Fund-raising outing for health camp

Press, 10 September 1987, Page 14

Fund-raising outing for health camp

By

JANE ENGLAND,

Maori affairs reporter

Whanau Awhina, a group of recovering alcoholics working to create a better way of life for "deprived" children, will hold an entertaining outing on Saturday to raise funds for a children’s health camp.

The chairman of the group, Mr Sam Kabul, said the volunteer workers had at times felt frustrated in their attempts to make people more aware that children within most families were "suffering.”

Many children were becoming emotionally disturbed through broken homes and abuse, he said. "These children initially grow up in a very unsettled environment and ultimately resort to misuse of alcohol, drugs and solvents as they grow older.”

Whanau Awhina has been involved in working with those children for three years and has already had some success

through its awareness and learning programmes. “As recovering alcoholics, many of the volunteers have been able to identify with the children who need support and encouragement We are trying to create incentive for them to live a better way of life and this is being done through dances, week-end outings, and health camps,” Mr Kabul said.

The group plans to hold a nine-day “Children’s Health Camp" in January, 1988, with leisure activities such as bush treks, hill climbing, and speedboat rides as well as general fitness programmes. Guest speakers will at-

tend, and discussions, lectures, and educational videos will help give the children healthy alternatives to alcohol or drugdependency. The camp will be run In conjunction with staff and patients at Queen Mary Hospital at Hanmer Springs. In a. bld to raise funds for the camp, the group and “Rossgos Good-Times Disco” will hold an entertaining outing for people of all ages on Saturday from 3 p.m. to midnight Gowns, magicians, a Maori cultural group, and disco will be features of the outing which will be held at 307 Breezes Road. All proceeds will go to the "Children's Health Camp.”