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CELEBRATING AND ACKNOWLEDGING HUMBLE CHANGE MAKERS IN CHRISTCHURCH
NEW ZEALAND WOMEN IN FOCUS
CELEBRATING AND ACKNOWLEDGING HUMBLE CHANGE MAKERS IN CHRISTCHURCH
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By Clare Erasmus
Harmony and Cathleen
The month of March highlighted International Women’s Day, a dedicated moment to reflect, celebrate and acknowledge the differences remarkable women make individually and collectively between communities locally and internationally. International Women’s Day is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political milestones of women. The theme this year was ‘Choose to Challenge’.
Our paths cross many everyday women and collectives of women who choose to make a difference. They are our unsung heroes, who humbly initiate, embrace change, choose to facilitate and enable others to lead improved lives. International Women’s Day is about being aware and alert in our world because in doing so opportunities to evoke change are not overlooked. Being aware and alert requires individuals with an empathetic lens and courageous heart.
New Zealand is blessed to have several charitable organisations that aim to pivot change. This article will highlight three local women and the organisations they believe in, are passionate about and where they can promote, facilitate and empower others.
Sarah Pilgrim was raised in the South Island and has spent the last 20 years in Canterbury. Living with her husband, Amos, and son, Noah, she is constantly surrounded by her close-knit family. For Sarah, her career as a registered nurse shaped her consciousness around cultures, inequalities, hardships, suffering, health and loss. Sarah described her upbringing as a ‘privilege’, with unquestionable access to basic life needs. Seeking to increase her community involvement and inspired by her husband, Amos, she registered as a volunteer in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organisation.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is the largest volunteer mentoring network in New Zealand, where matches are created between supervising adults and tamariki - children aged between 6 to 12. These meaningful and positive relationships help ignite youth potential and have lasting impacts on the lives involved. Sarah explained,
“...my role is a ‘big sister’ or ‘mentor’. My role is to be consistent, to show up regularly and spend time with my ‘mentee’ or ‘little sister’, to be positive, caring and a listening ear. As we have been matched for four years, my role needs to adapt slightly to her needs. For example, my mentee was ten years old when we first met, but she has just turned 15! So new experiences will arise on our journey.”
Sarah is one of our community’s unsung heroes who understands the value of and consistency of relationships and the empowering value they have. Sharing time with her mentee is reciprocally precious. They have built raised gardens together, attended family excursions together to the zoo and shared other family events. Sarah recently received feedback from her mentee and her mentee’s grandmother that explained,
“since hanging with me, she feels that she gets along better with her family and is happier day to day... someone she can trust.”
Sarah admits the role can sometimes be challenging, yet assures the role is one that she won’t ever regret. The role can empower the lives of young people, and in Sarah’s case, it shapes the life of a young woman. Sarah explains,
“by encouraging confidence in young girls and women, we can encourage them to be proud of who they are and in turn, I hope they choose to build a positive future for themselves.”
Jacqueline Campbell, a mentor and the philanthropy manager in Christchurch for Big Brothers Big Sisters, posed a sincere and powerful question: “What would your community be like if every child felt valued? Volunteer mentors are everyday people who make an extraordinary difference in the lives of young people who benefit from an extra positive role model.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors have a huge long term impact on the girls they are matched with. Girls with a BBBS mentor are three times less likely to have social anxiety and four times less likely to bully, fight, lie or lose their temper. As 70% of mental health problems have their onset during childhood or adolescence, having a trusted and safe adult to talk to is invaluable.”
Reetah, a local businesswoman in Christchurch, is an active Board member of The Christchurch Aunties, a charitable trust that does a remarkable job supporting women and children who have experienced vulnerability and family violence. It is an organisation with a vast network of over 4000 people who all share the aim of supporting vulnerable women and children.
Lucy enjoying a family excursion with Sarah and Amos Pilgrim and their son.
Reetah’s beginnings with this organisation began with a social media post calling for some household items for a woman being moved from a safe house into her own accommodation. From there, her commitment grew from offering supplies, to a drop off point for donations, to now being a Board member for Christchurch Aunties and still being one of the main drop-off points for donations. Knowing Reetah personally, I can attest to her strong empathy and ability to take on others’ perspective, which makes her one of our unsung heroes, women on a mission to empower, uplift and engage change in some of the most vulnerable women she helps.
Reetah Mitchell, volunteer and Board Member of The Christchurch Auntiesface
Reetah shared,
“The day to day work of the Aunties is constant. This is primarily done by our Manager, Heather, meeting the requests/needs of refuge staff or front line workers of other support agencies. These needs can be as simple as supplying household goods, phones, toiletries or clothing for a woman or her family in Refuge. Or, they can be complex needs such as requiring security cameras and Safelets (a personal emergency alarm) to keep a woman and her family safe from a potential abuser.”
The Christchurch Aunties engage in many diverse projects, such as the ‘Love Grace’ handbag campaign that BNZ runs. It involves distributing filled handbags to Refuges in the Canterbury area. Another initiative is the ‘Easter Campaign’ (collecting Easter eggs and gifts) and the ‘Winter Coat and Undie Run’ (collecting warm winter coats and collecting stockpiles of underwear to distribute). There are also ‘Christmas’ and ‘Back to School Campaigns’. Reetah explained that this year they endeavour to create an in-school programme to educate teens on partner violence.
The Christchurch Aunties make a difference in the lives of others. In the first instance, they can meet the immediate and practical needs of women who have no other avenue of assistance open to them. Refuges and other agencies often seek the reliable assistance of this organisation. To this end, other organisations can concentrate on providing additional necessary services until these women and their whānau are strong enough to support themselves.
While Reetah and others at The Christchurch Aunties love volunteering, Reetah expressed,
“The misnomer about volunteering is you do it to make others feel better. The truth every volunteer in every organisation will tell you is that volunteering makes THEM feel good. This is perhaps not as altruistic but is a lovely side effect of helping others! I also believe that one act of kindness creates ripples. Even if the only thing you do is set up a small room in a children’s centre, you will find out just how much your one hour of service means for multiple little kids. Similarly, if you plant one plant in a seemingly barren plot, you will notice just how quickly it grows and soon enough, it turns into a garden of its own. The farreaching implications of even the smallest act of kindness are unimaginable until you do them. As a volunteer, you can literally save someone’s life or give them hope to better their situation. To me, this is the reason why volunteering is so important.”
We, at eYs Magazine, salute these inspirational women and many others who humbly initiate and embrace challenge and change, those who choose to facilitate and enable others to lead improved lives. These women are acutely aware and alert in our world and give time, passion and love to evoke change. You are courageous and empowering. You are appreciated.
Clare Erasmus
Author, Educator and Researcher
