Simon: We move on now to the Attitude Youth Award, sponsored for the third year running
by the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust, an organization dedicated to the health and wellbeing
of young people.
Here to present the award is Wayne’s daughter and Trustee, Helena Francis. Joining her is
Attitude’s own Kristy Munro, and one of the young stars of New Zealand’s highest
grossing movie, Taika Waititi’s charming East Coast Tale, Boy.
Kristy: The Attitude Youth Award goes to an excellent young New Zealander. Our three finalists
have stepped up tonight and they’ve said, you know what I will not be defined by my
disability, what I do for this world will define me.
Te Aho: The finalists in the Attitude Youth Award are: Duncan Armstrong, Lynn Chen and
Alex Sneddon.
V/O: At just 22 Alex Sneddon is already in demand as a public speaker, that fits perfectly
with his life goals.
Alex: To be a role model for disabled people.
V/O: This year Alex addressed the World Down Syndrome conference in Ireland. Alex works
3 jobs he volunteers at the Auckland Food Bank and for a Youth Disability Camp but mostly
he wants to mentor young people with disabilities.
V/O: She an accomplished musician, a sports force to be reckoned with and a promising
scientist. Lynn Chen somehow manages to do it all.
Lynn: I work quite hard at some things, you need to believe in yourself and you need to
find a way to motivate yourself.
V/O: Lynn was born profoundly deaf and while she has a coglier implant, sounds are difficult
to distinguish. She’s learned English, Mandarin and New Zealand sign language to communicate
with her family and peers. This year Lynn’s academic potential was recognised when she
was invited to the prestigious Deaf Space Camp in the US, a kind of astronaut training.
Lynn: It was the greatest experience.
V/O: The first 21 years of Duncan Armstrong’s life have been spent laying the foundation
for his dream to be a performer and an advocate.
Duncan: I love performing because it’s fun and people out there like it.
V/O: Duncan’s an actor, drummer, songwriter, he’s on the Wellington Youth City Council
and has presented to a wide range of conferences. He does voluntary work for a dance company,
church group and a dance programme.
Duncan: You need to get out and take action, if you don’t your life your life can be
destroyed.
Helena Francis: Kia ora and good evening, the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust is a family
foundation, we’re based in Christchurch and our focus is on youth and young people,
aged 0 to 25 and all that’s involved in their development and transition into adulthood.
Our philosophy is very much a hand up and not a hand out.
And the winner is Alex Sneddon.
Alex: My name is Alex Sneddon, my life is good.
V/O: Alex Sneddon was just a kid in primary school when he first saw a homeless man on
the street. As young as he was, he knew he wanted his life to be about helping others.
Alex: He got no money, no family, no friends, no nothing. I get my wallet out and I give
the coins to him.
V/O: Alex lives with Down Syndrome His parents raised him to believe in himself and challenge
anyone who said he couldn’t do the things he wanted. Alex is aware of other people who
have disabilities who don’t chase their dreams; he’d like to help them change their
outlook on life.
Alex: To be a role model for disabled people. I like to show people’s problems, what is
a topic, what’s inside of your mind, what are your thoughts, what do you think.
V/O: But Alex wanted a career, he’d approached an employment agency but they kept offering
him jobs like pushing supermarket trolleys, placing limits on what they thought he was
capable of. Alex formed a management team; he called them his Champions, family and friends
with skills to help Alex live the life he’d imagined. Today he juggles 3 jobs.
Alex: On a Wednesday I work at the Food Bank for the homeless people. On Thursdays I work
for the (?) and on Friday’s I work for Drake Personal.
V/O: He manages his schedule just fine, Alex says, life’s good. But he’s noticed some
of his friends, who also have Down Syndrome, don’t always push to make their dreams happens
and he’s letting the world know that, that’s not right. He’s building strong connections
with plenty of plans for his own future.
Alex Sneddon: I am so proud to win this Award, I would like
to congratulate for everyone at the Awards. Thank you to everyone from Attitude, to my
family and to my Champions, also to Mark thank you.
Simon: Art has long had a special place in the lives of people living with a disability
and in fact Attitude has featured a number of very fine artists this year. The Attitude
Artistic Achievement Award, the four A’s, is sponsored by the Ministry of Health for
the first time in 2010 and here to present it is Mr Chai Chuah, who is the National Director
of the National Health Board. Would you please also welcome Joe Naufahu.
Chai Chuah: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Chai, I’m here to represent the
Director General of Health, who sends his apologies. So it is with great pleasure tonight
that I am here to present this Award for people with disability for excelling in the area
of artistic talent.
Rene Naufahu: First off I’d like to apologise for gate crashing, Joe promised me a free
steak, it’s hard to get a job out there now days. This award is for an outstanding
achiever in any artistic endeavour. All 3 finalists tonight work in the visual arts,
and to different extents and for different reasons. The finalists for the Attitude Artistic
Achievement Award are;
Joe Naufa: Andrew Blyth, Suzanne Kahurangi King and Celeste Strewe.
V/O: When Celeste Strewe is working on her body art, she’s in a world of her own and
that suits her just fine. Born with severe hearing loss, Celeste wears hearing aids and
lip-reads.
Celeste: I think I got to the point where I don’t think of my hearing as to much of
a hurdle.
V/O: Celeste is determined to make a name for herself in the Special Effects Industry;
she’s also trained as a make-up artist. She’s already been named Best Emerging Artist
at the New Zealand Body Art Awards.
V/O: The words of painter and poet Andrew Blyth have been shown in New York, Paris and
Chicago. The international recognition Andrew’s received from the art world has had a positive
impact on his mental health. Living with paranoid schizophrenia Andrew’s had periods of being
extremely unwell, to the point where he stopped communicating with others. But he’s recognised
the need to engage with the world, still art remains his focus. This year Andrew’s health
has improved dramatically. He’s moved into his own home and begun living independently,
for the first time in 14 years.
V/O: Suzanne Kahurangi King has communicated verbally since the age of 4, when autism led
her into silence. But she’s recorded her view of the world through more than 4,000
art works. Suzanne’s 80-year-old mother Dawn has kept most of those works.
Dawn: I think it means the whole world to her, it’s just what goes on in her mind,
what she observes and it’s her fun.
Joe Naufa: Tonight’s winner is Celeste Strewe.
Celeste: Creativity I think has always been there. Body art is something I never thought
about when I was in High School and then when I was in my make-up training my tutor said
oh and would anyone like to enter the New Zealand Body Art Awards and I sort of thought
about it and went yeah ok I’ll do it.
V/O: And with that Celeste Strewe’s career was launched. But in the process of manipulating
other people’s persona, her own confidence swelled. At those first Body Art Awards she
was named Most Promising New Artist.
Celeste: That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and it was a bit of
a shock as well I suppose.
V/O: The recognition finally allowed her to overcome huge feelings of inadequacy that
came from growing up with severe hearing loss and dyslexia. Celeste comes from a family
of prominent artists. Her Mum’s a jeweller, her Brother a bronze sculpture, Dad is painter
Dean Beaucannon.
Celeste: We’re all sort of arty or creative, into making things in one form or another.
V/O: Her hearing loss isolated her. Conversations are hard work.
Celeste: When people are talking behind me, I have a tendency not to hear them at all
so it’s sort of, that can be extremely difficult. And whispering, I can’t do whispering either
so. There’s sort of situations where it’s like what are saying speak clearer.
V/O: School bullies targeted her because of her difficulty engaging in conversation. Dyslexia
compounded her school trauma; it’s art that’s made her believe in herself and her future.
She’s not afraid of hard work, putting in 14-hour days on film sets. Now with dozen’s
of feature film credits to her name, it’s the top job she’s after.
Celeste: My dream is to be an HID or a make-up designer on a big paying production.
Thank you and wow, this is a, I’m all sort of jumpy now. But I would like to thank all
my family and friends who have supported me through this and to the Attitude people who
even helped me do this so, yes thank you to everyone.