Stratford teenager in line for award
Being born profoundly deaf has encouraged Taranaki’s Davy Davy to prove herself as a valuable advocate for deaf New Zealanders.
The 17-year-old from Stratford is an active member in the deaf community and is a finalist in this year’s Attitude youth Spirit Award. The national awards celebrate the excellence and achievements of Kiwis living with disability and chronic health. Davy first established a youth group for hearing-impaired Taranaki youth in 2015. The group is designed to encourage those in the deaf community to link to others within Taranaki.
‘‘I started the Taranaki Deaf Youth group as I’ve always wanted to keep deaf teenagers together in my area and make new friends,’’ said Davy.
In August this year, she arranged for the group to attend a workshop at the Len Lye gallery event ‘When Science and Art Come Together’. ‘‘One of my goals is to make sure other deaf teenagers know they are not the only ones experiencing challenges, because there are always others out there who can help,’’ said Davy.
Davy’s mother Kelly says her daughter wants to hold events throughout the year.
‘‘Davy wishes to bring more awareness about deafness to the community,’’ says Kelly. ‘‘She wants to be a mentor for other deaf youth and support and guide deaf children.’’
In 2014-2015 she was the student representative on the combined Board of Trustees for the Deaf Education Centres at Kelston (Auckland) and Van Asch (Christchurch) and she has been attending committee meetings for the NZ Federation for Deaf Children since age five. Davy also sailed the Spirit of Adventure in May, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Sign Language New Zealand. The five-day voyage, coordinated by Deaf Aotearoa, gave several hearing impaired youth the opportunity to sail New Zealand. ‘‘It was hard work but it was also heaps of fun,’’ she said.
There are eight categories in the 2016 Attitude Awards, with some new awards this year: Youth Spirit, Making a Difference, Emerging Athlete, Sporting Spirit, Spirit of Attitude, Artistic Achievement, Entrepreneur and Employer Award. The overall winner of the Supreme Award is selected from the category winners.