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Getting Uncomfortable for Kiwi Kids

  • FINAL UPDATE - Week 6

      10 June 2026
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    This whole challenge has been an incredible experience and I’m pleased to have been able to raise some money and awareness for Safeguarding Children and their mission while getting out of my personal comfort zone in many ways.

    This week I have

    * Booked in for a night tour at Brook Sanctuary. This was a great suggestion I received and it will be “uncomfortable “ due to the fact that my night vision is incredibly poor and I know that I will struggle to see, even with a torch.

    * Tried matcha (another great suggestion). I was at an event recently where someone tried matcha for the first time and said it was “gross”. I didn’t know what to expect but actually found that I enjoyed it and so far I have tried a matcha smoothie, matcha icecream, matcha latte and matcha tea.

    *I still have a psychodrama class (a great suggestion and happening next week) and a blood donation appointment (a challenge I set myself which is happening the following week when the mobile bus is in town) to attend and I have every intention of following through with these challenges.

    * If you pledged money and haven’t yet followed through, this page closes on Sunday 14th June. If you wish to donate after that, you will need to do so via the Safeguarding Children Givealittle page.

    Thanks again for the suggestions, they really helped me to maintain momentum. Let’s keep the conversation going and do our bit to keep children safe. I’m onto my next chapter now 😊

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  • Week 5 Complete - Moving to the end of a worthwhile challenge

      4 June 2026
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    A bit of a mixed bag of results this week

    * I discovered I LOVE Hot Yoga - I went into it feeling nervous due to online reports of participants feeling nauseous, dizzy etc. I’m happy to report that despite an intense sweat, I only felt good during my session. Thanks to the person who suggested it, what a great experience at Forme Fitness 😊

    *I had a second response to my political rep contact around child safeguarding and protection challenge from last week, thanks Blair Cameron from National for your message.

    *I spent several hours writing up a potential story for the website “The Sabbatical Project “ (another great suggestion from last week) and then the Submit button wouldn’t work ☹️ I messaged, explained the situation and took some screenshots of my work but have heard nothing back so far. It was a cathartic exercise to document my activities and learnings over the last 9 months and I’d love to share this on this website dedicated to sabbaticals, so I hope this can be remedied.

    *Great response to the Safeguarding Children Facebook post (I’ve put the photo up again as it’s a great one!)

    *I had some lovely “lighter” challenge ideas come through to me this week, some of which will be the perfect way to finish the final week. I’m still waiting keenly (and gratefully) on several pledges so if you messaged me re this, I’d love to see these donations come through 🙂 as the campaign finishes end of next week.

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  • Week Four Complete - Working through some great suggestions!

      29 May 2026
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    Week Four has again been very productive! This week…

    *I met with the Safeguarding team (see the great photo they are using for their Facebook and newsletter)

    *Completed several suggestions including

    - Attending a Hot Yoga class (booked for next week)

    - Attending a Psychodrama class (booked for next fortnight)

    - Contacting local political reps about child safeguarding and protection (one fast and thorough reply thus far from Rachel Boyack, thank you Rachel)

    - Completing an interesting exercise in self analysis through food choice

    - Going for a run.

    Next week -

    *I’ve been given a challenge to wear fancy dress in public. This is so out of my comfort zone that I’ve decided I will do it (and will wear it down the Main Street in either Richmond or Nelson) but ONLY if I get some more donations from at least 5 NEW donors (including pledges I’m currently waiting on) to go towards the worthy Safeguarding Children Initiative. It’s in your hands people!

    *I’ve also been challenged to document my sabbatical, recording what I’ve been doing and what I’ve learnt during my 9 months off work. What a great idea. I’m going to contribute a story to “The Sabbatical Project” website and see if they accept it. My sabbatical is coming to an end soon as I’m starting a new job so the timing is perfect and this is what I’ll focus on this coming week 😊

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  • Beginning of Week 4 - Two exciting updates

      26 May 2026

    Hard to believe that it’s already Week 4 of this challenge.

    * This morning I met with the amazing team at Safeguarding Children. What a great group of people! I enjoyed hearing more about what they do and sharing conversation around child safeguarding/protection (and some yummy morning tea). I “got uncomfortable” by having my photo taken for their Facebook/newsletter (as mentioned before, putting myself out there doesn’t come naturally to me but it is worth it to bring attention to the mahi they do and to child safeguarding/protection in general).

    * After a bit of a lull, I have received some fabulous ideas from people in my inbox this week regarding new challenges and I’m very excited to try them! I may need to extend the closing date for this challenge by a couple of weeks though as I don’t think I can fit them all in by the end of this week!

    THANKS FOR ALL THE KINDNESS, SHARING AND IDEAS SO FAR!!

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  • Week Three Complete - Random Acts of Kindness towards Strangers

      22 May 2026

    *This week I shared my page with some of the people who know me best, bringing awareness to this cause and the challenges I’ve completed so far. Although nobody was in a position to donate, I did appreciate the words of encouragement and those who shared what I was doing with others.

    * I completed a week of Random Acts of Kindness towards strangers. I hope I brought a smile to some local people’s faces this week but to share exactly what I did would be to ruin the magic!

    Next week is the final week of this challenge. I am looking forward to meeting the team at Safeguarding Children to hear a little more about what they do and to brainstorm other ways we can work within our community to share the message and to support our most vulnerable.

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  • Second Week Completed, Harder Challenges, More to Come….

      17 May 2026

    This week I have…

    *Completed a Litter Pick Up Challenge

    *Went for an Icy Cold Beach Swim

    *Did 464 minutes (7.75 hours) of silent reflection, one minute for each child killed at the hands of NZ adults. Read each child’s story, which broke my heart.

    *Walked 5KM in memory of these children, carrying their names close to my own heart (literally) while I walked.

    *Scared myself walking the pitch black Spooners tunnel alone (with only a weak torch) after watching a scary video about the tunnel.

    More details are again in the Comments section after each donation.

    Now that I’ve completed a reasonable number of challenges, next week I’ll start sharing this page (VERY out of my comfort zone as I struggle to put myself out there but need to remember that it’s not about me, it’s about this worthy cause!) and inviting people to suggest challenges for me to complete in return for a donation to Safeguarding Children.

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  • One Week Down, 12 Different Challenges, Stepping It Up Next Week

      8 May 2026

    THIS WEEK I….

    * Tried 3 new food experiences/types/places

    * Faced 3 bad habits of mine head on.

    * Tried 3 different group experiences

    * Stepped outside my comfort zone in other ways 3 times.

    Details of exactly what I did are in the comments section after each donation.

    This was a good way to ease into my Getting Uncomfortable For Kiwi Kids Challenge. Week Two, I’m turning up the challenge level another notch with a different and bigger challenge every day. I will continue to donate to Safeguarding Children after each challenge as well. My donations may be smaller (I’m currently 9 months through a years sabbatical so I’m watching every $) but as they start to add up, they can make a difference.

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