NEWS 03
TORRES NEWS THURSDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2023
Half a tonne of marine debris Charlie first Waiben-born in 2023 gone from Seisia Beach M Continued from P1 Community organiser and 2023 Young Australian of the Year for Queensland, Talei Elu, has been running beach clean ups for the past three years in Seisia, and said she wanted to host a beach clean that supported Elders to join, so they could teach and pass on cultural knowledge. “Elders were invited to join the beach clean volunteers for morning tea and lunch, and afterwards had the opportunity to weave and share their stories with TSIMA broadcaster
Jenni Enosa,” Talei said. “An important part of the day was sorting all the marine debris collected. “Ebony Bail from Tangaroa Blue taught local volunteers how to appropriately identify and catalogue marine debris into the Australian Marine Debris Initiative database. “This will help identify marine polluters and help stop pollution at the source.” She said the day was a success. “It was a wonderful event and it was so great to see community members, local business
owners, paramedics, teachers, RFS and SES volunteers and TSRA staff to come along and lend a hand,” she said. “Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make this weekend a reality and a very special thanks to the HACC team for all your efforts and work throughout the weekend to make this a really special beach clean by supporting our Elders to come along. “Marine pollution is an ongoing issue and will require consistent effort – every visit to the beach is an opportunity to clean up our environment.”
PICS SUPPLIED BY TALEI ELU Charlie Mae Friend might only be a few weeks old, but she’s already in the history books. The newborn became the first baby born within the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service when she arrived at Thursday Island Hospital on January 5. Mum Chloe Boykett had been due on December 28 and was planning for a Christmas baby. But Charlie arrived safely a few days later – an exciting start to 2023 for Chloe and partner Sam Friend.
The couple are from the Sunshine Coast, but have been living on Waiben for more than three years. Chloe is a teacher at Tagai State College and Sam is a carpenter. “We’re so lucky Charlie was born up here, it’s just a beautiful place,” Chloe said. She had been part of the local Midwifery Group Practice and had nothing but praise for staff at TI Hospital, particularly midwife Kylie Shiel who was with her for much of the pregnancy journey. “I can’t talk highly enough about how great the care was,” she said. “They were just incredible.” Chloe and Charlie were able
to stay four nights after the birth, which Chloe said was invaluable as a first-time mum to get extra support. “The midwives overnight were so helpful,” she said. “It was so good to have them there and we could just stay as long as we wanted. “And the support afterwards – Kylie came over to our house to give further support.” Charlie weighed 3.5kg (7.71 pounds) and was 52cm at birth. The TCHHS runs a Midwifery Group Practice through Waiben, Weipa and Cooktown Hospitals. These enable pregnant women to have a known midwife and midwifery team throughout their pregnancies.
Pics supplied by Talei Elu
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