Magazine April 2019

VOICE OF ACHIEVE2B

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Contents

1 Cover Page
2 Contents Page
3 From the Founder’s Desk

# A letter from Julia Hartshorne outlining recent events and updates
from Achieve2B

4 Orientation: Whangarei Weekend Retreat

# Find out the latest news on our orientation events

5 Farewell Kari

# We say goodbye to Kari

6 Haere Ma Matua Warahi and Whaea Lynda

# Farewell to our Kuia and Kaumatua

7 Achieve 2B and Astroman

# Our volunteers are treated to a trip to 1984

8 Watch this Space

# Achieve 2B Volunteers are meeting up this Saturday

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From the Founders Desk

Hello, Kia Ora and Malo e lelei,
Isn’t it interesting how life can seem to be a paradox? It feels like there is a tension held
between life’s highs and lows. On that dark Friday of 15th March, I was in the US, on a great
happy high after being blissfully reunited with my host family and old friends. We were
celebrating a significant birthday for my host mother, reminiscing and reconnecting after no small
time apart. On learning of the tragic terrorist attack in Christchurch, a great low instantly
descended, leaving me feeling jaded and surreal.
The silver lining in this is that it has reached into the depths of our humanity and pricked our
collective conscience to seek greater understanding and acceptance of each other and dig deeper
for human kindness. As New Zealanders, we rallied together to support each other and our Muslim
brothers and sisters. It has challenged us to reconsider our models of diversity and to become
more driven towards actions that promote and support differences. Achieve 2B values diversity,
and will continue to facilitate cultural understanding and tolerance. It has refreshed our passion
for finding ways to eliminate division for a more inclusive world.
All new initiatives face challenges, and as such, Achieve 2B in recent times has not been without
its challenges. Particularly, we struggle to find host families for our students. In the exchange
world, it is a well known fact that finding host families has become increasingly difficult. Perhaps
this is related to the changing face of society. This imposes lots of unnecessary stresses and
strains on students and families. As a result, Achieve 2B is taking some time to reflect on not only
how far we have come but how far we have to go and to develop new strategies for how will we get
there. In the next few weeks the Achieve 2B whanau will be gathering to discuss a way forward,
while holding true to the mission and values of the organisation. We look forward to sharing with
you what new learnings we have from this.
Matua Warahi Paki and Whaea Linda Paki have tendered their resignation from Achieve 2B as Kuia
and Kaumatua. We acknowledge the contribution they have made to Achieve 2B and wish them well
in their retirement.
For 2019, we are gearing up to farewell and welcome some of our students. Lola is close to
departing for Tonga and Taylor will soon be departing for Australia. We wish our departing
students well and look forward to hearing from them on their return. In November, we will be
welcoming Paulo to New Zealand and we also hope to have a selected an Australian student to
come as well. At the end of the year, we look forward to the Graduation of four amazing young
people.
Achieve 2B will continue to make ambitious plans to move
forward. We look forward to sharing more with you all in the
coming months.
Let’s build on our successes so that the global wave
ripples, enabling young people with disabilities to
continue to define themselves.

Best Wishes,
Julia Hartshorne - Founder of Achieve 2B

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Orientation: Perhaps one of the biggest highlights of
orientation was the session we enjoyed on
Whangarei Weekend Retreat public speaking. We were very fortunate to
have Her Worship the Mayor – Sheryl Mai
Cohort 2018/19 finally had their last come and share some of her pearls of
Orientation Weekend Retreat in Whangarei wisdom and experiences of public speaking.
– home town of Achieve 2B. After a long She gave us some great tips, which will
summer, just before returning to school we certainly give us more confidence with public
came together one last time for our final speaking on our exchanges.
preparation retreat in February.
Although it was an action packed weekend,
The weekend was a mixture of fun, we learned so
energetic activities and quiet reflection much. We came
exercises. Friday night saw us reunite, away feeling like
where we shared stories of what we had we had finally
been doing over the holidays. It was great been prepared
to hear how Achieve 2B mates had caught up to conquer the
in the holidays! world.

The theme of the weekend was Up, Up and Best wishes to
Away! Therefore, we started to talk about Taylor and Lola as they embark on their
the nitty gritty: practical subjects like what exchanges.
do we need to pack, budgeting, safety, etc.

As a part of building our volunteer ethos,
we visited our friends at Kaurilands and
served them a pizza picnic lunch. It was
great to see our friends at Kaurilands and
hear about the exciting things they had
been up to.

~Prepared by Julia Hartshorne.

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Farewell Kari

In January we sadly saw the resignation of Kari Roberts. Kari
had been with Achieve 2B since August 2016. At the time of
appointment Kari was simply to be Achieve 2B’s Website Master.
Kari, however, whole-heartedly threw herself into Achieve 2B
and used her skills in many other ways. Kari used her Graphic
Design skills to design our logo which was no mean feat. By
listening to the developing culture of Achieve 2B Kari used her
Graphic design skills to set the brand and tone of the
organisation.

Kari leaves Achieve 2B to spend more time with her family. We
thank her so much for the commitment and dedication she has
given to Achieve 2B and look forward to welcoming her and her
family to future Achieve 2B events.

*Image source: www.greetingisland.com

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Haere ra Matua Warahi
and Whaea Linda

Haere ra to Matua Warahi and Whaea Linda. They have served
Achieve 2B since its beginning. They have both officiated at
many formal occasions. From welcoming and farewelling students
to Officially launching Achieve 2B.
Matua Warahi also provided Achieve 2B with its Maori name
Tutu Kitiea kia Mauri Ora. Matua’s input remains etched into the
very fabric of our organisation.
We wish Matua and Whaea good health, joy and companionship
in their retirement.

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Achieve 2B and Astroman

Volunteers at Achieve 2B were lucky enough to enjoy a complimentary outing to see Albert
Belz “love letter to the 80’s” at Auckland’s Q Theatre on closing night. Organised by our Social
Media Coordinator Simon Tate, the tickets were very kindly donated by the Auckland Theatre
Company.
A high-energy, enjoyable trip back to the 80’s, drizzled with Kiwiana and Whakatane (“Wock-a-
tain”) in-jokes, Astroman was both a nostalgia trip and also a reminder of how far we’ve come as
a country since 1984, with its fluro legwarmers, Donkey Kong and casually accepted racism. It
was easy to become immersed with Hemi “Jimmy” Te Rehua’s world and point of view, fall in love
with his relationships (especially the one he develops with crotchety Scotsman Mr McRae) and
eagerly await the next laugh or twist in the tale.
This version of the play was done in a stroke-of-brilliance collaboration with Te Rēhia Theatre
Company, and it couldn’t have been better performed by any other group. The casting was
perfect, the set cleverly designed and versatile, and the whole story was backed up with
excellent lighting and a music score that made you want to pull out your own sweatband and
stonewashed jeans.
Preceding the show, a few of us managed to gather for a wonderful dinner at the always-good
Thai Village Restaurant in Remuera.
Many thanks to Simon, Julia and the Auckland Theatre Company for a wonderful evening!

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Watch this Space

Volunteers at Achieve 2B are
gathering on Saturday the 4th May,
and not just to catch up for lunch!
We are meeting to discuss the next
phase of Achieve 2B and address
some of the challenges facing the
student exchange market and the impacts for our students.

New challenges are facing Achieve 2B, mainly the difficulty of securing host
families to facilitate our exchanges. The purpose of the planning workshop is to
generate ideas, options and strategies for the Board to consider as it plans for a
sustainable and successful future.

In recent times, Achieve 2B has had difficulty in finding host families for its
students, which has resulted in considerable stress for both students and families.
This is set against a backdrop of international difficulty in the recruitment of
host families.

As a result, we want to gather a broad range of perspectives as we reflect on
what an intercultural exchange means in this context and is there another way
(model) to achieve this. As always, we want to deliver the best experience to our
students and create a sustainable model for the future.

Achieve2B Trust | 0800 223 822
PO Box 253, Ruakaka 0151,
Whangarei [email protected]
www.achieve2b.org.nz

Credits: Julia Hartshorne
Editor: Jo Marsden
Contributors: Julia Hartshorne, Jo Marsden, Lola
Images: www.theatrescenes.co.nz, www.greetingisland.com, Achieve 2B archives, clipart
Graphics/Fonts: Luna, comic sans MS, arial

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