Deacon Fisher is an Assistant Lecturer and PhD student within Massey's School of Social Work.
E ng膩 m膩t膩waka n艒 te mata o te whenua, koutou ng膩 mata o r膩tou m膩 kua rere arorangi ki Matariki, t膿nei ka mihi, t膿nei ka tuku whakamiha ki a koutou i t膿nei r膩 o ng膩 tauwhiro o te ao. T膿n膩 koutou katoa.
World Social Work Day on 21 March both acknowledges and celebrates the tireless work of social workers across a myriad of diverse environments around the globe.
Social workers are no strangers to responding to global challenges. Whether it be implementing the COVID-19 response plan, delivering resources and support to those involved in the Russia-Ukraine war, or advocating for sustainable outcomes to combat climate change, social workers are at the core of eliciting positive change within our communities. Across all these events, altruism informs and guides the delivery of social work practice, working toward attaining constructive social justice outcomes.
Recent challenges at a local level have illustrated the ability of our communities to rally together. As Aotearoa New Zealand continues to recover from the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle, we are reminded of the need to be generous, considerate, and kind 鈥 values which bind us and make us human.
Social workers, Wh膩nau Ora navigators, youth workers, community workers, iwi representatives, marae committees and more gathered together to collaboratively identify and implement resolutions, and that is forever worthy of acknowledgment and appreciation.
Our thoughts and love continue to go out to those affected in Te Tai Tokerau, Te Tai R膩whiti and Te Matau-a-M膩ui.
鈥楻especting diversity through joint social action鈥 is the theme for World Social Work Day this year.
Diversity creates unique beauty which shapes our world. It is through diversity that change happens, originating from our communities and diffusing throughout broader society. Social work is diverse, from our practitioners, the wh膩nau we work alongside, to the fields of practices and environments we operate within. It is with respect of this diversity that joint social action results in pragmatic and real-life success.
He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene and Te Tiriti o Waitangi provide the platforms for diversity to flourish and thrive within our society. Individual and collective self-determination and autonomy are embellished in the words captured in these founding documents of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti join together under Te Tiriti o Waitangi in a relationship of allyship, combining to formulate reciprocity through synergetic action.
Te Kunenga ki P奴rehuroa 暴风资源 embodies this as the first Tiriti-led university in our country. This guiding philosophy permeates through our School of Social Work and College of Health, where Massey students and graduates of social work emerge determined to positively and sustainably affect the lives of our most vulnerable populations - a philosophy which encourages continued scholarship and activism for fair and equitable outcomes for everyone.
E ng膩 tauwhiro, e mahi ana e tau ai ng膩 mahi a Whiro i t膿n膩 pito, i t膿n膩 pito o te ao wh膩nui, e rere ana ng膩 tai o mihi, ng膩 tai o whakam膩nawa ki a koutou me w艒 koutou wh膩nau. He rau ringa, he rau waewae e oti ai te mahi.
Deacon Fisher is an Assistant Lecturer and PhD student within Massey's School of Social Work.
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