Milk of human kindness: Tokoroa mum who breastfed stranger's baby remembers not getting a feed every day

 A story from the Waikato Times by Sharmae Hope, November 8, 2021

Piripono Brown’s only gripe after offering her breast to a stranger’s hungry baby on the streets of Tokoroa is that the kind gesture did not go unnoticed.

The shy mother of three, originally from Hamilton, has admitted to being the woman who helped out a woman recovering from drug addiction, who was sitting distressed outside Tainui Superette last week.

Susan Johnson was unable to produce her own milk and had run out of money to buy baby formula due to her husband starting a new job and her application for a benefit still being processed.

Brown, who has had her own struggles, told Stuff she did not think twice about “giving the baby the boob” and would do it again.

Piripono Brown breastfed a distressed mother’s baby last week outside Tainui Dairy in Tokoroa. 

She is pictured with her own baby, Pounamu.

“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Brown told Stuff while cradling her own 3-month-old baby.

“Baby was hungry right then and I had milk that would have gone to waste. I just wanted to feed her straight away instead of running off to get formula. It is all natural anyway.”

Growing up in a rough area of Fairfield, Brown can empathise with Johnson’s situation.

While substance addiction was not rife in her household, her mum became an alcoholic after her husband died.

She often remembers wondering when her family might get their next feed.

                            “Baby was hungry right then and I had milk that would have gone to waste,” said Piripono Brown, who has three children.

“My mum tried really hard to provide for us but it was expensive to feed eight kids.'’

Her mum often had to reach out to foodbanks or generous community members to keep the cupboards stocked, she said.

“I don’t remember having a bad upbringing but we didn’t get a feed every day.” 

Now, at 24 years old, she is really appreciative of what she has and is always willing to help others in need.

“My kids are happy and healthy and have a home, whereas there are others who don't have those things.

“I am definitely not rich but I am just fortunate enough to be able to help.”

The free feed and gifting of $200 worth of groceries to Johnson is not where Brown’s generosity ends either.

                                                             Piripono Brown has been keeping other families’ bellies full as well. 

Over the past month, Brown has bought groceries for more than 50 families in Tokoroa.

She set up a Facebook page called Tokoroa Free Kai and has been supplying weekly groceries to those in need.

As well as working part-time at First Security, she is studying He Papa Tikanga (Māori worldviews) online and completing a course in health and wellbeing.

She hopes to have a career in health one day.

“I don’t want anything in return. I just like to help and it makes me happy seeing others happy.”

                                                                 Piripono Brown’s son, Pounamu Brown, is 3 months old.

Here is a link to a short interview wih Piripono Brown and the full article.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/300449141/milk-of-human-kindness-tokoroa-mum-who-breastfed-strangers-baby-remembers-not-getting-a-feed-every-day

SHARNAE HOPE • WAIKATO REPORTER
sharnae.hope@stuff.co.nz

What does gratitude look like?

This morning when I got up and read my local paper I was overwhelmed by the beauty of one woman's story in our paper. This story was written in our paper by a Stuff Report Libby Wilson and was entitled "Coronavirus: Cancer treatment in Hamilton during Covid-19 lockdown like a 'holiday''. It was certainly a title that caught my attention.

I am sure this would not feel like a holiday to me. But this is the feeling of Metua Tangaro-Daniel-Malietoa who was to begin her radiation treatment during lockdown. She says this: 
"For me, as a grandmother of eight, and four adult children ... It's the first time I have actually just not cooked, or done any kind of housework. It's like, oh, wow, thank you Lord. It's a blessing," the Tokoroa woman said.

 Metua has four adult children and eight grandchildren, so it's a change to have no cooking or housework to do while she stays in the Cancer Society's Lions Lodge in Hamilton. She was full of praise for the place she was staying in, the people around her and the meals.

Each day she writes daily thank you notes on the back of her menu! As Libby Wilson writes the former social worker says she has never eaten or slept so much, but has fitted in some work for community organisations, and daily video calls with mokos. I want to wish Metua all the best for her life ahead. I have no doubt that it is filled with joy...  as Ivan Panin wrote:

For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to recieve it. 

Thank you Metua for bringing joy into my life today. Arohanui Wendy

It is important to give thanks for each day, there is so much research now into the power of gratitude. For example there is scientific evidence that by practising gratitude we can create some important biological changes, such as a decrease in cortisol and stress levels. Gratitude will boost our energy on so many levels and create a more positive and enthusiastic outlook on life.

Amit Amin has a blog and has written about ‘The 31 Benefits of Gratitude You Didn’t Know About: How Gratitude Can Change Your Life’…

He has developed this graphic listing all the benefits of gratitude that he compiled from the results of more than 40 research studies on gratitude. Check out his full blog 

http://happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/

20 Random Acts of Kindness

Stephanie Dowick writes in her book 'Everyday Kindness'...

"Kindness will build our resilience and positivity, as well as concern for ourselves and others. It will protect us against the self-doubt and self-pity that would otherwise sap our strength. It will radically enhance our connections with others and our awareness of our capacity to give generously - and repeat the benefits that come with this. Bring kindness into the bigger picture of our lives will wake up and utilize our powers to choose, and to choose wisely and well. It will make us much easier to like and to love.

Our acts of kindness toward other people also depend on our consciousness of choice, and a willingness to take charge of our attitudes and actions. Those acts of kindness demonstrate a life-changing awareness that other people matter."

Make a commitment now to embed 20 random acts of kindness in your life this month. Encourage the children in your setting to do this and make it visible in your documentation. Demonstrate to everyone around you that kindness is valued. If we privilege kindness your life and the lives of others around you will flourish. Take the initiative and create a kinder world. 

The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life

Here is a lovely book to consider reading! A lovely light summer read for the beach! It is a true story of a transformational change in a man’s life.

365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life

Author John Kralik

This book was written by a man whole life fell apart at every level, his relationships with his children and partner, his work, his health.

Then, while out tramping on New Years’ Day, John was struck by the thought that his life might become at least tolerable if he could be grateful for what he had.  He was inspired by a beautiful, simple note he had received thanking him for a Christmas gift, John set himself the goal of writing 365 thank-you notes in the coming year.

It was transformational.

Note by note, day after day, he handwrote the thank you notes for gifts or kindnesses he’d received, large and small, from loved ones and coworkers, past business associates and current foes, school friends and doctors and handymen and neighbours, and anyone, really, who’d done him a good turn.

Immediately after he’d sent his very first notes, surprising benefits began to come John’s way.  Over the year John was writing his notes, his whole life turned around.

Kindness makes a difference

Kindness is a simple answer in a sometimes difficult and challenging world. I know that to be true. For a long time now it has been my mission to acknowledge and appreciate all people and to encourage others to do the same. When my granddaughter Skylar, was young and we’d go out, we had a contest called “Who can make the most people smile. “ And we continue it today. It makes for a wonderful glorious day. We will be walking in the supermarket and someone will be walking down the aisle with her head down. Skylar walks up to her and gives her a big smile. I watch her walk down the aisle, turn around and smile at Skylar again or perhaps smile at someone else. Kindness is a chain that pulls us all together. Anything that lifts another person is kindness. Every single act of kindness has a ripple effect. In 2002, my dad had a series of strokes and other illness. At that time, I was the facilitator for a large women’s networking organization. One day I asked the ladies if on a personal level they could send their positive energies my dad’s way and maybe go out and do something nice for someone, someone for whom they would not normally think to do something nice.

My dad has been doing nice things for all sorts of people for years, from the street crossing guard, to the waitress in a restaurant, to a friend’s mother. That same day, I made cookies for the janitor at the post office. When I gave him the cookies he actually looked a little embarrassed. “Why, Linda?” he asked. “Because I appreciate you!” I answered. “When I get here at 6am and it is still dark out and it is a little scary, I know you are inside and I feel safe. And when I first moved here and my post office box was always empty, you always cheered me on. And you keep this place spotless.” That evening his wife called me and said that he was overwhelmed. “No one even knows his name never mind bakes him cookies!  -

This story was posted by Linda Burhans on the Kindspring site on the 22 August 2015. To see more stories visit www.kindspring.org/story

Kindness is a simple answer in a sometimes difficult and challenging world. I know that to be true. For a long time now it has been my mission to acknowledge and appreciate all people and to encourage others to do the same. When my granddaughter Skylar, was young and we’d go out, we had a contest called “Who can make the most people smile. “ And we continue it today. It makes for a wonderful glorious day. We will be walking in the supermarket and someone will be walking down the aisle with her head down. Skylar walks up to her and gives her a big smile. I watch her walk down the aisle, turn around and smile at Skylar again or perhaps smile at someone else. Kindness is a chain that pulls us all together. Anything that lifts another person is kindness. Every single act of kindness has a ripple effect. In 2002, my dad had a series of strokes and other illness. At that time, I was the facilitator for a large women’s networking organization. One day I asked the ladies if on a personal level they could send their positive energies my dad’s way and maybe go out and do something nice for someone, someone for whom they would not normally think to do something nice. - See more at: http://www.kindspring.org/story/view.php?sid=92655#sthash.F2VpLQCr.dpuf

Kindness Makes a Difference

--by LindaBurhans, posted Aug 22, 2015 - See more at: http://www.kindspring.org/story/view.php?sid=92655#sthash.F2VpLQCr.dpuf

Kindness Makes a Difference

--by LindaBurhans, posted Aug 22, 2015 - See more at: http://www.kindspring.org/story/view.php?sid=92655#sthash.F2VpLQCr.dpuf

Kindness Makes a Difference

--by LindaBurhans, posted Aug 22, 2015 - See more at: http://www.kindspring.org/story/view.php?sid=92655#sthash.F2VpLQCr.dpuf

365 Thankyous

 

Ever wondered where the equivalent tradition of simple gratitude has gone? Sometimes in our busy day and age we forget how the act of thanking someone in return can actually mean the world to people. ‘365 Thank Yous’ tells the heart-warming true story of John Kralik, who in his early 50s believed he was failing in all aspects of life, love, health and work but turned it all around in one year all due to two words: “Thank You”.

Gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving, and Kralik was one who definitely discovered its true importance. He wrote one Thank you letter for every day of the year starting in 2008, and managed to gain friendships, heal a dying relationship, raise money and pay off debts, become closer to his family and change his entire perspective of life simply through his many notes, described as an ‘anthology of gratitude’ in the book.

His beautifully simple and caring notes are scattered through the book and readers get to have a close insight into how friendships can grow through small, kind actions. Even after the year of thank yous, Kralik has not stopped sending out his little messages of gratitude as he knows now how much they have changed his life forever.

This book is one well-worth reading and tells an incredible story which will give hope to those in need of a little happiness. As quoted from Kralik: “Until you learn to be grateful for the things you have, you will not receive the things you want. Human caring stands out as a unique and invaluable treasure”. Take a note from his book, and write a Thank you note to someone who has been kind to you; it is a simple act of kindness and you never know what happiness it will bring to you and others.

Introducing Kindness to Children

 
Why not put kindness into the front frame of your setting! Every week the children could have a 'Kindness Meeting'. At this meeting children could make positive statements about children in their setting. Children and teachers could also be encouraged to share what they have witnessed during the week that they consider are 'random acts of kindness'. 

In this way you would be making visible and putting into action that you value kindness in your community. In this way everyone is encouraged to focus on the positive and establish a culture of kindness in your place. 

If you have a 'kindness story' to share, please email me at wendy.lee@elp.co.nz with the story and an image so we can share the joy on our Kindness Blog.
 

RESPECT

AN ACT OF KINDNESS FOR REFLECTION

Recently a very lovely friend of mine sent me this beautiful book on random acts of kindness. Just reading it brought me considerable joy. I want to share one of the stories and for you to reflect on what might have been your response to this situation...

AN ACT OF KINDNESS CAN SOMETIMES TAKE INCREDIBLE COURAGE.  I was at the country fair with my mother many years ago. I remember it was a very, very hot day and all around us children and parents were melting down. We were walking behind a woman with two small children. The children were crying and whining and the mother  was getting increasingly upset. Finally she started to scream at them to shut them up; then she turned around and struck them both very hard. Just to see this happen right in front of me made me feel like I had been hit as well.

Of course the kids started crying even more and the mother was on the verge of completely loosing control when my mother walked up to her, touched her arm, and said something like, "You poor dear, don't worry, sometimes things just get out of control for a moment". Then my mother offered to take the children over to the ice cream stand, buy them some ice cream, and sit with them while the woman took a little walk to compose herself. She returned about 10 minutes later, thanked my mother, hugged her children, and went on.

Random Acts of Kindness

Here are a few ideas for 'random acts of kindness', these ideas were shared on another website promoting kindness in the world! Maybe you have some ideas that you would like to add here. You can do this by making comments below!!!

Let someone go in line in front of you!

With technology becoming more and more advanced, as a society we get used to doing everything as quick as possible and getting everything we want instantaneously. When we’re caught up in the face-paced world of today, we often forget to stop to notice those around us. So next time you’re in a hurry in public, slow down and go out of your way to be courteous to everyone around you. When you’re standing in the checkout line, waiting to pay for your food at the grocery store or waiting to order your drink at a coffee shop, offer to let the person behind you go in front of you. 

Help someone for free!!

It’s easy to put time and effort into tasks if we’re doing them for ourselves or getting paid to do them. But what about doing work for others when you aren’t getting paid? Why not do a job like mowing the lawn, cleaning the house or babysitting for someone, and surprise him or her by not charging.

Hold the door open for someone

Holding the door open for someone is something they just do in old movies, right? Guess again. Holding the door open is a polite and thoughtful act you can easily do for your family, friends and even strangers, every day. Whether you’re at school, the grocery story, at work, or at home, those around you will certainly appreciate your good manners. 

Make a new friend today

Introduce yourself to a stranger and strike up a conversation. Or, perhaps there is someone you've seen occasionally on the bus or in the neighborhood. Ask them how they're doing.

Read to a child

  Giving your full attention to children is a simple way to show them they are loved. Reading together can also be a very relaxing way to bond with a child...

Write a letter to someone who has made a difference in your life

  At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. -Albert Schweitzer.

Call or visit someone who is sick

Being sick is no fun. It can be frusterating because you are not able to do the things you normally do. Not being able to socialize with people you normally see can also make being sick very lonely. Call someone who you know is sick and ask them how they are. Or, surprise them with a visit and bring flowers or a card. Knowing that someone cares about you is often the best medicine!

 

 

HELPING OTHERS GIVES YOU A HIGH!!

Research carried out by psychologists Robert Ornstein & Dr David Sobel describe the outcomes of what happens when people help others. It is what they call a ‘helpers high’. The euphoria they experience when they help others close to themselves translates in a feeling of warmth, a frisson, the feeling you are full of energy but very calm at the same time. Researchers compare this feeling to what we feel after going for a jog - the runners high. In both cases serotonin - the happy hormone - is secreted.

Find ways in which you can help those around you. Maybe on some days you might just like to make some casserole dinners or soups, freeze them and if you have a freezer at the centre, put them there. Then when someone in your centre, staff or family experience difficult times you will be well prepared to respond in their hour of need. I am sure you can think of many ways to help and support those around you.  Take time at a staff meeting to brainstorm all the possibilities and different ways in which you might in the future support the wider whanau! Have fun doing this!

THE POWER OF LOVE

There is no doubt in my mind that teachers are incredibly powerful. Every day they have endless opportunities to make a difference in the lives of children and families. Take time to read the work of Vivian Gussin Paley.  You will not be disappointed, her words have the power to change the world’s view of children. Here are a few of her books….

 

She absolutely values the role of the teacher. In her words ...

“You in your centre are far more powerful to achieve moral changes than you think you are…. We as teachers, have more opportunity to change of the moral landscape of our little universe than a doctor does in a hospital, than a lawyer does in a court, than a reporter does in a newspaper, than an engineer does in the field… think about it….. What a bonanza we have!”

-       I recently read this very lovely story about a teacher and the power of love, I thought it was worth sharing …..It was a story written by John Kord Lagemann

“A young sociology professor sent his class out to a Baltimore slum to interview two hundred boys and predict their chances for the future. The students, shocked by slum conditions, they saw evidence of criminal actitivity on every corner. The group predicted that about 90 percent of the boys they interviewed would someday serve time in prison.

Twenty five years later, the same professor assigned another class to find out how the predictions had turned out. Of 190 of the original boys located, only four had ever been to jail.

Why had the prediction been so wrong? More than 100 of the men remembered one high school teacher, a Miss O’Rourke, as having been an inspiration in their lives. After a long search, Sheila O’Rourke, more than seventy years old, was found. But when asked to explain her influence over her former students, she was puzzled. “All I can say,” she finally decided, “is that I loved every one of them.”

Enjoy and take seriously the opportunities that you have to make a difference in children’s lives.