Neu: 2001-09-15 Contents of this issue: 1. All Accountable 2. Essential English ======================================================================== September 15th, 2001 1. All Accountable: New Manu Samoa rugby sevens coach Romeo Ah Chong believes players and others in management roles are equally accountable for a team's results, besides the coach. This was Ah Chong's first views on his new role after it was approved by the Samoa Rugby Football Union and the Manu Samoa Limited. The former Manu Samoa Sevens manager said while it was the coach's responsibility to fire the players to the right direction, everyone in the team should be made accountable for the results. Ah Chong said: "I don't want to promise anything at this stage but all I can say is that I'll give it my best. If the outcome is good, it'll be a collective result." Ah Chong was confident of his ability to lead a successful team into the International Rugby Board sevens circuit, which kicks off in Dubai in November. "While I've been a manager for the past four or five years, I was the coach of the Marist team for six or sevens years," he said. Ah Chong will travel to Auckland at the end of this month to help select players for the training squad scheduled to assemble on 28 October. The training squad will involve 18-20 players. Manu Samoa captain Semo Sititi is doubtful for this year's circuit. Sititi recently moved to Wales to play for Cardiff. - (PINA Nius Online.) 2. Essential English: A survey of immigrants has found that more than half of them fear that they do not have enough English to understand their doctor if they are seriously ill. The research on 1500 immigrants in Auckland and Christchurch found that many did not understand the health system and were worried about their ability to talk to nurses and doctors at hospital or at surgeries. "This is a significant problem," said Professor Ron Holt, leader of the research team. The study said New Zealand had lagged well behind countries like Canada and Australia in providing language lessons for immigrants and refugees. Canada provides unlimited lessons for immigrants in English and French, Australia guarantees 520 hours tuition but New Zealand provides little help with English, although the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre provides a six-week orientation programme. The survey calls for more money to be put into hospitals for interpreters and for the Government to provide language tuition. Among its findings were: * A third of those surveyed were not aware of basic medical benefits such as the community services card. * Seventy per cent of women did not understand the maternity system of having a "lead maternity carer". * Forty per cent did not know what to do in a medical emergency. * A large number who had been in hospital for a serious operation never asked for an interpreter even though one was available free. * One in four did not know that GP consultations and immunisation were free for children under six. Those surveyed said hospitals needed more interpreters, signboards in various languages, more receptionists who could speak languages other than English, and better pamphlets explaining details of the health system in their language. __END__
