Author: humansingeelong

‘In 1972 my elder sister Marie-Louise died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).  She was the first born child of my parents, Rosalie and Peter. Like many SIDS babies, Marie-Louise was a fit and healthy baby, although she had a slight cold the night she passed away.  She was just 11 weeks old.’  Today we are talking to River’s Gift Volunteer Michelle Jackman.

Michelle’s friend was joining the first running campaign of local charity River’s Gift in 2012 and asked Michelle to join her.  Michelle had never run before and was looking for a way to get fit, as well as something that she could do just for herself.

Continue reading “River’s Gift, Michelle” →

‘I lost my beautiful wife, Jenny Simko, 55, to the cruel and indiscriminate Motor Neuron Disease (MND). Jen was diagnosed in August 2014 and Rock Off MND was her idea.’ http://www.rockoffmnd.com.au/ I’m talking to Peter Simko. ‘The aim of Rock Off MND is to raise awareness and much needed funds that will go into research of this horrific disease. Our third event will be held next Saturday March 4^th at Deakin Waterfront.

‘MND is a progressive terminal neurological disease in which the nerve cells or neurons that control the muscles that enable us to move, speak, swallow and breathe slowly degenerate and eventually stop functioning.

Continue reading “Rock Off MND, Peter” →

‘Could you be a mentor for a young Mum? Hi, I’m Marley, the Geelong program coordinator for BUMP GEELONG. We are calling out to all Mums who would like to receive FREE TAFE ACCREDITATION in our Mentor training program (2^nd and 9^th of March).

Also Mentees, young, pregnant and/or parenting Mothers under 23 who need support and would like to receive TAFE access to training certification over the year.

Bump is part of the Raise Foundation that supports youth in schools across Australia. We would love to hear from anyone who is free for 2 hours a fortnight on a Thursday afternoon. Our workshops are fun and interactive. To sign up please contact www.raise.org.au or text Marley on 0425 702 225’

Humans in Geelong have posted two stories about this worthwhile mentoring program. Read about Bump in our July 18^th post or read about the the Bump Graduation in our Nov 17^th post.

Diversitat’s Pako Festa is the largest free celebration of cultural diversity in Australia! With the event celebrating its 35^th Birthday this Saturday (25 February), I caught up with Gina from Geelong’s Serbian community.

‘Pako Festa – It is such a wonderful, wonderful day. I love being part of it. The Serbian Community has been involved since the Pako Festa first started 35 years ago and I’ve been involved for 25 years myself. A large group of Serbs came out to Geelong after World War II. They assimilated well and built a church on the Ballarat Rd.

Continue reading “Pako Festa, Gina” →

‘A disturbing media story last year brought home the challenges elderly pet owners face when caring for their pets. A pet starved to death because it’s elderly owner had dementia and forgot to feed their dog.’ We hear from Dr Alicia Kennedy, of Cherished Pets. ‘In my personal experience as a vet for 30 years I’ve come to recognise the importance of pets to the elderly, as well as the challenges they sometimes face. This led me to start up Cherished Pets, a social veterinary enterprise that specifically supports pets of elderly and disabled people living alone in our community.

Continue reading “Cherished Pets, Alicia” →

‘I can remember that during “Show and Tell” at Primary School a boy brought in a little dead bat in a matchbox and I was so fascinated that I bought it from him for a penny. As a kid, I loved taking photos of the ringtails in our garden in Newtown. I’ve lived in Geelong all my life and I’ve always had an interest in wildlife.’ Trevor Pescott has written a weekly column in the Geelong Advertiser since 1960, initially about wildlife and more recently birdwatching.

Continue reading “Birdwatching, Trevor” →

Imagine the freedom to pursue a passion that has captured your heart and mind… Fred Clarke is doing just that. He is the overarching Principal of Northern Bay College (NBC), and is busily breathing life into a project that offers structured support for families of 3214.

Six years ago Fred made a short-term commitment to lead the setup of Northern Bay College, only to find he was caught up in a most rewarding way. Northern Bay College has 2,100 students on five campuses- four are P-8 (80% rebuilt with brand new facilities) and one is 9-12 (next on the refurbishing list). It is here we sit with this extraordinarily kind and motivated man to learn more.

Continue reading “Northern Bay College, Fred” →

‘I’ve been fighting for Marriage Equality since my youngest son married three years ago.  It was a happy occasion, but tinged with sadness because it struck me that my oldest son would never have this opportunity’, says Geelong for Marriage Equality’s (GME) Sharyn Faulkner. ‘I initially approached Rodney Croome of Australian Marriage Equality, in 2014. He suggested I start a local campaign for Corangamite as they were about to embark on an electorate-by-electorate journey to try to convince MPs to support Marriage Equality.

Photo: Sharyn with her two sons.

‘And so the groundbreaking Geelong for Marriage Equality (GME) was formed. http://www.facebook.com/GeelongForMarriageEquality Our group met local Federal MP, Sarah Henderson, who challenged us to demonstrate that the electorate supported Marriage Equality.

Continue reading “Geelong for Marriage Equality, Sharyn” →

Driving home to Geelong on the Melbourne highway most of us would not give a second thought to a burnt-out tyre by the side of the road, a scrap of debris or a random object gone astray, but Merinda Kelly is different. She is the kind of person to stop the car, pull over and look at the tyre in the ways that most of us would not.

Where the world sees wreckage, Merinda sees opportunity. Where there are broken pieces, she sees value and a chance to re-invent and re-imagine.

Continue reading “Art for Urban Renewal, Merinda” →