life and her works in Canterbury, New Zealand. I can not wait to see the record from Queensland, Australia.

Well, that is all for now.

 

For many years, I have got a chronic pain syndrome and I learnt how to do pain management. BUT in 2015 my right elbow and arm became the worst nightmare by having excruciating pain.

From 2015, I have been visiting my Gp and the Neurologists of the Waikato Hospital for the assessment on finding what causes my arm, neck, elbow and shoulder to weaken or nerve damage. Last year, I had an MRI for the neck area in December and the result came through on the 17th January this year. My neck was in excellent condition and the specialist said the elbow was the main core problem that causes the nerve problem. Now I am on the waiting list for the second update nerve conduction assessment because the first one was done in 2015. Last Monday I received a letter from the Waikato Hospital and I am on the waiting list for another 4 to 12 months from last week. I was pissed off and angry that I have to wait for a long time. I am not selfish that I want to be the first person and to have my elbow done at the Neurology service. Because I know there are many people on the huge waiting lists over many years even my sister. It was very frustrating time for my partner and me.

Looking at my work environment and our home/gardens – what the plans are that I need to change or to stop working until I get better?

First of all, my work. I am a deaf community support worker for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind, a deaf advocator and a literacy and NZSL tutor. I am a deaf historian/researcher as well.

Out of the blue, my director said to me that I am working 15 hours a week instead of 7.5 hours a week last year. I can work from home and from workplace now and it was a positive result for me. I start working from home when I am unable to drive to the city of Hamilton, the pain returns every morning or overnight or doing home visits around Waikato. Because I can rest my elbow, arm and shoulder easily at home. BUT I have restricted some workloads such as preparing literacy materials, NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) materials and the Deaf History projects.

The good side of the positive research on the Deaf Education – discovering more about the first teacher of the Deaf in New Zealand and her name was Dorcas Mitchell who arrived in the late 1860s. I managed to locate her whereabouts and her life after she left Christchurch, New Zealand for Australia, even where she died. BUT this research project stops here due to my health issue and no iMac desktop at home last month.

Due to the iMac desktop were no longer working. I decide to raise money to buy a new iMac desktop at the end of December, last year. Here is my website – if you can help me, raise money  Taking out a loan and use our personal incomes according to one person suggest from the FaceBook page and another person suggest use the laptop and plugin. However, these comments were negative to me, because these people don’t realise that I have got a health issue and paying the bills even mortgage. I don’t earn a lot of money, not my partner’s income. The Deaf history projects are for the community even around the world. It is about learning and sharing our Deaf culture, history and sign language for the community. It is not for me and most of the people still don’t know about our Deaf culture, history and sign language today.

Solution how I do the pain management in each day?

I am forced to set up a comfortable workstation such as setting up my personal laptop that allows my eye contact to the monitor screen. My Deaf History/researches materials are pilling up and left on the floor.  I am forcing myself to limit the hours – one or two hours a day only, on typing the keyboard and looking at the monitor screen. Why that? Sitting upright and working over the keyboard and looking at the monitor, it drained my energy and cause the nerve to become very tiring. Yes, I get very tired in the late afternoon and I take tablets every evening which I don’t want to continue taking tablets for the rest of my life. I am not allowed to drive in the evening because the tablet causes me to become sleepness. My goal is to stop taking tablets 17th January to 17th March until I need it if the pain persists in the future.

I am forcing myself to limit the time by doing the gardening projects and around the home. The gardens are overgrown with weeds and uncomplete projects such as plant cuttings, laying down the wood edges around the gardens and doing up the new vegetable garden by putting up compost bins, new fences.

One hour a day only

I can do one hour only, not every day when I am home or the weather is fine and cool. My partner- Rusty, is often home during the weekend and he reminds me when the time is up. I am not allowed to do repairing jobs such as replacing the rotten fence, lift out the large bulbs or shrubs, making garden edges or carry the wheelbarrow to the compost bins. I have to ask Rusty to help when he is home and during his absence, I have to rely on a timer and carry with me.

I can’t do every two or three days a week to do gardening BUT if I am lucky to be well enough to do the gardening and to wear the compressed bandage after doing the gardening. We don’t have any money to pay someone to do the gardening for me because of the other people charge quite a lot of money e.g. $45 an hour or $50 an hour including travel or mileage. I know most people don’t like large dogs as well.

I attend the physio when I need the treatment and pay for the ACC cost. It is not cheap and I am paying the treatment up to a year or more.

I am not allowed to carry the heavy load of shopping bags or boxes. I have to ask for help even the persons I am supporting.

Keep records of pain flared in my diary and let my GP know what happens. It is my daily diary. The diary helps me to know when I have a bad day or a good day, how bad the pain was before or after and what kind of activities I do each day.

I do a lot of restings from work and activities and I try to sleep better. It is not about stress and having trouble sleeping!

Always ask for help when doing preparing meals and feeding our three dogs even let our dogs out for a long run on our large property.

Sooner, I will ask ACC for the home/work assistance on the loss of my hour of works and to pay someone to do the job for me.

Some days are good than a bad day for me. My hope is to return a normal activity and to continue to do Deaf History project for the community even to do the gardening project which I love the most and enjoy.