This is the second column I am writing for this issue.

For those who don’t know, at the conclusion of Camp Purple, over fifty children and twenty volunteers were stranded at Wellington Airport. The entire airport suddenly closed due to fog. Every flight was cancelled. Many of the children were on special diets, virtually all of them were on medications, all the checked luggage needed to be collected, parents needed to be notified, and seventy flights rebooked. We had no place to stay for the night and no food for the children. It had all the makings of an organisation’s worst nightmare.

There are several international efforts to record the patterns of COVID-19 in adults and children with IBD.

(Recommendations from the New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology)

This aims to outline the key features of blood tests commonly used in children with IBD. It does not cover every test, or every situation.

Adrian Douglas joined freemasonry in 1999 and is a Past Master (Chairman) of New Zealand Pacific Lodge No.2 in Johnsonville, Wellington. He is also a member of the Freemasons Charity Management Committee.

The reactions to the news that two fellow crohnies and I would attempt to drive a rickshaw 3000km through India were priceless.

“What is Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)”? This is what I said when my current PhD supervisor and we were discussing possible research topics. I was given a basic overview of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and went away to do a little research myself.

As the President of the New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology (NZSG), it was my privilege and pleasure to introduce two very inspirational young women at our Annual Scientific Meeting in Wellington this past November.

On November 27, Allyson (Ally) Baine, JD, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the United States, and Nicole Thornton, 14 year old CCNZ Youth Ambassador, jointly addressed over 400 medical professionals in Wellington.

Belinda Brown wears many hats:

For those of you that joined us for the parent seminar this year, a massive thank you for a) trusting the team with your children for a week long camp and b) for making the huge effort to get yourselves there. As a parent myself I know what a mission this is to organise, especially if there are other siblings in the house (and/or pets) and juggling work schedules.

I am the IBD Nurse for Hutt Valley DHB and was lucky enough to win the CCNZ Travel Award in November 2018.

A complete list of all our sponsors, given the shear numbers, is impossible. But please know we are incredibly grateful to each and every one of you!