Category: General News

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Posted on

Horses microchipped as part of EQuiChip Initiative by EIT | Te Pūkenga Professor | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

15 mins ago

EIT | Te Pūkenga Professor Nat Waran (right) with a group of veterinarians, vet technicians, vet nurses, RDA and Pony Club volunteers and Veterinary Nursing ākonga (students) at the Napier RDA.

Horses in Hawke’s Bay that were displaced due to Cyclone Gabrielle will now be able to be traced as part of a microchipping initiative led by EIT | Te Pūkenga Professor Nat Waran.

Prof Nat Waran, Professor of One Welfare at EIT | Te Pūkenga created the EQuiChip initiative.
The initiative enables the equestrian community in Hawke’s Bay to take positive preventative measures to help reduce some of the risks and stress associated with being unable to find and identify horses if they are separated from their owners in unforeseen circumstances.

As the Chair of the Companion Animals New Zealand, the organisation responsible for the National Companion Animal Register (NZCAR), Nat is keen to increase awareness amongst responsible horse owners of the need to microchip and register their much loved animals so that they have a better chance of finding them if they are lost or separated.

“Although some far more impacted than others, Cyclone Gabrielle affected all of the Hawke’s Bay equestrian community. From pony club and leisure horse owners to elite equestrians and racehorse trainers.

Nat says while there were many stories of horses that had timely evacuations or were lucky to be quickly found, there were also those who were swept away by the flood water or trapped in silt, their whereabouts unknown.

“In the days after the cyclone, many of our community searched for their horses, posting desperate Facebook messages, circulating photographs for identification, and contacting the emergency centres. In circumstances like this, being able to more effectively identify a horse and its ownership through a microchip will help improve the chances of reuniting a horse and its human.”

Nat says the Hawke’s Bay equestrian community has pulled together to support each other over the past months, including getting behind the EQuiChip initiative.

“Whilst the project won’t change the impact of the devastating event that affected many local horse owners, we will, I hope, through this initiative, ensure that we are better equipped to protect our horses in future.”

EIT | Te Pūkenga NZ Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Level 6) Ākonga (student) Sophie Freeman with Vet Renae Griffin.

Megan Williams, the head coach for one of the local pony clubs, is a vet nurse for VetsOne and an EIT | Te Pūkenga veterinary nursing student who is completing the new degree .

Megan’s personal experience following the cyclone where she couldn’t locate her children’s pony who had been swept away by the flood water in Dartmoor Valley meant that she didn’t hesitate when asked to help with the EQuiChip days.

“It took three long days before very luckily our pony, Poppy was found alive. I would recommend having all horses microchipped and registered on the national animal register so that they are easier to identify and can be returned quickly to their owners. Fortunately, despite having such a traumatic experience, Poppy is home now and appears none the worse for it.”

Three free ‘one-off’ events have been held in Napier, Hastings and most recently at the Waipukurau Racecourse (August 12), with more than 150 horses and ponies microchipped. They hope to see more owners contacting their vets to have theirs done too.

“It’s great to have had such wonderful support from colleagues in MPI, SPCA, ESNZ, local veterinary groups – VetServices Hawke’s Bay and VetsOne and the BioTherm Chip manufacturers (MSD).

“We are also extremely grateful to our venue hosts – RDA Napier, Hastings Showgrounds (VetServices Hastings) and Waipukurau Racecourse – along with the many local volunteers from local pony and riding clubs, including the vet nursing staff and students from EIT | Te Pūkenga.”
Emma Martin, the programme leader for veterinary nursing at EIT | Te Pūkenga has been assisting with the events.

Leanne Harkness, EIT | Te Pūkenga eMarketing Coordinator, has also been heavily involved.
With seven horses herself, who were not displaced, she has been traveling near and far collecting donated hay and delivering it to owners in need for the past six months.

Sophie Freeman, who is in her final semester of the NZ Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Level 6), has gotten behind the initiative.

During her studies, she has been working as a vet nurse, and spent three weeks out in the field in the aftermath of the cyclone finding horses to “bring closure to families”.

“Obviously it’s hard when you’re trying to identify animals out there and get them back to their families. Especially when so many went missing. And we weren’t quite prepared to track owners down, which is why we’re doing this so we can have another way to identify them.”

While they did scan horses they found, not enough were microchipped.

Sophie has seven horses and says microchipping them is something she has always done. “We get our cats and dogs done so it makes sense to get horses done as well.”

Posted on

Valedictorian says studying Māori Visual Arts at EIT Te Pūkenga has been a beautiful journey | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

4 hours ago

Bridy Rihari-Lundon (Ngāpuhi, Waikato Tainui is this year’s Valedictorian for the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT Te Pūkenga.

Bridy Rihari-Lundon (Ngāpuhi, Waikato Tainui), who is this year’s Valedictorian for the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT|Te Pūkenga, says that studying Māori Visual Arts at has been a beautiful journey.

Bridy, who is currently doing her Masters of Māori Visual Arts at Toihoukura, , is graduating today (Friday 4 August) with her Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts degree. The Tairāwhiti Graduation Ceremony will be held at the War Memorial Theatre.

Bridy says that at first she did not realise the significance of being named as Valedictorian, but she now is pleased that she is.

“So now that I understand, I am actually quite honoured to stand to speak and to represent not only just EIT and Toihoukura, but my friends and the whole campus.”

Brady says she has recently completed her Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts and is now on her Masters. She is doing this long distance from Waikato, where she is working fulltime at the kura Tōku Māpihi Maurea.

She has loved her time at EIT|Te Pūkenga and has grown as an artist.

“I’d say it’s been the most beautiful journey and probably one of the best decisions I’ve made, and I’m so glad that I went there. I wasn’t sure that was the right place for me, but after a year I knew that I was meant to be there, so it really helped me a lot.

This year’s EIT Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti
Valedictorian Bridy Rihari-Lundon with some of her work.

“One thing that taught me about myself, I think despite the long distance, living away from home, I had to find the beauty in this town, in Gisborne, and one was connecting to the land and sea, and second was allowing myself to open up and feel the warmth of the people.”

“I’m a painter, so I mostly just paint. I do draw sometimes, but this year I’m trying to actually interpret and incorporate a couple of other elements. I’m trying to spread out and dive into other mediums and become a quite diverse, multi-medium artist.”

“I’m looking at going into a bit of bone and stone carving in the future and doing ta moko.”

Last year Bridy received the Ruanuku Award, which is awarded each year to the top all round student at Toihoukura. The Ruanuku is a final year undergraduate art student who performs at a high level across a range of requirements. As part of award, two pieces of Bridy’s work have been selected by the Tairāwhiti Museum and purchased, through the support of Professor Jack Richards, for the Tairāwhiti Museum permanent Māori arts collection.

Bridy is enjoying her life as a teacher. The aim is to eventually study for her teaching degree.

“I suppose because my purpose for now and probably for my future is to give back, and that’s what I’m trying to do. So it really makes me happy knowing that I can share my skills and my knowledge and pass it down so it carries on the art form and the teachings.”

For now Bridy is preparing for the Graduation Ceremony which will be held on Friday (5 August) at the War Memorial Theatre in Gisborne.

“I’m acknowledging the people, the campus, EIT, and Toihoukura, the staff and managers, administrators, all of that. And then I’m doing a little bit of reflection on my three years at Toihoukura, what it was like for me. I will highlight a lot of the opportunities that were offered to us and a few words of wisdom and congratulating my friends, of course, my peers.”

Tracey Tangihaere, the Executive Director of the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT|Te Pūkenga and Acting Head of Toihoukura, says: “Bridy is a great role model for young Māori Wahine, she exemplifies the value of Matauranga Māori and Toi Māori.”

“Toihoukura tutors are very proud of all their graduates today and comment that  Bridy has been a great ambassador across the country and in Canada creative sectors, I am sure she will be successful in her chosen career. We expect to her as a rising star in the Toi Māori skyline.” 

Posted on

Graduation a dream come true for Bachelor of Teaching student | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

2 mins ago

Sara Hallgarth is graduating with a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) from the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT | Te Pūkenga.

For many years a lack of confidence stopped Sara Hallgarth from following her dream to be a teacher, but tomorrow (Friday, 4 August) she will graduate with a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) from the Tairāwhiti Campus of EIT | Te Pūkenga.

Born and bred in Gisborne, Sara, 39, is a mother of two young girls who has studied a range of subjects from driving training to te reo in the past. But it was always teaching where her heart lay.

“I’ve always wanted to do it, but never really had the confidence. So yeah, as soon as the kids got older and things were getting easier for us, I knew that it was time.”

“It was tough juggling because my husband, William, and I own a business, Peak Construction Gisborne, so it was hard to juggle life and things, but I feel like the lecturers there were so supportive, and they only ever wanted us to succeed. So having their support all the time was great.”

The highlight of the degree for Sara was the practical component which sees students spend two days per week getting practical training at local schools.

“It was fantastic. I was with experienced teachers throughout my training, so every teacher that I had as a mentor teacher had 20 plus years of experience so I was really lucky..”

The three years of study have not been without its challenges with Sara referring to her and her classmates as “the COVID graduates”.

Sara, who finished her degree in November last year, is now teaching at Mangapapa School in Gisborne, where she did her last practicum and where she also went to school as a young girl.

“I have come full circle and my girls also attended Mangapapa. I have great connections here. My nieces and nephews and family have gone through the school, so I just felt really connected. ”

She says that the degree at EIT | Te Pūkenga prepared her for the rigours of being a teacher of young primary school students.

“I think EIT really prepared us for that shock of reality, because the paperwork side does correlate to what we’re doing now. We have our expectations and EIT had their expectations and they are similar to being a teacher, even though we moaned about it a lot, that we had so much to do. But that’s the reality of being a teacher.”

Sara says she is keen to study further but is now focused on getting her registration as a teacher.

Before that she has the not so small matter of graduation, an event her family, including her daughters, Emily, 13 and Rosie, 11, will be attending.

Emma McFadyen, a lecturer in Primary Education at EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti, says: “Sara is one teacher from a cohort of twelve who will be graduating this year. It will be a moment of sheer joy for the teaching team and partnership schools as we watch this cohort cross the stage at graduation. Each individual has their own story, involving highs and lows, to get to this point in their journey, and they should be incredibly proud of their achievements.”