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Helping young people find positive pathways in life

By Bianca Fallon|Beauty.Hair.Makeup Artist Auckland

03/12/2009 Helping young people find positive pathways in life Wednesday, 28 January 2009 By Christine McCafferty WAYWARD youths are being encouraged to clean up their act, take pride in their appearance and find something they are passionate about under a new programme designed by former Gisborne woman Bianca Fallon.

Through Awataha Marae on Auckland's North Shore, Miss Fallon has run three pilot programmes of Personal and Professional Image Development, which teaches young women about hair, make-up, grooming and etiquette.

Miss Fallon is the right person to be inspiring them - she admits to going through a "difficult" period as a teenager, but with hard work and focus she eventually became the head of hair and make-up at Maori Television, where she has worked for the past five years.

She is the daughter of former All Whites assistant coach and former Gisborne City coach Kevin Fallon and Mere Fallon.

The aim in creating the programme, she said, was to build young women's self-esteem and encourage them to seek positive pathways in life.

"The course is a hook to take them into different areas of tertiary education. For many of these girls, they don't like what they see in the mirror, it comes down to self-esteem. If we can lift it, hopefully they will get a bit of confidence in themselves and find something they are passionate about," she said.

Over the course of the programme, the girls are taken on trips to hair and make-up training academies and taught about dressing professionally for job interviews.

Etiquette was also a key part of the programme; teaching them that being polite would get them a lot further in life than being rude, Miss Fallon said.

The experience has given them the confidence and encouragement to discover their own talents and aspire for more in life.

"Many of them come from difficult backgrounds but regardless, it is up to them to create something better," she said.

"No one else is going to do it for them. I try to tell them the things I wasn't told as a teenager . . . put up the red flag sooner and explain the different paths they can go down. At 17 most kids don't know what they want to do and that's OK, but it's not OK to do nothing."

Her programme is just one the Awataha "urban" Marae offers to disconnected youth. Working with CYF, the police and marae justice, they aim to nurture youth through education and reinforcing their kaupapa.

The personal and professional development programme will resume in Auckland in March and Miss Fallon said she felt a responsibility to bring it to Gisborne and share it with young people in her home town.

She was willing to work with local marae or social services to run the programme locally if there was a group of teenagers that would benefit from it.

"It's about grabbing them, nurturing them and spending time with them. You put them with police and they have attitude, but at the marae they don't - they have respect."
Story by The Gisborne Herald Copyright © The Gisborne Herald

About This Author

Bianca Fallon|Beauty.Hair.Makeup Artist Auckland

Bianca Fallon|Beauty.Hair.Makeup Artist Auckland

Bianca Fallon Auckland & North Shores Top Hairstylist & Makeup Artist Bianca Fallon|Beauty.Hair.Makeup Photography, Fashion & Film or for your Wedding Hairstylist & Makeup Artist Bridal Hairstylist & Makeup Artist Ball Hairstylist & Makeup Artist Special Occasion …

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