Signs of animal encounters at Auckland Zoo

Auckland Zoo is delighted to have NZSL interpreting students now interpreting at some of its animal encounters as part of an exciting new four-month trial.

Auckland Zoo staff are delighted to offer NZSL translations of their animal encounters for Deaf visitors.

Third-year students from AUT’s Bachelor of NZSL-English Interpreting are bringing keepers’ animal encounter talks to life for the Deaf community every second Saturday of the month between now and the middle of November.

Most excited about this new initiative is the Zoo’s team leader of Animal Experiences, Lana Laurenson.

Lana came up with the idea after observing a family signing to other family members while having an impromptu chat with a zookeeper in the Zoo’s lorikeet aviary.

“I thought, why don’t we do that?! At our scheduled daily public encounters keepers share a lot about our animals, what’s happening with their species in the wild and actions we can all take to help them – often sharing their own personal stories and experiences in a really compelling way.

It’s this kind of sharing that can really build on peoples’ connections and appreciation of wildlife, and it just seemed a real shame that we weren’t making these accessible to everyone,” says Lana.

The organization Be. Accessible put Lana in contact with AUT staff and what started as a possibility quickly became reality.

“It’s really exciting to see it develop, and our first Saturday in August demonstrated its value, with some visitors signing and other people, who knew some sign through having Deaf family members, expressing their delight at seeing signing at the Zoo,” says Lana.

AUT NZSL Interpreting Programme Leader George Major says there has already been a lot of interest from the Deaf community via social media about the new initiative and a lot of support for these students as well.

Dr Major says for their degree, the students are required to do 50 hours interpreting observation followed by 50 hours of practical interpreting experience in a wide variety of community settings. Having the Zoo be part of this for the first time is just fantastic.

“We are so lucky to be working with the Zoo on this initiative – it’s such valuable practice and experience for our students, and at the same time we get to support this important trial for making the Zoo more accessible to the Deaf community in the future.”

Student Julia Freeman, who interpreted at the orangutan encounter for the first time in August says: “It’s so exciting to be signing at the Zoo, and feels like such a privilege.”

This article was reprinted with permission from the Auckland Zoo newsletter.

Some thoughts on Our Place

Fab 50 member Red Nicholson reflects on the experience of speaking at Our Place…

I’m skeptical about conferences. They seem to enable complainers, whingers, and cynics. Group sessions can often be prone to hijacking, war stories, and pessimists, intent on bringing everyone down a notch. So when I was asked to present at Our Place 2015, I was keen to try and shake things up a bit. Turns out I needn’t have worried.

Red Nicholson is loving his new job as dad to baby Lachlan!

The first sign that Our Place was trying to do something different was found in its conference programme. A primary school principal, a teacher who uses a wheelchair, and three gang members, all on a panel together? A ‘Learning Marketplace? A film festival? It all seemed a bit risky and unconventional. But I could also see how it might turn out to be totally brilliant. Sure enough, the eclectic mix of people, sessions, and conversations turned out not to be just a feature of the conference, but a defining characteristic.

Dialogue between artists, politicians, community members, and those in business were happening all over the magnificent Te Papa, our incredible conference venue. Unlike any other conference I’d been to, Our Place 2015 seemed to render traditional sector boundaries obsolete. We were all there for the same goal: to create better, more inclusive communities together.

It was a privilege to present to the conference attendees, and I hope that the conversations which were started at Our Place act as catalysts for more regular collaboration across sectors, enabling profound, unprecedented social change for the betterment of all citizens of Aotearoa.

Naku noa, na

Red Nicholson

Meet Olivia: Be. Intern

My Story – Olivia Mexted

Be. Intern Olivia Mexted

Victoria University Tourism Management student Olivia Mexted was one of the first interns on the Be. Employed Internship Programme, with a placement at CQ Hotels Wellington. We caught up with her to see how she’s getting along…

First, tell us a little about yourself.

I grew up in a small rural town in the Bay of Plenty, on a dairy farm with my parents and two older brothers. My oldest brother and I were both born with our sight condition (Achromatopsia) and were both mainstreamed throughout primary and secondary school. I’m about to complete my Honours in Tourism Management at Victoria University, with a focus on Access Tourism.

How did you first hear about Be. Employed?

I first heard about Be. Employed over a catch up lunch with Minnie, as I’d met her a few weeks previously and was extremely interested to hear what Be. was doing. She mentioned the programme as I was looking for job opportunities and it sounded like a great way of getting work experience in a sector I was interested in.

How did you find your internship? What did you do?

My internship took place at CQ Hotels in Wellington with my role covering sales, marketing and events. The staff were extremely welcoming and made me feel right at home. In terms of adaptions around the work place, I used a magnifier on my computer screen and was given an extra monitor for some tasks to make it easier on my eyes. If I required a break from straining my eyes on the computer they happily found me another task to perform. CQ was really accommodating and I really appreciated everything they did for me over those four months.

What were some of your key learnings from the internship?

One of my key learnings from the internship was independence. Once I learned the ropes they allowed me to be self-directed, but there was always someone around if I had questions. I also learned what it was like to work full-time, which was a struggle in the beginning! I got to see how a hotel functions and my passion for access tourism developed as I saw what CQ had already implemented around accessibility.

Your spoke at the Our Place conference to share your story. How was that experience for you?

Months ago, I was asked by Be. if I would be willing to speak at the Our Place conference and share my story. At the time I thought it would be easy, but when it came to writing about it I kept thinking “Why people would want to hear about my life? I haven’t done anything special or significant.” I chose memories which I hoped others with disabilities would be able to relate to and judging by the outbursts of laughter from the crowd, I believe I achieved this. I was chuffed when people I’d never met came up to me afterwards to congratulate me and tell me they appreciated what I had to say. It was nerve-wracking, as the lights were bright on stage and I struggled to read my notes, but I made it through and was proud of myself for doing so!

What are you doing now, and what do you plan to do next?

I currently work part-time at the Tourism Export Council which has shown me another side of tourism and given me more contacts and knowledge in the industry. I am also in the early stages of my Honours dissertation on Access Tourism. I am planning to compile Best Practise examples who are already in the accessibility market and find out how they got there. The end of my studies are fast approaching so I’m thinking about career options and what to do next. My goal is to work within the disability sector but at this stage I’m unsure how to get there… watch this space!

PepTalk gets graduates on track for employment

For young people entering the workforce from university, it can sometimes feel like a cruel Catch 22: you need experience to land the job, but you need a job to get experience.

Be. Employed teamed up with Capability Group to deliver a series of PepTalk workshops to help ease the transition, based largely on the personal experiences of Capability Group CEO and Fab 50 member Drew McGuire.

PepTalk participants during the workshop session.

“I was a Science grad and didn’t want to be a Scientist… Whilst it was a long time ago, it was a long and painful experience,” says Drew.

“I read some research from McKinsey’s in 2012 on the ‘preparedness gap’ of graduates and realised all our combined skills in Capability Group could make a difference to this issue.”

Another common refrain from managers of client organisations was the lack of appropriately skilled graduates, he says.

Thus far, there is a Facebook page for PepTalk, as well as the programme itself targeting 18 to 26 years olds transitioning from tertiary education to the world of work.

“The programme focuses on how to best manage this transition and also aims to address the skills gap and readiness of our graduates for the workforce.  Megan and Sudan from Capability Group have been doing an amazing job with this.”

Capability Group project coordinator Sudan Jeganathan says the first few sessions with Be. Employed were a wonderful experience.

“I really enjoyed getting to meet the students, and learning a thing or two from them. Many of the issues they face reflected challenges and barriers of my own, it was extremely useful to take the time out to reflect on how we can tackle these obstacles – while playing on our strengths while being true to ourselves,” says Sudan.

The intention has always been to ensure the programme was free to graduates and young people, says Drew, but they have been looking for ways to commercialise the model so it becomes a sustainable part of their offering.

“Sudan came up with the idea of changing our entire Capability Group business model to a “one for one” model, where a share of our profits goes to fund the programme … thus ensuring it remains free to participants.  As a member of the Be. Fab 50 I realised PepTalk could potentially be useful for Be. Interns and those who are part of the Be. Employed programme… hence the delivery of the programme to this group over the past could of weeks.  We are always looking for ways to extend the PepTalk Programme so if you have any ideas we would love to hear them!”

Sarah Mitchell: My Leadership Journey

It’s been a big 12 months for Be. Employed Programme Director Sarah Mitchell, as she rounds off her first year of placing interns into meaningful work environments. In this blog post, she reflects on life, experiences and leadership…

Be. Employed Programme Director Sarah Mitchell

Be. Employed Programme Director Sarah MitchellThe last decade of my life has been largely spent living in Asia and focussing on my family. During this time I have been on a leadership journey – one of motherhood, and being a role model for my children.  At the beginning of 2014 I felt significant change in the air and I was both terrified and excited.  Questions constantly filled my head; who would employ me, what would I do, could I be more the just a mother… was I a leader?

What’s been happening in May?

Be. Accessible Chief Executive updates us on the happenings in the Be. Hive…

Grab your tickets and join us at…

The conference we are cohosting with Inspiring Communities and Inclusive NZ is barely a month away.

Several of our own Be. Team members will be taking the stage to discuss accessibility, facilitate workshops and lead discussions, and there is a wide range of exciting topics and speakers.

Speakers include: Deputy Prime Minister Bill English; Tien Ung, a scholar-practitioner with 20 years’ experience working with marginalised communities; dynamic and inspirational place-maker Gilbert Rochecouste; Lincoln University Professor of Economics Paul Dalziel; Neighbourly co-founder Casey Eden, and many more.

Earlybird tickets finish on June 1, so register your attendance at www.ourplace2015.com. See you there!

To.Be.Me

To celebrate our fourth birthday, we will be premiering our documentary, To.Be.Me, at Our Place.

To.Be.Me follows our journey to create the most accessible place in the world, from 2011 through the ups and downs to the present day. Borderless Productions did a fantastic job of distilling four years of highs, lows, tears and achievements into a 40-minute story, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.