We were welcomed by Mary Errey, Chair for the morning. She introduced moderator Court Sayer- Roberts of Enterprise Plus, the speakers for the morning, and special guests, including Anthony Pike from Australia Post and deputy mayor Michael Kidd. She noted that this is the last in this iteration of the Australia Post supported functions – the eighth in the series and the ninth in total.
Court Sayer-Roberts noted that the format would be slightly different for this breakfast as he introduced the first guests – Sonia and Armondo Gumera and Raffaele Giampaolo.
Sonia and Armondo originally came to Griffith from the Philippines where there was much poverty. Armondo is a welder qualified for LNG tanks, and he worked in many places as a foreign worker - including Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and UAE to earn money for his family. Conditions were very difficult, and he was separated from his family (wife Sonia and 2 boys). He obtained a visa for Australia in 2006 and came to Griffith to work with A&G. Sonia joied him two years later. Initially life was very lonely and, as Sonia arrived in May, she found it very cold. She was an Engineer in the Philippines but was not able to work in this field in Australia. She and Armondo started to study English 2 nights a week and gradually started to make friends. Meanwhile Armondo left A&G after 6 years to work in the mines. Sonia found life very lonely and could not work, but gradually she was offered some cleaning, part-time tutoring at school, and then she started working as an aged care worker in Griffith. She then studied aged care and, finally, became an enrolled nurse. She found nursing to be difficult.
Sonia and Armondo then purchased an Asian Supermarket in Griffith. The have now started the Asian Supermarket in Leeton and this business is prospering.
Raffaele was born in Maiella, a remote mountainous area in the Apennines in central Italy. It was a very poor area with no services and threy grew their own food. He came to Australia with his parents when he was 8. He went to Newcastle and found life very tough – he couldn’t speak English. Eventually he taught himself English by using picture books. School was tough ,and he encountered a lot of racism (Including from the nuns). Life turned around for him in Year 9 when he was invited to play bass in a band. He earnt a scholarship to Flying School but was not allowed to go because his parents thought it ‘too dangerous’. He eventually came to Leeton and was impressed by the sign ‘We welcome Refugees’. He now teaches music part-time and has settled in this community.
This panel session highlighted the difficulties faced by new citizens in this community and also the resilience of these people.
Faith Rogers is from RAMHP. She has had a career in social; wrk and this has led her to be passionate about mental health and how it’s loss will severely impact a society. RAMHP has 20 Coordinators employed by Local Health Districts and embedded in the local Communities. The program commenced in 2007 because of the drought. Its pillars are: Promotion; Prevention; Intervention.
Faith’s presentation was about Wellbeing.
She used a workshop activity of interacting with group to cover various topics:
The first was the definition of wellbeing and mental health
The state of wellbeing is what we are feeling, our behaviour, and being aware of what is happening around us such as dealing with daily stresses, maintaining relationships – connecting with others, being able to work productively, getting through the daily duties and being able to achieve.
This also might be being part of whatever community that you are involved in - such as sporting club, art group, farming group etc.
Wellbeing and mental health are connected. It is also related to physical health.
Mental health is not static – eg some days you j'ust got out of wrong side of bed' or were unable to sleep properly.
Mental health is about understanding how you can get through the day.
Mental Health can affect:
Thoughts, such as over-fixating, catastophising, etc. which will then affect self-esteem and confidence;
Mood – can feel sad, irritated, nervy etc.;
Mental health is actually engendered. Males and females react differently:
Male – Snappy tom
Female – teary
People then withdraw, postpone decisions, develop fatigue, change to different bedtimes.
Faith described some of the signs that you may see in people.
If you notice someone you suspect may be in trouble, try to approach the subject in a quiet way. Do not necessarily just ask if they are OK but be a little direct and change your tone so that you are more likely to get a direct answer.
Faith also noted that Mental Illness is a diagnosable illness. It is a disturbance to thought and behaviour.
You are also more at risk of mental illness if some of the signs of lack of mental health are showing. Also, some people have a higher threshold of dealing with mental health issues.
It is important to be educating yourself in developing coping mechanisms.
Faith had a slide with the many services available eg Beyond Blue etc. These are listed on a Fact sheet available from RAHMP
The final points dealt with Self Care.
Self-Care is one of the few things that we have available to reduce impact, prevent further deterioration, assist recovery or prevent a relapse.
If there is no self-care, relapses are very common.
Self-care can be hard to do and maintain. It is about improving life satisfaction and developing self-care behaviour.
Important areas to concentrate on are sleep, diet and social interaction.
Remember always that, despite being alone at times, we are social beings.
For mental health ask yourself.
What do I enjoy?
Action – practice doing that one thing that you like, at least once per day or every second day and to prioritise this activity.
This breakfast was, once again, an important opportunity to focus on the factors associated with wellbeing, resilience and what it means to be a caring society.Congratulations to the organisers of this series. Particular thanks to May Errey and Court Saer-Roberts for their professional handling of the event and to Brian Munro for his organisation.
There will be an additional event, funded through a Leeton Council grant on 4th November.
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Brain Teaser
Which direction is the bus moving? Left, or right?
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Director’s Reports
Aaron
Rotarians invited to lunch at the Villa on 28 August (12.00) inn the Activities Room.
Greg
Dinner meeting this week will be Maryann Iannelli – Leeton health initiative.
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Feeling a little bogged down?
Paddy O'Toole the strongest man in Ireland was making his way home from the pub. As he passed the peat bog, he heard a voice:
"Help! Please Help!"
Paddy finds a man stuck in the peat with just his head and shoulders sticking out.
"No Problem says Paddy. I'm Paddy O'Toole the strongest man in Ireland and I will pull you out!"
Paddy gets hold and starts pulling. Despite his efforts the man remains stuck.
"I'll try again," says Paddy. But after a couple of minutes more of heaving and pulling he gives up.
"It's no use! I'm Paddy O'Toole the strongest man in Ireland, and If I can't get you out nobody can. I will just have to nip back to the village and get some help."
As Paddy turns to leave the man shouts to him.
"Paddy! Paddy! Before you go, do you think it would help if I took my feet out of the stirrups?"
A: To the right because the bus is from the UK; they drive left and have their door on the left side
