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Work

I did a very short period of work at the IHC (Society for Intellectually Handicapped Children). It didn’t work out and the matron was sacked for stealing things. A few months later I started work at the Health Camp on a three months trial. I stayed there for 14 years working as a nurse aid supervising the children in the living area of the camp, teaching them teeth cleaning, general exercises and bed making just as I’d been taught. We had two teachers for two classrooms. The children ranged in age from five to 12 years, so we had the primers in one room and the older ones in the other room. They often struggled with their school work. To help them catch up they had a rest each day after lunch for an hour then went back to school until 4.00 pm In the weekends we would go for walks around the streets and sometimes down Austen Rd. It was a real country road where it was quiet enough for them to have a good run. On Sundays their parents could visit while the others played games outside. I organised mostly circle games that would last for about two hours. I would have up to 36 children to organise. As their parents arrived, they would go off around the property to visit with them. After the games, there would be lunch then rest time. I would have them ready, singing and waiting for Uncle Sam, a Brethren Sunday School teacher to arrive for Sunday School. How amazing it was that the Lord led me to many happy and enriching years at the Health Camp.

Health Camp History

When the American Army were here in the Second World War they had a base in Maunu which was inherited by the Health Camp organisation. Miss Robby was the matron when I started in 1962 and Dr. Beasly was the paediatrician who was very good to the families and helped me to find work. I think King George V was the patron. They came into being to give under-privileged children a better start. There was a lot of malnutrition as a result of the depression in the 1930s and the war which lasted from 1939 to 1945. The war impacted the rest of the decade. I know this because ration books were still in use in 1949. Children came to the Health Camp at Maunu in Whangarei from as far north as Cape Reinga and as far south as Wellsford. Auckland has a health camp at Pakuranga, which is still in existence.

The children came for six week terms and if they needed more time they were referred to the doctor for his advice. Over time I became Senior Nurse. By this time Miss Robby had retired. We had a couple of relieving matrons and it was about a year before Mrs. Curtis took over. There were no night staff on duty between 10 pm and 7 am. I had a room at the end of the dormitory, and if there were any disturbances I would get up and investigate. I did some first aid training with St. John’s Ambulance. When they were short of a teacher, I would do relieving for Mrs Stealther. I also learnt how to use commercial cleaners and electric polishers and trained the staff to use them. At one stage I was put in charge when there was an outbreak of hepatitis. This came about because a staff member was unaware that she had hepatitis and brought it in. Fourteen children went down with hepatitis. So did I. When I came back from sick leave the matron and the sub-matron were unwell and I was in charge, with a registered nurse down the road on call if needed. I also did a course in child care at Kohitere for those working in private child care organisations to see what others were offering. It was a very interesting time as I was able to glean new ways of approaching things. So my experience was much broader than being a nurse aid. I learnt how to cook porridge in a preserving pan and do bottling of fruit such as peaches on an Aga stove stoked with coal.

Choirs

While I was working at the Health Camp, Mum helped me join the Homemakers’ Choir and took me to the practices each Thursday night. Later Mrs Wenham, a member of the choir, moved to Maunu and offered to take me as she drove right past the Health Camp. Going to choir was a way of meeting other people apart from work. We would sing for different functions around the area and go into the competitions for choirs. One time we were asked to sing a 40 minute programme of songs about farming and country life. Some of the songs were: Click go the Shears, If I Were an Apple and Mammy’s Little Baby Loves Shortnin’ Bread to mention a few. Prime Minister Holyoake was present at that function which was held to promote the sale of wool. What great fun we had doing it. Some of us from that choir would later join a larger group called Pro Musica to sing Handel’s Messiah. Later, when I had settled in Mt Albert Road, I joined the Mt Roskill Chorale. Someone would come and pick me up for practice every Tuesday night. Some of us sang in the massed choir with Malvina Major who was the soloist for the very first Music in The Park concert in 1993. These wonderful events were held in the Auckland Domain and thousands of people would come to enjoy a variety of good music. So my love of singing continued.

Cruise

Near the end of my time at the Health Camp I took five of the staff with me on a cruise around the Pacific Islands. Mrs Curtis, who was matron at the time suggested that we go together. The first stop was Paihia. How strange being a tourist in our own country! We lazed on the beach and did a mini tour of Russell which was really interesting as I had been there with family but hadn’t heard the history. After a few days sailing, we went ashore on some of the bigger islands. On board ship we won a prize at the fancy dress ball going as the pink and blue toothbrushes and toothpaste. We made our costumes entirely of crepe paper, so the toothbrushes looked pretty worn! I resigned from the Health Camp as the Board disagreed with my report which had suggestions of new ways of doing things. Later I found out that all my ideas were adopted.

Music Exam And Competitions

My Father died in 1972. I remember doing my Grade 5 theory exam not long after he died and surprised my teacher, Mrs Helen Miekle, with a 96 out of 100 pass. In September that year Mum drove me in the car to Māngere Hospital and Training School for an interview with Mr Earlwood who was the principal nurse. At the end of the interview he said “I’ll send someone to show you Unit Seven to see if you would like to work there.” I looked and thought I could manage the work and went back to him and said “I’ll take the job.” To my surprise he asked me “When would you like to start?” It was agreed that I would start at the end of the school holidays, as I had arranged to play the piano in the competitions. At the competitions in Whangarei I got third prize in the open class which included adults.

Changes Of Work

When I started work at Māngere Hospital and Training School it was the only place in the whole country where psychopaedic nurses were trained. Nurse aiding there was quite a different type of nursing. You had to be very observant because these children couldn’t move or talk or do anything for themselves. Everything had to be done for them. I set goals for myself for how long I would stay in the job, because it was quite a challenge at first. I lasted a week, then a month, then I found the months stretched out to seven years. The children’s basic bodily functions were okay. Despite their limitations they had personalities and somehow a sense of right and wrong. Each one had their own rhythm. If they didn’t like the person who was feeding them, that person would ‘wear’ the food. I found by talking to them they would smile or wink an eyelid. That is how I communicated with them. Bathtime was a very personal time where relationships were built. When dressed they would be taken to the day room where they would be put on mats on the floor so they could try moving. We would do passive exercises to encourage them to move. For example raising their legs up and down or sometimes rolling them from side to side. The children were graded: Multi-handicapped were those that didn’t have much movement and no language. Low grade were those who could walk or crawl but didn’t talk, or had limited sounds they could make. High grade were those who could walk and had limited conversation. They would go to the training centre to develop their learning skills. While I was working there I helped the physios and the speech therapist to do some of their programmes. Later on I worked with the occupational therapist as well. In the end they decided to train the nurse aids to get a Proficiency Certificate involving all aspects of our work. I approached the principal nurse about training as a psychopaedic nurse but I didn’t have School Certificate and my sight level was against me, so that didn’t happen.

 Study

I went to night school to study for School Certificate English. On my third attempt I passed. I had applied for the half hour extra allowance for vision impairment but was turned down on the day. I decided to carry on and got a 64% pass mark. The marks were scaled in those days. After that I didn’t try any more School C subjects. A young Chinese man I met at the class offered to take me there each time. He was having trouble with finding how to work in the small words we use to make sense of our sentences, so I was able to explain how to put them in and he got it, and was able to pass with a good mark too.

Friendships And Challenges

There was very little hierarchy at Māngere Hospital. In the dining room we were able to sit with whoever we wanted to for our meals, tutors and nurses alike. This meant I struck up a good friendship with Glenys Della Bosca who was a tutor. We became some of the founding members of the Manukau Toastmasters Club where we learnt how to do public speaking. It was a great way of meeting folk from all walks of life as we went to different clubs around the city in the evenings. One year in my spare time I made a round woollen hook rug mat and painted a little wooden stool which I had brought from home. Later on I decided to buy a bike. It was a Raleigh 20 with white-walled tyres. I chose this kind of bike so I wouldn’t have so far to fall if I did. I started by learning how to ride on the grass. Then one of my mates got me riding on the asphalt but I didn’t like the whoosh of the cars going past as my balance was not great.

At the last Hector the Parrot’s sale at the Farmers’ Trading Company I bought a Brother sewing machine. This was much to Mum’s surprise as she thought I would never be able to thread the needle. Then I taught myself how to make dresses and calico bags for Christmas presents.

Thailand

In 1975 I went with Mum and a friend to Singapore and Thailand for my first overseas trip. Mum thought I might not get the chance to travel at all, so she gave me a good taste of what an adventure it could be. I still remember Change Alley and how we bartered for rings, sundresses and suitcases in different currencies. What fun we had doing it! We were able to see all the tourist attractions. Political unrest became apparent as we left Bangkok to go to a Holiday Inn hotel on the Gulf of Thailand. The sea was like a lukewarm bath to swim in. Sundresses were being sold on the sea shore. There were several people selling them so we all agreed that we would pay the same price to keep things fair. The weather was so humid you couldn’t dry the clothes outside. Air conditioning was the only way. It would rain and you would be up to your ankles in a matter of minutes and the thunder was very close. It was better to wear sandals that were strapped to your feet or you would lose them. As I walked the streets of Bangkok, I remember seeing rats that were fatter than the cats in Chinatown. They really looked strange. Sometimes the car parks would turn into food stalls in the evenings, so we would try some of the food as it was cooked on fires and quite tasty too. The hotels were good and it was a good trip all round. I found the Thai people very courteous, friendly and willing to help in any way they could.

First Missions Trip

Prior to that Thailand trip I had made friends at work with Marcia. Marcia drove a car and was looking for a church to join as she was a Christian and was used to going to church on Sundays. For a time we went to a church in the city but we really wanted to find somewhere local. We heard about Shiloh Community Church and got involved there. I made another friend, Carol, and all three of us went on a missions trip to Doncaster, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia for a week. I don’t remember telling Mum about it until I came back. That was my first missions trip and what a great time we had telling folk about Jesus in the streets. I even met one of my old schoolmates and went to her place for lunch.

A Prayer Time

One time when I was working in Unit 3 at Māngere Hospital a trainee nurse and I were getting the children ready for tea. A child was banging her head against the wall. The Lord quietly said to me “Put her on the Trampoline.” I did so and sent the others up to the dining room with the other nurse on duty. I was taking the child off the trampoline to join the others when the Lord said “Pray for her.” I said “How?” He told me to pray that the joy of the Lord would be her strength. She started dancing around the room before joining the others at the tea table. The nurse working with me saw the change in the girl and asked me what I had done. Knowing that I could lose my job for praying for her, I said I just talked to her. After a while she became sad again and the nurse said “You had better do it again,” and so I took the girl aside and the Lord showed me that I needed to replace the sadness with the gladness. This done, whenever I said the name of Jesus she clapped her hands as she couldn’t talk.

Call To Bible College

In 1980 I left the nurses’ home to board with Carol Boyle on McKenzie Rd for nine months. I had met her through going to Shiloh Community Church. Through Shiloh I experienced the power of intercessory prayer and I felt that I was being called to go to Bible College. I wanted to understand more of God and His ways and get a broader overview of the Bible and a better knowledge of how to use it. One lunchtime I was reading a poem which challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and go to Bible College, but where? I knew I was a slow reader and had no secondary education. What level would they be starting at? I found out that Hebron Bible College had half day lectures and the rest of the day for study. That suited me so I applied in November but didn’t hear of my acceptance until late January. Rob Wheeler was the principal of the school. He took a while to decide whether to accept me or not, but he made it a matter of prayer and got word from God to accept me. In February 1981 I left Māngere Hospital after working there for seven years. About a week before I left I was told I was due for a rise in pay. The principal nurse did say I would be welcome back at any time, but I knew my time there had finished.