Ana Armador - Occupational Therapist
A chat with Ana Amador
Ana Amador is our new occupational therapist at Community Link. Occupational therapy is a new service commencing late January. Ana commenced with us in late January, and we sat down with Ana recently and asked her a bit about her background and what led her to join the team at Community Link.
Ana commenced a three-year Occupational Therapist training course in Dunedin in 2018, and upon graduating she spent the next three years at ADL focused on community mental health. Late last year she decided it was time for a change and resigned in the same week that a job posting for a role at Community Link as Occupational Therapist was advertised. It was meant to be Ana already knew the team and the culture at Community Link through ADL and knew Community Link was a place that she would love to work or even volunteer, so the timing was perfect, and it enable her to remain close to Wanaka and her family.
What's most exciting about the role of the occupational therapist to you?What is most excited is being able to help the community when people need a helping hand and being able to assist locals and migrants with navigating the services and systems because for many, they can be quite different or complicated especially if you aren’t used to it. t
What do you think makes Community Link special?I particularly like Community Link values, especially the goal of helping the community thrive which is an aspiration that speaks to me. To me this is how we can all come together as a community to be stronger than any individual. I love that the Upper Clutha is a safe community for children to grow up in and is a place that if they get lost or you lose your wallet, someone will pick it up and bring them back to you. It is a community where everybody supports everybody else.
Are there key experiences that you feel will help you in this role? Coming from a different culture overseas I think helps me understand how to remove barriers to those who are struggling. I come from Mexico where there were lots of preconceptions that were present in the culture especially about the role of women and that by coming to New Zealand I knew I actively wanted to ignore those. I come to this role with an open heart and with no judgement which I hope will be especially helpful as I grow into the occupational therapist role at Community Link.
What's the best piece of career advice you ever received? To not pass judgement and be open to yourself so that you can truly bring yourself to help those in need. Everybody has judgements and learning to leave them at the door was a key for me.
Is there someone in your career who has been a big influence on you?Fi Brown from ADL was my previous boss and she was always incredibly supportive and open with me and that has had an enormous impact and influence on how I view my role.
What do you get up to on the weekend?I love running and biking with my children. I love walking the dog as I'm a particularly social person and love having people around me. I love being in the kitchen and sharing kai with friends and family.
What are you most looking forward to in the role as occupational therapist at Community Link?I’m very much looking forward to the challenge whether they are big or small which is yet to be proven but being part of a team dedicated to helping the community is something that I'm very much looking forward to. I’m hoping to make a big contribution once I settle into the role.
Ana - a Mexican woman with sparkling eyes and a warm smile - comes from Mexico City originally. It was there, 16 years ago, that she met her husband Tom during her birthday party. They clicked right away, bonding over their mutual love for music, reading, concerts, and good
Despite her roots, Ana has fallen head over heels for Wanaka's serene beauty and fresh air.
Professionally, Ana is an occupational therapist and works as a mental health youth clinician at an NGO called ADL in the Central Lakes office, finding fulfilment in helping teenagers with mild to moderate challenges such as sleep problems and anxiety.