Farewell Lunch

We had a fabulous seafood lunch today at Botany Bay with our current hosts from the Sutherland area and we were thrilled to see our hosts from the Ingleburn Rotary Club as well.

Valarie said a few words about our exchange and then the Team surprised our hosts (as well as the rest of the restaurant) with the singing of the Australian Anthem.

A day on the water and evening party

We had a wonderful day today...the weather has been beautiful this week and we have been hosted by the Sutherland Rotary Club members. Yesterday we went to a cricket match for a few hours then went to Bondi Beach.

Today we were aboard a boat for a cruise out of Port Hacking and this evening enjoyed a wonderful bbq at PDG Peter Williams's home.

Mental Health Funding

Submitted by Jill Wantola

We have had the opportunity to visit a number of community based services over the past month. Many of the community based mental health programs in Australia are not funded by the government and therefore depend on corporate sponsorship, extensive fundraising and connections with charitable organizations. It is amazing to see the extend of the programs that have been developed, often with very little stable funding. The creativity and partnership with the community has given us some ideas to pursue when we return home.

An Amazing Experience!

Submitted by Brenda Spurrell

This experience has been very rewarding and exciting in many ways. From having to learn another language (acronyms, short forms & colloquialisms), going on a 42 ft boat, eating great food and that is not even talking about the real reasons for the trip. We visited schools, hospitals and community agencies and once we were able to translate we discovered how much we have in common. We have the same struggles and are working on the same goals. They are doing some great work in working with youth 16 to 24 and the transition to adult programs is much more thorough than that of ours in Canada. We work well with all ages (0-18) in Canada and have a variety of programs including Day Treatment, Individual and Family counselling while Australia is continuing to struggle to provide the appropriate programs for this age group. Our government seems to be beginning to come up up with the money that is necessary to provide the more programming that is needed while Australia's seem to be doing that well ( of course we always want more).
We have learned about polio and how Rotary along with Penny Legate's help has almost eradicated it in most of the world. It truly has been amazing to see how much Rotary has been and continue to be involved within their local communities and as well as the world. The team has been great, we have gotten to know each and have had alot of fun together. We are all excited about some ideas we have to work, learn and share with each other back home.

Policing in District 9750

Submitted by Katie Payton

During the last four weeks in Australia, Sydney, Campbelltown. Wollongong ( the Gong) and Sutherland (the Shire) I along with the team had the opportunity to attend so many agencies and meet personally the people who work in the Mental Health field.
During my first week in Sydney I attend Kings Cross Police commonly known as " The red light district". There I went on the beat with two of the local officers, and attended to several calls for Service. During conversation with some of the locals I was asked if I was a " Copper" and proudly displayed my Canadian Police Badge which gave me instant respect amongst the locals.
My next visit was to the Campbelltown Police where the team met with Inspector Brian Doyle. Inspector Doyle is still very active in his community and has great respect from his local people. Inspector Doyle makes it his practise to attend the community and communicate with the town people and this allows him to find out what is going on in the Community. Inspector Doyle is about gaining trust between the police and the people. Inspector Doyle is in the process of stepping down from his position as he is one of the candidates in the upcoming election.

While in " The Shire" I attended the Navel Base for police training in Mental Health Intervention. This course is a full 4 day course where approximately 40 New South wales officers from around the State along with a couple of Bobbies from London England to learn about Mental Health Intervention. These officers were a mix of Chief's. Inspectors, Sgt's, and Junior Constables. These officers once back at their own offices are the officers who respond to calls for Service involving a Mentally ill or mentally disturbed patient.

During one of our vocation days I was able to speak to Margaret and John Purcell who are both Chaplin's. After losing their son to suicide over 10 years ago and knowing the struggle they had,18 months ago they started their own company. Basically the company consists of Margaret and John Purcell who go out into the street on Thursday and Saturday nights to talk about mental health issues with the people on the streets. Since opening this service they have received three separate Government grants to assist them. Margaret and John told me their audience is between the ages of 13-16 year old kids. The Purcell's still feel there is a long , hard journey ahead for Mental Health Awareness and that Mental Health is not going to go away,but in fact there is be more and more people suffering from a Mental Health illness.

Even though we were across the map we all are struggling with the same issues when in comes to Mental Health. The goal for everyone is to ensure we can help people become healthy in Body mind and Spirit.

Canada were coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rotary Presentation at Sutherland

Tonight was our last official Rotary Club presentation. The Rotary Club of Sutherland and other local clubs were our hosts for a fabulous evening full of good humour and general roasting of Canadians....(see menu above)

School Initiatives in Mental Heath: Australia and Canada

Submitted by Carla Noel

It has become apparent during our time in Australia that there are more similarities than there are differences in the journey to raise awareness and deal with the stigma of mental health in our child and adolescent populations. In Australia, both health care and education providers are taking responsibility and are committed to change the plight of those suffering with mental health issues. I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet with 2 School Link Coordinators, the Program Manager for Mind Matters. with Guidance Officials, and staff from Headspace, as well as many health care providers.

I have been madly taking notes in the fear of forgetting all the wonderful things we are learning each day. I could fill pages on our blog, but will wait to get home to organize the many details.

We have spent time comparing our systems and services and have discovered we have the same goals. We have also discovered that although we have different job titles we are doing many of the same tasks. Interestingly enough, we also experience many of the same challenges in our daily work.

Having attended a Guidance Officials meeting last week, it was interesting to note that these individuals were former teachers who then took additional courses to become qualified in Psychology; making them registered psychologists. They were able to study full time and their salary continued to be paid. Upon completion of their studies they were committed to 3 years in the field. These guidance/psychologists have a number of schools to which they consult. They are expected to complete elearning modules for consistency purposes and to keep current in their practice.

Our team visited “Headspace” which is a National initiative addressing early intervention with young people with emerging mental health issues. General Practitioners work part time with Headspace staff and are able to refer young people to Psychologists as needed. Headspace is currently working in 5 schools in a pilot project capacity. There is also a website: Reachout which has been developed by and is maintained by young people in an attempt to reach out to their peers.

A large focus in working in the area of mental health in Australia is in resiliency training. This proactive approach is taking off because of the belief that many mental health issues can be avoided by creating healthier and stronger children and youth. I have shared our practices back home around the work we do with Character Education and Anti-Bullying Initiatives which has been received with very positive reactions.

We are in our last week of learning, laughing and sharing with mental health professionals and our host families. We continue to experience great Australian hospitality and have made connections which have the potential to last a lifetime!

Submitted by: Carla Noel

Visit to the Blue Mountains

The Three Sisters Legend

The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and 'Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

Week 4 Schedule - St. George/Sutherland

Sunday Nov. 7 - Free day and transfer from Illawara


Monday Nov. 8-Tour of The Blue Mountains followed by a presentation to the Rotary Club of Hurstville and St. George area clubs.

Tues. Nov. 9-St. George/Sutherland Hospital and Central Network Mental Health Services

Wed. Nov. 10-Katie to spend the day with the local Police in training. The rest of the group to meet with like minded professionals. In the evening a presentation to the Rotary club of Sutherland and local area clubs

Thurs. Nov. 11- Attend Sheffield Shield Cricket game at Sydney Cricket Grounds

Friday Nov. 12- Boat cruise on Port Hacking followed by a dinner at PDG Peter Williams's home.

Sat. Nov. 13- Possible free day for last minute sites not previously visited

Sun. Nov. 14 - Free morning followed by a farewell lunch at Danny's Seafood Restaurant

Mon. Nov. 15- Visit to Minerva School

Tues. Nov. 16 - Pack .....and transfer to airport

A visit to Symbio Animal Park

Week in Wollongong....."the Gong"

Hi Everyone!

We are in the beautiful Illawarra region this week for another busy vocational week. This region has beautiful beaches and mountain views.

Last night the Team had a full presentation at a joint Rotary meeting hosted by the West Wollongong Rotary Club.

Archive - Thursday October 21st.

On Thursday October 21st, Marshall thought he would try to break the record for most vocational sites visited by one VTT member in one day. With the help of Rabbi Mendel Kastel, he did.
Between 9:30 am and 4:30 pm, he was at 7 - yes 7 different sites: Jewish House, Jewish Care, Reddam House (a school), Moriah College, Sydney Clinic (a treatment centre for adults with Mood Disorder and/or Borderline Personality Disorder), Kesser Torah College and the Rabbinec Council of New South Wales.
In between everything, he was interviewed by the Australian Jewish News.
The scary thing is, that was just a typical day for the Rabbi! He is a dynamo of energy, with his finger in just about every Jewish pie in Sydney and yet throught it all he maintains an inner calm which radiates to everyone he helps. The various hats he wears (in addition to the "kippah" or religious skullcap) include: hospital chaplain (visiting the sick), advocate for housing and financial assistance for the mentally ill, crisis counsellor, manager of a mental health service agency and Rabbi of a congregation.
In the middle of the day, he received a call from the Israeli Embassy. An acutely disturbed youth had just arrived from Israel and needed to be urgently assessed, or else he would be deported. The Rabbi arranged it.
By the end of the day, Marshall was thanking God- and the Rabbi- that there were no more places to go....He learned that the problems of mental health in Jewish youth in Sydney are not much different to those in Toronto, and good ideas about how to bridge cultural divides were mutally shared. Perhaps the only difference was the exchange rate- one Rabbi Kostel is worth about 10 Rabbis anywhere else.

Week 3 Schedule

Wow! We can't believe it is week 3 already. The time is flying by and our schedule keeps us very busy...as a "mature" team we need our beauty sleep and fall into our beds at the end of the day.
Here is our schedule for this week in the Illawara area:
Saturday Oct. 30 -Rest night in the Boat Harbour Motel

Sunday Oct. 31- Transfer to our new Host Families

Monday Nov. 1- Hosted by the Kiama Rotary Club. Tour the Kiama region with a visit to Triplecare Farm a voluntary residential alcohol and drug rehab facility
Evening meeting of the Kiama Rotary Club with Team presentation

Tuesday Nov. 2-Meet with Southern Network Mental Health Group at Wollongong Hospital

Wednesday Nov. 3-Tour of Mental Health Services at Shellharbour Hospital.
Valarie to Tour Global Coffee Headquarters and local cafes.
Evening joint Rotary meeting with full presentation by Team

Thursday Nov. 4-Hosted by the Corrimal Rotary club. Tour of Seacliff Bridge and Bald Hill followed by a trip to Symbio Animal Park

Friday Nov. 5 -Presentation to the Illawara Sunrise Rotary club followed by a tour of the Southern Highlands and possible winery tour. Hosted by the Illawara Rotary Club.

Saturday Nov. 6- Visit Viva La Gong Festival (Wollongong is known as "the Gong" and this is a local festival.

Our hosts in the Illawara area continue to show us true Australian Hospitality and we are very welcome.