Pictures

All the rest of the pictures have now been added. Laura

Hong Kong

Good Evening or Afternoon to you,

I’ve been in Hong Kong for just over a week now and time has flew by so quickly. This is definitely one city I would like to visit again, it’s a very exciting place where you just never get board, its also a bit crazy..but in a good way! I’ve enjoyed some time here relaxing and sight seeing, and to also think about the work I’ve been doing over the last month. Ive also gained an insight of how the sex industry works in Hong Kong and I have become more aware of how different lifestyles and cultures can impact on our whole life experiences and expectations.

Prostitution in Hong Kong is legal, but subject to various restrictions, including soliciting and advertising for sex, running brothels and organized prostitution. Many women working in the industry are from mainland China coming into HK on working visas. Women from a range of nationalities are working in HK sex markets women from China, Poland, Russia,Thailand and the Philippines.

I’ve heard of some different situations in relation the the local sex markets in Hong Kong, some being the same like everywhere else in the world. I’ve had conversations with people about short time hotels, one women brothels and women working inside bars and clubs. I’ve also been concerned about young girls doing sex work.

I’ve also noticed a lot of people street begging often people with a physical disability and very young children being used to beg on the streets from their parents. This was sometimes very difficult to witness.

I will add the rest of my pictures from Australia and Hong Kong in a couple of days to finish the blog. For obvious reason I wasn’t able to get pictures of all the places I visited and the places where I worked. I will be flying back to cold Newcastle on Friday and will arrive on Saturday morning. I look forward to writing my final report for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust when I get back.

Thanks again to everyone who has followed and for your ongoing support.

Laura. X

Fellowship Pictures

I’ve attached some pictures, if you look to the right side of this page. I’ve only managed to add a few, I will add the rest soon.

Laura

Update in Perth

Perth

When I wrote this message I was sitting in Perth International Airport waiting for my flight to Hong Kong..very excited!! I used this time to update on the last week in Perth. There was so much going on in all the services at Perth it was difficult to get a comprehensive overview of all the individual programs. When a project is that interesting and relevant to your client group you have tones of questions to ask and you want to spend as much time there as possible to fully understand and appreciate all the project principles and models of practice. You just get your head around the basics and then it’s nearly ready to leave. I’ve gathered lots of contacts from various services so if i’ve forgotten to ask something I can make contact on a later date.

On Tuesday I was with Megenta which is a team of workers that work with indoor based sex workers. Magenta is part of the same service as SWOPWA who I’ve spoke about previously, they work with street sex workers. Magenta and SWOPWA are both part of Family Planning WA. I really liked the fact that they had two different teams for the different sex workers. This made lots of sense to me and it was excellent for service user identity, the two client groups will usually present with some very different needs. I realised that the sex work projects I was visiting didn’t provide any case management to their clients including clients who were exploited and wouldn’t describe themselves as a sex worker, people doing sex for favours didn’t really engage with sex work projects. This is why I felt it was important to have different project identities.

The aboriginal worker at WH I met with was preparing for a kids disco as it was the school holidays.The aboriginal project first started as a service supporting aboriginal grandparents. This was because grandparents will care for their children’s children,due to parents having addictions. The grandparents would be under so much pressure and demands from all members of the family. Very similar to some situations in England. There’s also a government policy called ‘closing the gap’ for aboriginal communities. This is because aboriginal communities are currently living 15 years less than other groups of people in Australia. Closing the gap is something the aboriginal project is focused around, now meeting the needs of women and their families, the grandparent project is still running well with peer support groups and group activities.

One of the interesting things about the mental health team at WH is that they had a special program for women who have experienced trauma during consultation with a health professional, and it’s a free program.

WHFS professionals are either social workers, therapist, counsellors or nurses. The child therapists are mainly art therapist, they use different creative ways to interact and communicate with young people.I found this a fascinating process and thought some of it could be implemented when working with adults. All 121 sessions have a charge at WH however charges can be wavered if a women is struggling financially and is a priority.

One of my final visits was with Cyrenian House, this is a none government funded service and offers residential and none residential support to people in WA suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. I had the opportunity to visit Saranna Women’s Project, a residential rehab program for women with children. I was able to sit in one of the groups and I was absolutely blown away by the energy and strength In the group, it was very powerful. The whole program requires a minimum of three months but women usually stay for around a year. Women are encouraged to gradually develop a therapeutic community and network, this ensures that women are supported properly in the general community once discharged. Women will attend NA / AA meetings during the week, externally from Saranna but as part of the rehab program. The accommodation is self contained cottages, there’s 14 cottages on the land. The land was in the sticks it was so peaceful and relaxed, wild animals were close by…kangaroos!! The land was donated years ago by a guy who’s two daughters died of drug overdose. On the other side of the land there was a mixed residential unit, which I was able to visit briefly. I will add some pictures ASAP of the place, it was an amazing experience and one of the most impressive services I visited during my fellowship.

The Saranna program requires you to believe in your own GOD. Everyones GOD can be different, it doesn’t need to be Jesus if this is something that people struggle to think about, I leant this at Saranna. GOD is something or someone a person feels connected to, GOD should be caring, nurturing, powerful, someone you can hand something over to and who is loving. When we talk about the 12 step program some women get worried about the concept of having faith in GOD, when you know GOD is something that helps and guides you through recovery you trust in it, and it does work. One women said her GOD was her Good Orderly Direction.

I will post again soon about Hong Kong.

Laura x

Update Perth/ WHFS

Morning,

Women’s Health and Family Services have hit the nail on the head, they have the perfect set up in my opinion, especially when focusing on family issues. I would love to see more centres like this in our area, actually I don’t think we have a centre like this at all in Newcastle. A holistic service working with the most marginalised and vulnerable group of people of our society, using skills from a variety of people, working together daily addressing a whole host of needs.The opportunity to have a centre that women and their families can walk into without feeling judged and get the highest standard of services that deals with ‘real life’ issues. We have all these great services in Newcastle but to all be based together, working towards the same goals and aims if something we don’t have, offering genuine choices for families to live happy lives.

On Friday I attended a team brief in relation to a program two of the workers are running in a Perth prison. The course is called Criminal Conduct and Substance Abuse Treatment for Women in Correctional Settings, basically a program thats for female offenders that uses strategies for self improvement and change. The program reminded me of the work being delivered at Women Services Personality Disorder group, coping with emotions. It’s around looking at offending events and the thoughts they have about these particular events, then the emotions and feelings they have which in effect is what makes someones decision to commit crime. The activities used for this were really good, the groups would work through all their events together.

STEP – Situation, Thinking, Emotions, Positive actions

I attended a group yesterday called ‘getting off and staying off’ we worked on an activity around problem solving, each person talked through a problem they were currently dealing with, turned it into a goal and worked out the best way to deal with it. We helped the women brainstorm to decide which route would be best to use for each situation. The women at this group were either past or present drug users.

I also attended staff clinical supervision, which was very much like the sessions at Cyrenians. One worker talked through a family she was working with, which was very challenging. It made me realise how services who support the whole family work best when their all from the same service, the worker mainly worked with the child but knew the dynamics in the family a lot better because of the other WHFS workers involvement. the conversations weren’t about problems with services it was all about the family.

I had a great conversation with the clinical worker, to understand how the medical side works, drop in seems key here and telephone advise. All the health is foucused on women’s issues, breast checks, contraception, smears etc….

I’m with MAGENTA now, the sex worker team that works with parlours and private workers.

Speak soon, Laura x

WHFS

Morning,

Yesterday I was with Fiona the manager of the community Development Team. Some funding has been secured for a year from Lottery West, to do activities with all the children whose parents use the services at WHFS, so this can be any of the services i.e. Domentic Violence service, Drug and Alcohol and Mental Health services etc…  It’s the 2 weeks holiday at the moment so yesterday everyone went roller skating at the ‘Rolladrome’. It was excellent to see all the kids and parents from different backgrounds mixing together, women recovering from drug addiction, women on treatment for BBV’s, women with mental health issues and women who work with the DV service. It was amazing that these opportunities were provided to families who may not always have chance to do this kind of thing. When the kids go back to school they can talk about all the fun things they did in the holidays, feeling more connected with the community.

On Wednesday I was with the Domestic Violence Abuse Service (DVAS) which is based around the corner from WHFS but part of the same body, this service is also based on the ‘one stop shop’ model.  I met with the counsellor/psychologist Yolanda who provides 121 sessions and is looking at developing groups work using a guide from UK Women Aid. I was interesting to speak with Yolanda to talk about the work she does around personality disorders and attachment disorders, we talked for ages! I then met with Louisa the Multicultural Women’s worker who was amazing and so funny, she really inspired me.  Louisa helped me understand the different visa’s women come in the country on and how they are put into vulnerable positions with men. Most of Louisa’s clients are from countries like Thailand, China, Poland and Russia. Some of the stories L told me about the relationships some of these women were in and they were horrific, many women are stuck because of limited resources are will be deported back to countries where they feel extremely embarrassed, feel shame and are sometimes at more risk of harm . Most of her work is advocacy support around finding legal status and housing issues. A solicitor is also always on site to deal with any legal matters, part of the ‘one stop shop’.

DVAS was set up initially as an advocacy service and because clients kept coming back when crisis had settled for continued support the developed in to providing extra interventions. Education and employment, counselling, family therapy and peer support groups. I also found the coordinated multi-agency group that DVAS facilitated very good. which aims to case manage cases in the central area and if no succesful outcome is achieved and services think the case is a priority the case can go to senior manages, then to a government led group if need be. They used this process when they experienced difficulties with taxi drivers.   

Off to the offending program meeting now so I’ll speak again soon, Laura x

 

1st Day at Women’s Health and Family Service

Afternoon,

Firstly…..Perth is beautiful, I’m in love with the place. It’s very chilled and relaxed and the sun is always out!!! I went to Kings Park on Sunday…amazing views of the city.

I Met with all the managers from WHFS earlier this afternoon, everyone has their own area of work they specialised in. I’ve made arrangements to meet with everyone’s projects individually. So..for the rest of the week I’ll be with the domestic violence team, with the family workers (going roller skating…HELP ME…!!…..self defence now roller skating, jack of all trades now!) and I’m with the alcohol and other drugs team, this involves attending a women’s offending group.

The manager from the drugs and alcohol team once managed a centre similar to Ridley Villas, and has said I can make arrangements to visit the place, it’s called Cyrenian House. The mental health team here work with the children and mothers, can’t wait to hear more about these programs and the impact the sessions have.

WHS have a new base on ‘Newcastle street’ in North-bridge, which is fantastic, it’s basically a ‘one stop shop’ with a counsellors, a nurse, a G.P, a child’s nursery, training rooms, nutritionist and so much more. I’m looking forward to find out more about how the service works with children, they offer therapeutic support to children who’s parents are using illicit drugs or have other complex needs. This service do some peer based work too but it’s not a fully peer driven service.

Staff at WHFS said that North-bridge was pretty mad on a weekend, lots of drugs and alcohol etc.. they said that I shouldn’t go at night. Before I knew this I was in North-bridge the last couple of days and thought it was really nice, maybe I’m not seeing the worst part or Newcastle is rough at out?? Ha…I’ll keep a closer eye out for things going on.

After my induction I walked around the corner to Sex Work Outreach Project Western Australia, SWOPWA, Ive left my number to hopefully go back to do a day with them. SWOPWA is funded through health and is one of many specialist sexual health services in FPWA Family Planning WA. The team is a mixture of nurses, social workers, peers and support worker. A GP also works in the centre once a week. they work with parlours and street sex workers and are responsible for the whole of WA.

Look forward to posting again with more info on practices and service delivery.

Laura x