Sunny Otaki

Word Hello Day! November 21  The objective is to say hello to ten people on the day. By greeting others, the message is for world leaders to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts. The event began in 1973 by Brian and Michael McCormack in response to the Yom Kippur War.

The Otaki Menzshed, which can be found near the Women's Health Centre on Mill Road, has existed now for a little over a year. It sprang from the desire of Menzshed founding member Valdis Plato's desire to create a space where people could come together, share their skills, find like minded people, and do valuable work in the community.

The Long Walk Home – day two Day two started very early for me and I was soon on the train to Mana ready to do it all again – a hot bath and a good night’s sleep had ensured that I was still raring to go.  My walking partner was not quite so raring to go as was suffering from a sore ankle but she had strapped it up and joined me at the start. The words of encouragement on the second day were from Porirua’s mayor and we were soon on our way. 

I am a relative newcomer to New Zealand (Jan 2013) and while I was aware of the risk of earthquakes before we boarded the plane at Heathrow, to be honest I hadn’t really given the reality of earthquakes and their aftermath a second thought.  That changed for me in August 2013 when I started work at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Massey University and GNS) as my first task was analysing interviews from Christchurch GPs about their earthquake and recovery experiences.