Changes for KIWG

This is to let you all know that from next term (term 4 2011) we will only meet twice a month, on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month.  We have decided to make this change due to the varying numbers which attend on Fridays - sometimes only 1 person.  

I have changed the 'Upcoming Events' on the blog http://kapitiinternationalwomen.blogspot.com so you can check there to see when we are meeting.  The buggy walks will still be the 1st Friday of the month.

We will see what attendance is like for Term 4 and then reassess what we are going to do next year.  In the back of the committee's mind though is the question of whether the group is needed in the community anymore. 

If you would like to give feedback we would be interested to hear what you have to say.

September Buggy Walk

It was a glorious spring day as we gathered at the bottom of the Raumati escarpment for our monthly buggy walk. The track to the top of the hill has been upgraded and is now wide enough for buggies, and sturdy enough for little feet. The ascent was quite steep though, and the mums with buggies had to work hard to push their way to the top. The children spotted some spring flowers, and shiny leaves on the way, and some keen eyes saw two alpacas in the distance.


We made it to the top of the escarpment, and enjoyed some beautiful views over the fields and sea to Kapiti Island, and stopped at a perfect picnic spot for some morning tea and more exploring. After the lookout point the path narrowed, we passed through a gate and the shrubs around us got denser. The sun was warm, and the trees provided some shade from the wind. It really felt like spring!


We re-traced our tracks to get back to our cars, and the descent went quickly with gravity helping pull the buggies down hill. This time on our walk you could definitely hear English (we are in NZ after all), but conversation between adults and children happened in French, German, Finnish, and Afrikaans. What a truly international buggy walk!

Crochet Night

Thanks so much to Jo for hosting us, it was a brilliant night.  After feeling so tired at home that I considered just going for an hour, at the most, we all ended up talking, laughing and crocheting for almost 4 hours.

With all hands busy - some creating hats, some flowers and others fluffing around between a few things (yes that was me) - the dessert was able to be savoured throughout the night.  Great to get to know people better while at the same time learning a skill and adding to our collection of goodies for Canterbury Neo-natal Trust.

Jo is in the process of putting some tutorials up on youtube for those you who were unable to join us.  Yumiko is also donating some more wool, thank you very much, so if you need more wool just let me know and we can arrange a drop off or meet up.

See you all next week at the buggy walk.

Yarn over and away we go

As I arrived today to the crochet workshop the hall was already buzzing with children in the crèche, woman in the kitchen sorting out morning tea and the crochet expert, 92 year old Chester, having friendly and warm conversation. New faces and others I've met before, we all brought our crochet hooks and much enthusiasm to learn to make some baby hats.

After hot drinks and something to eat we gathered around the table having a look at some examples of what we were about to make. Then it was time to watch the pro with how to make a chain, anyone who did not know how to crochet gathered behind Chester, we crowded around. There we where concentrating on the chain, the first of our crochet stitches. Soon after we broke up into smaller groups of 3. Looking around the room I could see clusters of teaching and learning and the beginnings of crochet hats! As for myself, well, I will need a bit more practice, despite the efforts of Yossarian who was teaching me.

After today I've got my head around how crochet works, now it's a matter of getting the wool around the hook and make a treble -easy right?! Others, I'm sure, in no time will have a completed hat, ready to send off to Christchurch. For those of you, Well Done! It was lovely to see everyone work together, a real feeling of community filled the room. We all left with balls of wool and a kit of patterns and how to crochet step by step, ....and talk of another crochet learn together :)

Step to it

This week is our Buggy walk which is planned for Queen Elizabeth Park on Friday however I just got an e-mail saying that Sport Wellington are having one on Thursday 4th Aug, along with free coffee (see information below).  I wondered if, just for this month, people wanted to change the day and go with the Sport Wellington one?  Can those who were intending to come on the walk let me know what they prefer: Thursday with Sport Wellington or Friday with our Group.


Next week will be the crochet workshop, to make some hats for premature babies in Christchurch, and I have already bought enough wool for all of us - I think ;)  If you could bring along your own crochet hook and any wool that you do have (4ply preferably) would be great. You will need a 3.5mm, 4mm or 4.5mm crochet hook. Second hand shops are usually a good place to get them cheap and I have a few extras. At the moment it looks like there will be 10-12 of us which means we can have wee groups of 2 or 3 to learn and work in.  Feel free to bring friends along especially if they know how to crochet - even a little.


Have a good week and see you soon

August Buggy Walk - Thursday 4th August Queen Elizabeth Park - Whareroa Stream Track
Get your friends, family or parent group together and come along to the August Buggy Walk. This will will take participants along the Whareroa Stream Track, which follows the wetlands and goes past the sand dunes. Dogs on leads welcome on this walk.

Start Time: 10.15am meet for a 10.30am start.

How to get there: Stay on SH1 through Paekakariki, enter Queen Elizabeth Park off SH1 at Mackays Crossing

Meet: Meet at the Rangers office

Track: Sand and sealed terrain, rolling terrain with a few inclines, mainly flat. 

Wonderful, windless winter days

On this windless, but crisp morning a good crowd gathered all wrapped in coats, hats and scarfs at MaClean Park for the monthly buggy walk. Yossarian opted for a mild mid-winter choice - the newly extended walkway along the beach.The 5 older kids were in the lead on their running bikes/bikes, with only a few buggies in attendance this time. The walkway is flat and easy to follow, so it made for a relaxed stroll. At the end of the path the decision was made to return via the beach.

The kids meandered and enjoyed picking up shells, stones and bits of driftwood and the mums had plenty of time to catch up. To everyone's great excitement we saw a helicopter flying out to Kapiti Island and on its return it landed on the beach. Unfortunately it flew off before the kids could reach it, still they had a great time watching and listening until it disappeared again.

On our return to the park we crossed the road and visited Ambience Cafe. Hot chocolate and muffins (and more chatting) were enjoyed by the ravenous crowd.

Thanks Yossarian for planning another enjoyable morning.

Night at the Movies

Thanks to Sally for the great talk on Denmark and the delicious pastries the other week.  I love hearing about other countries and cultures and this was no exception.  Learning things about Denmark (and other countries) that only a 'local' could tell you is the one of the best bits about our group, I think.   I learnt a bit about New Zealand too as my perceptions were completely different from how others saw it here.  Good to have your eyes opened for you once and a while. 

This week it was a night at the Movies and when they described as dry, they were not wrong.  Whiskey was an entertaining look at the duller, subtle side of life where most days are the same and not much happens!  It was a good film though and great to be in Eric's cinema again.  Great to follow up the movie with a few laughs and drinks down at the Water Front.  Hot topic of conversation being the Emperor penguin and other NZ animals ;)

If you haven't been to one of his movies you really should make the effort.  Only $5 per person and all the money goes to Air Ambulance so you can enjoy the movie knowing that you are also helping the local community.  They are fortnightly at 6 Michael Rd.

Matariki Poi

Last Friday we met again at our new place, the Te Nikau Chapel,where Eurika received us very warmly,the room had been warmed  up and she was doing some cafe. Immediately we felt welcome. Annie, our new creche helper, was already there, ready to play with the Children and very soon, after a healthy morning tea ( for the kids-the adults were lucky because Jo's husband had had a birthday the day before and she brought a delicious choco cake!) they started to play with play dough, to throw balls, to roll toy cars...

Just in time for Matariki Yossarian had the good Idea to give a Poi workshop.She did not only show us the technique, everyone had the opportunity to do one, but also to explain a lot about what a poi is, where and when it is used by Maori. The talk was very informative and culturally interesting! After this Yossarian taught us a song in maori and we tried even a little dance!

I just loved it, again in a friendly atmosphere to learn about the culture and to create somethings myself!
It was nice to involve the older kids. Malte enjoyed it very much, he knows poi from kindy and saw some dancing. Now he can extend his skills that already includes the haka.

The only wrong thing: why did we do only 1 poi? the dancers have often 2 poi, Malte wanted to be a real Maori, he wanted 2 poi!! and Loàn? he absolutely wanted 1 poi too (the only one we had, means Maltes poi...). And I?? I just please don't want fight! Now I know how to do Poi....I know what to do this weekend: 2 another poi!!;)

The longest walk?

This month we were treated with a fantastic autumn morning to go on our walk and the warmth of sun meant some of us were taking off layers of clothes before we even started.  Meeting at a playground was a great hit with the kids, who would of stayed there quite happily I'm sure if it wasn't for us getting on the go at 10am.

Great to see some new faces there.  Hopefully we didn't put you off as while it was our shortest walk in distance so far it managed to be our longest in time!!! Honestly we don't normally take that long ;)  We all made it to half way and then began to go our separate ways as time was running towards nap times and feeding,  however 3 of us finally made the full loop in time to head home for lunch.

Fingers crossed the weather for next month is as fantastic when we head into Queen Elizabeth Park.  Remember if you have any ideas for walks that may suit the group please let us know so that we can include them too.

Naturopathy

Today we met at our new venue for the first time, the Te Nikau Chapel, and just like the Women's Centre it is a lovely place to meet up in. Although there was just little toys available (thanks to Yossarian for the ones she provided), the kids soon found games to play and entertain themselves - you wouldn't believe what joy a ball and a few soft toys can bring. Thanks to Annie they were also supervised at all times so we could listen to Kerstin's talk about Naturopathy.

 

After Kerstin finally found the chapel - it is indeed a bit tricky :) - we got a brief but valuable insight into what Naturopathy is and how it works. In a world so full of technology and new inventions we forget to treasure the simple things. Doctors are neither gods nor magicians and sometimes going back to what nature provides us with - unless we exploit it too much - is just what we need to do. For our bodies' sake.

I really appreciated Kerstin to take some time to talk to us today. For me it was very informative and I'll definitely keep Naturopathy in mind the next time I feel unwell.

 

Enjoy your weekend and keep well! Eva

 

Oxfam's Biggest Coffee Break

One of the first things you notice after moving to New Zealand is Kiwi's love affair with the roasted coffee bean. New Zealand is one of the largest per capita coffee consumers in the world and not only are there cafes and coffee kiosks wherever you go, there are plenty of roaster's producing their own blends too. It seems most of us from the group have grown a big 'coffee tooth' since moving to New Zealand as our regular monthly children free 'coffee and cake' event is usually super popular.

Last Friday night we tried to blend into this Kiwi coffee blend craziness again - this time with a bit of Fair Trade flavour sprinkled on top.  We met at Branka's place to mark Oxfam’s Biggest Coffee Break http://www.oxfamcoffeebreak.org.nz/. This is an annual event which takes place during Fair Trade Fortnight (May 7-22), and aims at raising awareness of Fair Trade in New Zealand as well as money for Oxfam's work.

While there appear to be almost indefinite ways you could have your New Zealand cuppa - late, soy late, flat black, long black, flat white, mochocinno, cappochino, espresso - we joined with a standard homely 'coffee with milk' style. For the ones whose 'coffee tooth' still didn't come out, there was a fair trade hot chocolate and of course some homemade cakes.  We also watched "Living with Coffee", a documentary about Colombian coffee producers and NZ coffee roasters and have raised NZ$60 for Oxfam.

Felting in the Sunshine

Last Friday we had the Felting workshop, hosted by Ursa and run by Ursa and Mae.  Thanks so much both of you and thanks Ursa for writing this week's blog entry.  Think this may be a good recurring theme - one of us take turns to write a wee paragraph to add on here.

On our get together on Friday we were blessed with sun so we could do what we had planned - making felt balls. After short tea and snack time, we rolled up our sleeves, filled our buckets with some hot soapy water and started with the making of our own wet felted balls. Kids were enthusiastically the first ones on a mission to form the balls from raw unspun wool... and after some time handed it over to mums. In the company of nice people the time just flew and then it was again time to say "see you on the next meeting"!    

We have funding!

After form filling, e-mail exerts and a hasty hand-in we finally have some funds to create a creche at group!

I had to attend the Community Board Meeting, Major Jenny Rowan included, last Tuesday night and make a small presentation about who we are and why we needed the funds.  Somehow I had the false idea that I was just going to answer some questions and so was completely unprepared when it was announced that the groups requesting funds would make a 3 min presentation!!  Thankfully I'm used to speaking in front of others and it all went smoothly. 

Guru was very supportive, putting in an extra good word for us for our involvement in the Race Relations Day, which I'm sure helped. Funding granted and today I received a letter to confirm that the money would be put into our newly formed bank account. 

Jenny Rowan gave me her card at the meeting with a note attached saying that she would like to attend one of our get-togethers.  So we'll have to work out a time when the maximum can attend so that they can see their money is being well spent!!

Now to find someone willing to entertain all our little darlings on Fridays.  If anyone knows of someone that may be interested let me know. Otherwise enjoy your holidays and see you at the Walk on 6th May.

Holiday Time

After a busy term we are now having a two week break for the school holidays.  Thanks to everyone that gave time, energy and resources which made our fund-raiser for Japan such a success.  We raised a grand total of $637.20 on the day of our stall and then an additional $100 from the washi eggs and origami being sold at Te Ra School.  The funds will go to Oxfam Japan and Save the Children. Oxfam is focusing on Mothers and babies, and Save the Children is supporting displaced children through 'children spaces' at refuge centres.

With the rain setting in outside I thought it was a good time to post on here about Yumiko's next project.  If you have some spare time during the next two weeks to create something for these children, many of whom have lost everything, they will be warmly received.  Have a great break and see below for details from Yumiko:

FUKUDAMACHI KINDERGARTEN PROJECT
Two weeks after the quake, I spoke with my cousin, who teaches at Fukudamachi Kindergarten. The teachers had just completed most of the clean-up of the kindy and were now ready to welcome the children back. While almost all 200 students were safe, some had lost their homes, leaving them without clothing, toys and other basic necessities. Many children will be traumatised from the disaster.
The head teacher of Fukudamachi Kindergarten has welcomed an offer of a care package of clothing and toys which will be distributed to children in need.
We welcome any donation of handmade new items that reflect the following considerations:
?       Children are aged 3-5
?       Clothing items are required more than toys.
?       Clothing can include skirts, shorts, tops, dresses, polar fleece, hats
?       Japan is heading into spring, but it is still very cool in the mornings/evenings in this part of the country (in March it is still snowing!).
?       Please consider weight and bulk
When delivering your items:
?       Include details of age/size and if relevant, gender
If you?d like to...
?       Take a photo of you/your family/group and your item and email it to hapachica@gmail.com please do this as soon as possible (preferably before delivery of item)
?       Include names and ages of those in the photo
These will be assembled into a montage for the kindergarten.
Photos of the kindergarten and its children can be seen here:
http://www.fukudagakuen.com/
Handmade items can be purchased if you are unable to make them. Purchases at felt aid (http://felt.co.nz/shop/feltaid) also help those affected by the Christchurch earthquake.
Please deliver items between 10am-2pm 28th April 2011, to 113 Riwai St, Paraparaumu 5032, or on Monday 2 May to the Te Ra school office

All go for Japan Fund-raiser

Thanks to everyone that came along and organised things for last Saturday's Race Relations day event.  It was a fantastic few hours with lots of delicious food to sample and wonderful music that you couldn't help but dance to!!  Next year they hope to combine it with the Sustainable Garden Show so hopefully it will make it a bit easier for people to come and check it out.

 

Once again we have a busy week ahead! 

 

Wednesday 30th March

Hopefully you all got Yumiko's e-mail about Wednesday Washi egg making.  Please e-mail me if you didn't and need the address.  The origami folding session on Friday was great and so lovely to see a table full of women working towards a common goal, the kids were great too which helped immensely ;).

 

Friday 1st April (April Fools day)

Walk along the Waikanae River and Waimanu lagoons.  We will meet in Otaihanga Domain by the wooden bridge to begin walking at 10am. This is a fairly flat walk and will be somewhere between 30 mins to 1 hour.  Older kids will be fine on running bikes, there are some roads to cross to caution is needed, and buggies are fine too.  Sometimes the track can be wet so wear some good footwear unless you want wet feet.

 

Saturday 2nd April

Fund-raising stall at Paraparaumu Beach Market from 0730am.  This will be where we are selling all your hard efforts of folding, creating origami and making washi eggs.  If you can give some time to help run the stall it very much appreciated.  Takes the pressure off a bit and makes toilet breaks possible!

Race Relations Day Prep

Friday night was a great evening out (especially being able to talk without the kids around) and it is so lovely to have good women in the group that all get along.  We had the Purple House all to ourselves as it was one of their first nights trading in the evening; Good food, drink and company.  Thanks everyone, including those unable to come, for making the group such a good social melting pot.  Without you all there wouldn't be a group!

A few things to mention in this update firstly that this Friday (11th March) is a morning tea at The Kapiti Women's Centre (Ngahina St) from 9.30-11.30.  I'll bring a bit of baking and anyone else who wants to can bring things too.  As usual gold coin donation for the use of tea/coffee and the room.  Children welcome.

Race Relations Day Event (Saturday 26th March) is in 2.5 weeks now. After a bit of discussion we have come up with a few activities for the day (International Party Games, Silhouette drawing and labelling in different languages, painted mural/collage of different cultural images, colours and words, compilation CD of international songs, a tape of kids singing songs in their own language). 

They are promoting the event as being hosted by us, Kapiti Ethnic Forum and Kaptiti International Friendship Group so a bit of free publicity ;). There will be a Free bouncy Castle there for the kids and hopefully the activities planned will be fun for the kids and not too hard for us. The event runs from 11-2pm for the public and as it is a family event all family members are welcome.  

We need everyone (as many as humanly possible that is) to come for at least an hour from 11.30am - 12.30pm.  If you can give more time - FANTASTIC!! If you can come at another time to help with set up, clean up or just keeping me company then let me know. 

Guest Speaker from Volunteer Kapiti

Hope you have all had a great weekend in the sunshine!  Long may it continue.  The trip to the church was very interesting (albeit it noisy and a bit hectic with all the children running around) and it was lovely to catch up a bit afterwards at the cafe.

This week: Friday 25th February we have a guest speaker coming to our morning session at The Kapiti Women's Centre - Christine Bongiovanni from Volunteer Kapiti.  Volunteering is a great way of meeting others, getting work experience and also getting a kiwi referee or reference. It may be a good stepping stone for some before applying for paid employment and Christine will be telling us how to become involved.

Employment Workshop:  I now have 9 people for the employment workshop and still need another three.  I have found someone who is willing to come and speak to the group on Friday 25th March in the afternoon 1-2.30pm at The Kapiti Women's Centre and really need people to confirm with me that they are able to attend.  There will be a creche to be available for an hour however there will be limited spaces and you will need to book in.  There will be a minimal charge for this of around $1.50 - $2 per child.

Lastly and most Excitingly: We have been asked to be part of a 'Race Relations Day Event' along with the Ethnic Forum Group and the Kapiti International Friendship Group.  This will be held at  Paekakariki Memorial Hall from 11-2pm, with set up occurring from 9am, on Saturday 26th March.  It is a family event so everyone is welcome.  As it is a 'bring a plate' event we all need to bring a plate of food from our homelands for others to share.  There is also the opportunity for you, family or friends to perform, sell goods (with a donation back into the kitty) and be compensated for costs if you wish to make something that everyone will want a taste of. 

We will have a stall at the event where you can present things with any musical items/performances to be on stage at a scheduled time.  If we could all spare at least 30 mins on that day to help it will mean that the work is shared and everyone can enjoy the event.  We had a few ideas about the children singing a nursery rhyme in various languages at the morning tea on Friday and so that we can clarify ideas I will have a brainstorming meeting on at my place next Wednesday 2nd March from 7.30pm.  This way we can work out what people are willing to do and when people can help.

Latest News

Hi Everyone.  Hope you have all had a good week and weekend - despite the seemingly constant drizzle and rain.  Finally feel like I'm drying out a little! The Waitangi Celebrations were really good with free bouncy castles and face painting for the kids as well as free refreshments for the adults.  Best of all they weren't too long!

I have only had feedback from 6 people about the employment workshop.  Please let me know ASAP if you are interested in attending a workshop about applying for jobs in New Zealand and other issues around employment. 

Talking to some members of the group it seems that volunteering is a good way to get into the NZ workforce, pick up some kiwi terminology used in certain positions and if nothing else get a New Zealand referee and reference.  I have booked (to be confirmed) someone from Volunteer Kapiti to come over and talk to the group about volunteering on Wednesday 23rd February at our shared lunch.  Until we have an employment workshop confirmed this could be a great stepping stone for those of you thinking about applying for jobs. 

So after some thought and a bit of response about the questions I sent out I have made some executive decisions.  Check out the events link for changes but to summarize;

• Friday 18th February visit to Rangiatea Church. 
• Friday 1st of April Buggy Walk. 
• Wednesday 23rd February speaker from Volunteer Kapiti. 

Hope to see you all soon.

Into February already

Hard to believe that the first month of the year has flown by already.  Now it is time for getting kids back to school and getting back to work.  We will be starting back at the Women's Centre next week too, as they are only open during term time, and I am still working on getting a guest speaker in to talk about employment issues.

Would it suit to have the guest speakers on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning?  The Women's Centre is such a great venue (hot drinks, kid's toys, outside garden and large room) however not many of us are making it to the shared lunch on a regular basis.  They are unable to offer us a morning slot and so I am wondering if it is better to just meet for morning tea each week or do people think they will come to a shared lunch (probably suit those without napping kids) one week and morning tea the next.  Can you let me know as I will have to make a decision this term.

This week we have two events to join in with; the Sport Wellington Buggy walk (Thursday 3rd) and Waitangi Day celebrations at Tainui Marae (Sunday 6th).  Hopefully the Summer behaves itself and we can enjoy good weather for both days! The walk this Thursday is approximately 1 hr long beginning at 10.30am, meeting at 10.15 at the picnic area by Whareroa Beach. If you click on the word 'Upcoming Events' on the right hand side there is a link for the Sport Wellington website which will give the full details.

Waitangi Day is a very special event in New Zealand and one that has also been surrounded with controversy.  Maori were the only indigenous people of the time to form any kind of agreement or treaty with the English however the wording of the treaty and interpretation have been hotly debated ever since.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day more information.  We have been invited to the celebrations at Tainui Marae in Otaki which start at 10am, this is on Convent Road (half way between the State Highway and Otaki Beach).  See Google maps for the best directions from you.

Look forward to seeing you all soon.

We've hit the news!

After a couple of phone interviews a reporter from The Kapiti Observer is writing an article about our group which should be in this Thursday's edition of the paper.  Check it out!! 

The reporter is planning to come by on Friday and take a photo of all of us for another article at a later date, possibly in connection with an event, which will be great for creating interest in the group and encouraging more members to come along.

I was thinking about having guest speakers this term and wondered what you all think.  It would be great if you could give me and idea for the kind of topics that interest you.  Settlement Support can offer workshops, if there is enough interest, about various aspects of New Zealand life and law which may be of use.  These would probably be during the shared lunches on a Wednesday as it is a great facility for a group as well as having toys for the kids.

Let me know your thoughts and I can get organizing.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you all had a great break in the sunshine.  There is lots lined up from now till Easter and hopefully the changing venues and times will allow everyone to come along at least a few times. 

Our next planned meet up is this Thursday, 13th Jan 2011, in Campbell Park, Paekakariki.  This is the large playground on Wellington Rd before you get to Queen Elizabeth Park.  The outlook for Thursday (Oh quoting a bit of classic kiwi rock there!) is a bit mixed so if it is raining we'll just have an indoor picnic at mine.  I'll e-mail in the morning to confirm the venue.

We have also been invited to Waitangi Day celebrations on 6th February at Tainui Marae in Otaki.  This starts at 10am and is a family event so partners and other family members are all welcomed.  This will be a great opportunity to experience an important part of NZ culture.  Remember the hats and sunblock though as you may be outside in the heat for a while.

Apart from that check out the events tab (on the right had side of the screen) to see all the other dates and venues.  As always I will e-mail to remind you and if anyone has any suggestions of good venues please let me know.