Site visit for Building Regula...
Our NZ Certificate in Building Regulatory Environment (BRE) in-class stream of students had the opportunity to see their learning...
When health worker Nina Heka accrued too much annual leave, she forfeited planning a dream vacation. Instead, she is spending the holidays forging her destiny at Future Skills Academy.
The 49-year-old is studying the 15-week NZ Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Caregiving) Level 2. She encourages others contemplating further education to enrol with us. “There’s always room in your life to upskill and get yourself qualified,” she says.
Nina is a Finance Administrator at one of the country’s largest health shared service providers which supports the Northern Regions District Health Boards. “My current job is in a non-clinical atmosphere but after seeing everybody in the hospital environment and the medical staff, I felt like I wanted to take that approach and be more hands on.”
She cherishes helping seniors and with the academy is learning the skills to nurture them in a clinical setting. “I think that passion has always been there because it’s in our culture to look after and respect the elderly,” says Nina, a Niuean. “My parents taught me the morals and family values to help others that are unable to help themselves and to always care for the elderly.” The mother of four teenagers voluntarily helps two family friends in their 80s during the weekends and after school. She drives them to appointments and helps gather groceries. “Their kids don’t live in Auckland so they really appreciate someone popping in to see how they’re doing, especially little things like getting cat food for their pets.”
But the volunteer work doesn’t stop there. The Mangere East resident belongs to a monthly working bee which cleans her church, mows the lawns and changes floral arrangements. For the past 13 years, she has been a parent helper at her son’s rugby league and softball clubs. She works in the tuck shop along with making sure young players don boots and mouth guards before a game.
The Mangere East resident loves learning something new every day at Future Skills Academy. “Everyone in my class gets on well and they’re all so supportive of each other. “I’ve got a great tutor, Nazra, who’s motivated and inspiring. She’s very supportive and has so much patience.” After graduating, Nina hopes to work in the caregiving field “but I’d also like to come back and continue with the Health and Wellbeing Level 3 and 4 programmes.”
In her leisure time she is teaching herself the art of cake decorating by watching online demonstrations.
