‘This gives us hope’: Youth Nelson student’s call for help answered
When a flash flood hit downtown Nelson, with water blowing covers off manholes, Youth Nelson staff and students managed to grab some laptops and workbooks from their premises before they fled.
“Everything else pretty much has gone,” Youth Nelson centre manager Sharon Lukitau-Ngaamo said of the weather event on May 26.
The alternative education service for 12- to 16-year-olds was hit hard by damage at its leased premises, where flooding wrecked appliances, furniture, books, flooring and carpeting.
Now, thanks to one student, some of the destroyed equipment has been replaced, in a move symbolising the kindness shown to the school by the community in the aftermath of the flooding.
James Gebbie-Vass, 14, got the surprise news last week that his application for a grant to replace the school’s music gear had been accepted by a charitable trust, the Fifeshire Foundation.
The new equipment was handed over on the spot.
“Let’s go, Lo’an!” James said, standing next to Lo’an Heran, a Whanake Youth social worker who helped to oversee the application.
“Thank you,” James said to Fifeshire Foundation board of trustees chairperson Peter Verstappen and executive officer Shanine Hermsen.
“I tried my hardest.”
Losing the music equipment had been difficult because music helped him to express himself “in heaps of different ways”, he said.
“I don’t really express my feelings through talking to people.
“It’s just hard for me because of the way I grew up.
“[Music] helps me … connect to other people.”
Exchanging a hug with James, Youth Nelson tutor Tane Komene said replacing the audio gear, including speakers and headphones, “means everything to us”.
“I’m passionate about music and so are a lot of our rangatahi … This gives us hope that we can make a difference.”
Delivering the equipment worth about $1500, Verstappen said James’ application was “outstanding”.
The teenager had researched how to replace the equipment at a local music store, Rockshop, which then gave a discount, and James recounted the “heartbreaking” story of the flood, Verstappen said.
“To see … all the equipment that they had painstakingly built up … just gone.
“That really spoke to our trustees about not only the need, but about the commitment that these kids have to the programme.”
The occasion, at Youth Nelson’s temporary site at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Atawhai, was an emotional moment for Lukitau-Ngaamo.
Youth Nelson’s resources were donated so it couldn’t get insurance for destroyed items, which included furniture, appliances and books.
People’s kindness had been overwhelming, she said, with the Youth Council among the “amazingly generous” supporters giving Youth Nelson store vouchers to help replace goods.
It also meant a lot for the students to be heard, she said.
“One of the biggest things from stepping into [this] role is helping our young people feel connected to the community and feel like the community knows them – not just as a kid in a hoodie who they don’t like, but as young people who have dreams and hopes and want to do stuff.”
The alternative education service for students who have fallen out of mainstream education, had moved twice since the flood – first to the hall of St Barnabas Anglican Church in Stoke.
When that space was needed by a group that had pre-booked, it was a “massive relief” to find St Peter’s was open to Youth Nelson using its building.
But staff and students were looking forward to moving back to the repaired and revamped council-owned building on Washington Rd – potentially in August.
James, for one, was excited to return.
He finished a mechanics and welding course through Youth Nelson last term and said being there was helping to set him up “for the bigger life”.
“It’s … another place I can call home.”
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
This Post Has 0 Comments