15th November 2009
Big blog apologies for a few weeks of missing blogs! We have been absolutely out of control busy here at Pozhet! Between planning our calendar for next year and organising our Annual Workshop and WAD campaign Kate and Jess have barely had time to breath, let alone have a colouring competition!
Our Annual Workshop, which was held on Saturday the 14th of November was a great success! The new venue definitely added a bit of something different and our Sumba Drum workshop got everyone grooving to the beats! The day allowed us to discuss some pretty important issues and make some great connections.
December the 4th is our end of year party so make sure you pen it in to your diaries! Otherwise, sadly that’s our client events for the year! Our calendar for next year will be out soon and let me tell you, it’s going to be jam packed and pretty awesome!
28th October 2009
This has been a very very busy and sad week at Pozhet! Sad news first, our dear Nalini has sadly left the Pozhet team. While we are going to miss her, we wish her well and good luck teaching English in Cambodia!
On Tuesday we had a carers day at the Tree of Hope to acknowledge carers day and week and say a big thankyou to all those carers out there! It was a fantastic day with great information and sessions, massages, balloon therapy and a very tasty BBQ!
We have also begun filming our WAD 2009 YouTube video which we are working on with Family Planning NSW. Kate and Jess displayed their fabulous acting skills and are basically both shoe –ins for an Oscar! We’ll keep you posted on the video’s progression and release date!
Apart from all of that craziness, we are finalising details of our Annual Workshop (14th November, don’t forget to RSVP!) and starting work on end of year PARTY!
We are also hard at work on our website, developing new resources and creating a jam-packed calendar for 2010.
If you would like give us some input, please don’t hesitate to contact us on the freecall line 1800 812 404 or on our email Pozhet@pozhet.org.au
9th October 2009
Hi everyone! Although end of year is approaching, things seem to be picking up rather than winding down in the Pozhet office. Final bits and pieces of planning for the Pozhet Annual Workshop is underway, and invitations will be coming out in the mail sometime soon. We’ve got a fun, support and information packed day planned for you, so pencil Saturday 14th of November into your diaries, and be sure to RSVP early!
Kate was invited to speak at a GP education session last week and took the opportunity to inform GPs about Pozhet services.
The team has also been working on a fresh, new look and updated contents for the Pozhet website. We’ll keep you updated on how it is coming along, especially closer to the launch date. How about having YOUR say on what is on the website and how it looks? Give us a call on 1800 812 404 or email us at pozhet@pozhet.org.au to tell us what you’d like to see on the website.
Finally, we have been working in partnership with Family Planning NSW to produce a YouTube campaign to address stigma and discrimination as part of our plans for World AIDS Day 2009. Very EXCITING!! Keep an eye out for it on our website!
2nd October 2009
What’s been happening in the wonderful world that is Pozhet I hear you ask? The Pozhet Retreat of course! A lucky group of Pozhet clients joined Jess and Kate on the Pozhet retreat at the lovely mount white. The weekend was thoroughly enjoyed by all, even though it got a little bit windy and cold!
The retreat began with a master chef cook off between Jess and Kate. Veggie lasagne v. chicken lasagne was the focus of some very hot competition. After hours of preparation and a lot of support and help, Kate’s veggie lasagne came out triumphant. Jess maintains that her chicken lasagne only lost because of a sauce/recipe issue, this is still being debated in the Pozhet offices!
The rest of the weekend was filled with some great group activities, bushwalking, a trip to the oyster farm, charades and lots of relaxing! When we weren’t busy doing activities and relaxing, we were cooking! The retreaters were fantastic in the kitchen and I’m pretty sure everyone left feeling as though they weren’t going to need to eat for a week!
Most importantly though, the weekend was a fantastic opportunity for Pozhet clients to meet and get to know each other, have some good chats, gain support and make new friendships. There were really some fantastic outcomes from the weekend and we definitely could not have done it without the help of Margaret from the Tree of Hope.
Unfortunately there were a few people who had expressed interest and weren’t able to make it in the end; we are sorry that we couldn’t accommodate all requests, but next year’s retreat is just around the corner!
Also coming up is the Annual Workshop! The date has been set, (14th November), the venue booked (The Factory in Redfern) and the invitations are in production! We would like to thank Tree of Hope & Margaret(s) for their support of the Annual Workshop with providing a great venue for so many years of great partnership. This strong partnership will of course continue with Margaret again helping to facilitate the workshop, (and of course ongoing events at Tree of Hope). As usual, we will be offering accommodation scholarships for those people from rural areas of NSW, for more information, please contact us ASAP! Details of the workshop will be coming soon!!!
Pozhet Blog by Kate
18th September 2009
Hello everyone!
There has been much excitement around the Pozhet office with the Retreat just around the corner… recipes are being sought and shopping lists are growing by the minute! Stay tuned to hear how it goes!!
Pozhet, with our NSW HIV Positive Health Promotion Interagency partners, are proud to present No More Butts; a quit smoking website and program for people living with HIV. No More Butts is funded by the Cancer Council, provides information about Quit programs, financial assistance available and other supports for people who are interested in quitting smoking. For more information, go to: www.nomorebutts.org.au
Keep an eye out for the Pozhet October-December Newsletter that was sent out to those of you on our mailing lists last week. It is also available for you to download from the website October newsletter
Work is continuing on many other fronts, including the World AIDS Day campaign, our Annual Workshop and the Pozhet-Sanctuary Needs Assessment and Pozhet Service Review. Finally, Pozhet is also in the process of meeting with youth services with the hope of creating something (maybe a group, or perhaps an event or an activity) for Pozhet teenagers and young people. Interested in finding out more or having your say? Give us a call on 1800 812 404 or email us on pozhet@pozhet.org.au
Pozhet Blog by Nalini
16th September 2009
As there hasn’t been a blog update in a while we certainly have a lot to catch up on! The 21st of August marked the come back of Pozhets partners plus programme. To celebrate the programs return we headed out to a great Japanese teppanyaki restaurant in Newtown. The great company and food were definitely the highlights of the night, and leaving the restaurant covered in rice wasn’t too far behind!
The Pozhet team has also been extremely busy organising the retreat and our annual workshop, finalising our needs analysis and planning for 2010. We have also conducted some training sessions, attended a lot of meetings and have begun some new and exciting partnership work.
Kate and Pene are off to ASHM this week to present some of their fantastic work, Nalini is working hard our newsletter and needs analysis and I’m busy with organising our annual workshop and World AIDS Day campaign.
Here at Pozhet we are constantly being asked about good places to meet people. Apart from Pozhet events and our web forum we have recently been contacted by a website called PozVibrations. The website is specifically geared towards HIV positive men and women in Australia. It is a good place to look for a friend or partner. It is an anonymous and secure environment to meet others. PozVibrations can be found at www.pozvibrations.com
Speaking of all things technical, Pete attended an access course and has begun work on our new database! This is very exciting and will be a great addition to Pozhet. We are all very appreciative and impressed with Pete’s efforts and ability with our website and database, we don’t know what we would do without him!
Pozhet Blog by Jessica
29th July 2009
If has been a busy few weeks; but here is a snapshot of what has been happening:
Retreat. The date is now set, 25-27 September. Flyers will be out soon, with more details. If you are interested in coming along, please contact us for more information or to register your interest. As this is a really popular event we can’t guarantee places when you first call; once we’ve reached the cut-off date we’ll make our final selections and confirm with people whether or not they have been successful in securing a place. Confirmation will be sent out 1 month prior to the retreat.
Annual Workshop. We’ve been contacting a few different organisations to run a session at the workshop, including a Samba Workshop, a Ceroc Dancing Class and Hula Hooping. We hope to confirm soon.
Company B at The Belvoir St Theatre has provided us with free passes for their production of The Promise. The performance is for people on a pension, with health care or Veterans’ Affairs Card and is on Thursday 20th august at 2pm. If you’d like more details please contact us 1800 812 404 or Company B Box Office Directly on 9699 3444.
We had our first meeting of our Consumer Reference Group. The group discussed some of our current programs and talked about possibilities for the future. The group will meet once every 3 months and we’re keen to have a few more people involved; if you’re interested, please contact me for further details.
We are looking at developing a training program for health services around the issues related to and experiences of people living heterosexually with HIV. We have been talking with NSW Health go some great data and with Family Planning NSW to see how we can work together.
I’ve met with Nicky from NUAA and Rachel from SWOP for an update on some of their fantastic programs, and to see how we can best work together.
Our work with Family Planning NSW, Multicultural HIV/AIDS Hep C Service and ACON on the Women and HIV Factsheets is ongoing; we are in the final stages before they can be released.
The Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference is coming up in September and Pozhets, along with NCHSR have had a poster accepted for presentation. The poster will raise awareness of the diversity of the Pozhet community.
We have been working with The Sanctuary on two projects. Firstly, we are having a joint BBQ lunch on 17th September from 12-2pm, if you would like to come, please RSVP (for catering purposes) to Pozhet on 1800 812 404 or The Sanctuary on 9519 6142. And secondly, with various other partners, we are developing a new group for those getting back into work, study and play; dates are yet to be confirmed.
PartnersPlus Dinner will be on Friday 21st August. Places are limited to 5 couples. To avoid disappointment make sure you get in quick.
For the first time ACON’s Positive Living Centre have opened up their Healthy Life Plus Program to Women. The program is for HIV+ men and women as an introduction to exercise and general health and is of 12 weeks duration. Healthy Life Plus offers weekly health seminars and discussions, individualised training programs and free gym membership at KX Fitness in Kings Cross. Fore more information contact Vicky or Sammy on 9699 8756.
We look forward to hearing from you via email or freecall or seeing you at one of our upcoming events!
18th June 2009
Nalini was there to give Margaret a hand at the second Tree of Hope BBQ on the 10th of June. Despite the freezing conditions, the turnout was great! Many, many thanks to our chefs who braved the cold to cook up the sausages, which everyone enjoyed in the warmth of the usual Tree of Hope meeting place. Thanks also to Margaret and one of the participants for the great desserts!
Pozhet was one of the organisations at the Airds Health and Fitness Expo on the weekend. It was a good opportunity to network with some of the service providers who work in Sydney’s southwest. Keep an eye out for the Pozhet July newsletter, which is in the pipelines and should be on its way to the clients on our mailing list sometime next week.
10th June 2009
Hi everyone!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Jess, the new Women’s Health Education worker at Pozhets!
I’m really excited to be working at this great service with Kate and Nalini and have lots of exciting ideas and plans! Currently, I’m organising the very missed Partners Plus event! I’m organising a great dinner out at an exciting and delicious restaurant! The dinner will be held on the 21st of August 2009 and Ill let you all know the rest of the details as soon as I know them!
I’m also working on developing a Fertility Resource that concentrates of pre-conception health and issues as well as the processes and methods of conception. If anyone has any ideas or feedback about this I would love to hear from you! (Jessica.Elkaim@ssswahs.nsw.gov.au)
Over the last few weeks I’ve also been apart of some really interesting events. The African Women’s Day on the 5th of June was a really great day! A lot of support and strength was generated amongst the women and a quick shopping trip at the Haven didn’t hurt as well!
Nalini and I also had a great time at Rendezvous on the 5th of June at the Sanctuary! We ate some very tasty food and had some great conversations. We hope to see more of you there in September!
That’s all from me for now. I look forward to meeting you all in the very near future!
Jess
30th May 2009
Sorry about the period of silence everyone, it has been a very busy few weeks…
The 3rd African Women’s Day (a partnership project between Pozhets, The Lemongrove Unit & ACON Women & Families Affected by HIV Project) took place on the 1st of May. It was a fantastic get-together for the women, and there was some singing and dancing alongside important information about services. The next African Women’s Day will be Friday 5th of June. Contact Kate (1800 812 404), Elizabeth (02 4734 3861) or Margot (9699 8756) for more information.
Open House 1st of May. Rob Lake from Positive Life NSW was there to share his knowledge on ‘Ageing with HIV’ at our Open House at the Tree of Hope. There was some interesting discussion and we hope that those who attended had some of their questions answered.
The Women’s Wellness Day at the Sanctuary was held on the 8th of May. It was great a day of stretching, relaxing and pampering with yoga, massages and manicures, with some great information thrown in about stress management and nutrition from Positive Central team members Lisa (Occupational Therapist) and Ella (Dietician). Most importantly, it was a day for the women to kick their shoes off and spend time chatting with and getting to know each other.
The HIV 101 Workshop which was planned for the 9th of May has been postponed. Pozhet and Positive Life hope to run the workshop later in the year, and we are getting together a list of people who are interested. Please contact us if you are interested in attending, or would like more information about HIV 101.
Pozhet hosted a lunch on the 9th of May for those who had registered for HIV 101 and a few other interested people. John Coady from Short Street Sexual Health Centre and Denise Cummins from Redfern Community Nursing led an interesting discussion around disclosure, relationships, treatments and lots of other issues. Thank you to those who made the long trek out, your presence was much appreciated. It was a great afternoon, with delicious food and good company.
9th May 2009
HIV 101 a one day workshop. have you been recently diagnosed? Do you have any unanswered questions about HIV? Lunch is provided more info here
15th April 2009
Open House 3rd April. It was great to see some new faces and a few familiar ones at the Open House at the Sanctuary on the 3rd of April. Sharing time, conversation and getting to know each other seemed to be the theme for this open house, and a great time was had by everyone. As there were free tickets up for grabs, almost everyone who attended the Open House claimed their ticket and went for a show at the Belvior Street Theatre afterwards.
A new addition to Pozhet
Hi everyone, my name is Nalini and I started with Pozhet a few weeks ago as the new part-time Project Officer. I have mostly been doing training and getting to know the service during this time, and attended my first Open House on the 3rd of April. I'm excited about working with the Pozhet team and look forward to meeting and getting to know all of you through the phoneline and events in the coming months!
8th April 2009
Kate went on a visit to Albury with Vicki & Sue from BGF, Rob & Lance from Positive Life NSW and Shannon from ACON. The trip was a great opportunity to meet with and provide services for people living in the local area who are affected by HIV and to meet with The Albury Sexual Health Centre. We are looking to plan another trip to the Greater Southern Area Health Service, next time to Queenbeyan & Bega; watch this space
The Pozhet Phoenix Workshop has been postponed to later in the year. Unfortunately we didn’t get the expected number of men registering to go ahead, so we will wait until we have a core group of men who confirmed they will come. If you are interested, please contact us so we can put you onto a waiting list.
Kate met with the ASHM GP Shared Care working group to discuss the way forward in developing a register of ‘HIV Friendly GPs’. We are interested in hearing from clients who have had good experiences with GPs.
The 2nd African Women’s Day, a partnership project between Pozhets, The Lemon Grove Unit & ACON Women & Families Affected by HIV Project was held on Friday 3rd April at Mamre House at St Mary’s. Sue & Peter from BGF and Colleen & Maud from The Haven came as guest speakers. The next African Women’s Day will be Friday 1st May. Contact Kate (1800 812 404), Elizabeth (02 47 4734 3861) or Sam (9699 8756) for more information
1st April 2009
Kate is off to Albury this weekend to meet with local servicer providers in the area. Pene Manolas meet with nurses in the Justice Health system to discuss HIV positive people in jail. Aussie Bum had given us 180 pair of special red ribbon briefs, we sold most of them at the Mardi Gras fair and the rest went at the Taylor Square community market. The money raised will go to fund special projects.
19th March 2009
Our latest Connections mailout has been processed and will be posted on Friday to all our clients on our mailing list. The latest edition of the Pozhet Newsletter and Talkabout accompanies our flyers advertising the next two Open Houses, "A Night at the Theatre" and "Positive Ageing" as well as our Womens Wellness day at The Sanctuary on Friday 8 May. This will definetly be a popular event and places are filling up fast so be in quick to reserve your place. There are free hampers from our sponsor L'Oreal. Information on our one day workshop HIV 101 is also included.
11th March 2009
Open House for 3 April "A Night at the Theatre" and 1 May "Positive Ageing" view the flyer here
Phoenix workshop... a weekly workshop for positive heterosexual men. Topics and speakers have been finalised; building resilience, depression,health and nuitrition, treatment update, negotiating relationships and BGF basics. Details in our next newsletter or phone Kate at Pozhet 1800 812 404 or Johnny at BGF 9283 8666
6th March 2009
Treatment Update 7pm – 9pm Tree of Hope more info here
28th February 2009
"African Beats" a Cultural Family Day 10am – 3pm; Parramatta Park- The Picnic Ground. Entry off Park Ave, approx 300 meters from Westmead Train Station. An interactive experience with: African Drumming sensation "DRUM BEATS", Craft activities with "Pine Street Gallery", Free BBQ Lunch, Chrildren's face painting etc etc. A Pozhet/ACON joint project.
15th February 2009
Mardi Gras Fair Day Sunday 15th February 9:30am - 4:30pm
11th February 2009
On Friday 6th Feb we kicked off our Open House calender for 2009 with a session on ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ at The Sanctuary in Newtown.
Lisa Johnson from Positive Central and Celia Eregizli from RPA led a very interesting and educational topic on setting goals and strategies to follow to achieve those goals. We were very excited to see a couple of new faces and to learn what important goals people are setting in their lives for 2009!
Our next Open House will be at the Tree of Hope on 6th March and will include a Treatments Update by Peter Canavan from NAPWA.
We also look forward to a big event at Parramatta Park on the 28th February! In partnership with the Women’s and Families affected by HIV project (ACON), Pozhet will be running a Family Cultural Day called ‘African Beats’ at Parramatta Park from 10am – 3pm. We have some very exciting activities organised including a free BBQ lunch, an African drumming workshop and craft activities by ‘Pine Street Gallery’. It is going to be a very fun and sociable day so I encourage all of you to try and get there at some stage during the day!
Location: Parramatta Park ‘The Picnic Ground’ (area 7 on the map). Entry off Park Avenue, approx 300mtrs from Westmead Train Station) Click here to see the flyer
Till next time,
The Pozhet Team
6th February 2009
Open House New Year Resolutions 7pm - 9pm at The Sanctuary more info here
31st January 2009
Pozwest BBQ 11am - 2pm; The Haven more info here
21st January 2009
The Calendar for 2009 is now on the web. We have had two new members join the pozhet community forum this week. This is an open forum where you are welcome to discuss any thing that you feel is important to you. You can read any of the postings, but why not register so that you can reply and make your own comments and suggestions, or just say hello.
