23 June 2022
Chilean-born Rosa Gaete is being recognised at this year’s Long Service Awards for 10 years’ service as a fundraiser and life story taker.
Growing up in Chile Rosa Gaete never thought she’d leave her country. “My family didn’t have a lot of money and in those days travelling the world wasn’t something that people from the lower to middle classes did,” she says.
But as a young adult she made a friend who convinced her to travel so instead of buying a car she spent her savings on a plane ticket to England. There, she met her husband at the boarding house she first stayed in, and the couple, who are no longer together, moved to New Zealand to raise their son.
Rosa, who put herself through evening classes to learn English when she started working, has lived in New Zealand for almost 40 years, working many of those as an accountant in Auckland city. Since moving to Hibiscus Coast 13 years ago she has joined many groups to feel part of the community and she especially enjoys attending local art classes and being part of the Hibiscus Coast Writers Inc. group.
“I miss my family and friends, but New Zealand has become my home,” she says.
Ten years ago, Rosa began volunteering for Harbour Hospice, starting on the fundraising team and later also joining the life stories team because she loves to write.
“I really enjoy getting to know the patients as they tell their stories,” she says. “People think they’re not interesting or that they don’t have a story to tell, but they always do. Often the gold is in the little things, what they see as ordinary.”
Rosa says that listening to people’s tales gives her a sense of who they are, and she has been surprised to find that most patients are at peace with knowing their life will soon end.
She has learned a lot about life outside her own experience. From one patient she gained insight into what it was like to grow up during a war. “You learn about history, what it’s like to live in other countries, you hear how couples meet, why people choose the careers they do, what inspires them,” she says.
The way people talk about their spouses often reveals what they value most in a relationship, she says. “For some it’s love, for others it’s having a good provider or ‘a decent guy’.”
Rosa considers her role on the life stories team to be a true privilege. It has also made her realise that she has her own story to tell one day, too. “We’ve all lived a life,” she says. “Sometimes we just don’t know it.”
We’re looking for more life story writers to join our Hibiscus Coast team. If you’d like to become a life story writer please contact Vincent Maire on Vincent.Maire@harbourhospice.org.nz or by calling him on 09 421 9180.
