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Branch News
Eastern Bay of Plenty
The Eastern Bay of Plenty committee has had its first meeting of the year and continues to network in the community. At present we have close links at a monthly meeting with representatives from organizations dealing with violence in families" ( So far, no further progress with feature article in the paper)
Rachel Robson
Canterbury Branch
Monday evening, the 11th of August our branch organized it's AGM. I like to share some of the main items that drew our attention that evening. First of all, may I say that I disagree with those who find the annual meeting a boring and dull event. If you ever want have a short account of what our NALAG Branch has been up to during the year, the AGM will provide you with all the answers.
In looking back, I think we were fortunate to organize some educational events for those NALAG members working in the field of loss and grief in the Canterbury area. There was the workshop with Simon Shimshon Rubin, a (clinical) psychologist and therapist from Haifa, Israel. During his workshop he spook about the two track model for bereavement which he developed and for which he is known all over the world. In this model he makes a distinction between the way bereavement persons 'manage' their day-to-day lives following the loss of a someone close to their heart and the way in which the same bereaved address the unique emotional bond with the deceased over time. The model is easy to understand, insightful and very helpful for anybody who is involved in supporting the bereaved.
An other important event was also viewing of “Gifts of Grief”, a film made by Nancee Sobonya. I already reported on that film elsewhere on this website. Gifts of Grief is a unique film about the possibility of an other side of suffering, told through the personal and inspiring stories with people who have confronted remarkable losses and have found ways to transform their grief into a greater appreciation of life. We viewed and discussed “Gifts of Grief” during our retreat in Eveleen House earlier this year and decided to show it again after our AGM. I really believe the dvd deserves our/your attention. After Colin Murray Parkes had seen the film, this is what he had to say about, “I came to it expecting sentimentality, instead I found wise people talking about their own personal experience of bereavement as a formative experience from which they and we have much to learn”. You can obtain this dvd from Karen Jefferson, who is one of our members and is sole distributor of this highly recommended dvd in New Zealand and Australia.
Yes, our retreat was a success, may be not in numbers, but important in helping us to focus upon our possibilities as a branch in a more realistic way. It is all voluntary work and that is our weakness as well as our strength as a branch. Our monthly meetings as a Branch Committee makes a difference. I think I mentioned before that we always allow for some time to share whatever keeps us busy, thus creating a sense of fellowship amongst committee members. It also helps us to do what we find important. For example we felt we needed to respond in a positive way to the initiative taken by the government (Jim Anderton) to fund the support for those bereaved by suicide. Although we are enthusiastic about the proposed project, but we also pointed out that the grieving process will continue over substantial period of time. Even after many years professional support may be needed again. We also spent some money on enabling four Branch members to participate in the two day workshop given by Bob Neimeyer in Auckland this July. It was a truly remarkable experience to sit and to listen to this talented man, who demonstrated to his audience how effective grief therapy can be in the lives of the bereaved. In his challenging way Bob Neimeyer touched our mind and heart.
Among the things one does at annual meetings is the election of new officers to our Committee: Carol Dean will stay on as our Branch contact person, we welcomed Jill Creamer as our new treasurer, Karen Jefferson will look after our database and will be our 'events' pr person and Herman Meijburg will hold the chair for an other year. And, in closing, the best thing yet: we were happy to welcome some new faces to our AGM!
I my next report I hope to update you with our plans for the year to come.
Herman Meijburg (Chair Canterbury Branch NALAG), August 2008
Southland Branch
At the end of 2007 the new Southland Branch of NALAG got off to a flyer. We organised our first training session entitled Death, Dying, Funerals….What do we tell the children.
Over 40 people attended and heard talks from 4 local speakers. Janice Gray (Funeral Director), Dorothy King (Bereavement Support Worker), Ngaire Cameron and Carol Chin-Poy ( both funeral celebrants). All the speakers presented an account of their particular types of work and how they assist children and families in dealing with questions around Death and Dying.
The Branch has also been researching the need to provide children’s resources. Considerable work has gone into developing (with help from a student on placement). ‘children’s resource packs’. We believe these packs contain the right level of information which to help parents in assisting their child(ren) in managing the grieving process
The packs contain books by Lois Tonkin and Skylight, a local directory of information (containing local contacts), activities for children, and activities for families to do together. The packs also contain leaflets, pamphlets, posters etc
A small number of these packs are currently on trial with families at present. We are optimistic that feedback will be favourable and that the packs are recognised as a good resource to families.
The next step will be to look at securing funding to develop these.
Peter Ashworth.
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