Maria Heredia

(she / her) 

As a mature person living with disability, I have a different perspective to health and healthy living than most people.  Disability, mental health, and CALD, [Cultural and Linguistically Diverse Communities] are the 3 key areas of my community participation.  I am currently a member of the Consumer Advisory Group (CAG) for my local Primary Health Network (PHN) as well as for Pain Australia, a nation-wide organisation advocating for chronic pain sufferers.  I am also involved in other organizations, like MCCSA [Multicultural Community SA], Women with Disabilities Australia or NCWSA, the National Council of Women SA for the development of women rights.  I passionately believe that in order to improve systems, politics, organisations and our communities, citizens with lived experience need to participate in policy making to enrich and expand current views and perceptions.  As a retired university lecturer, I also believe in education as the most empowering tool we have for the advancement of all world citizens. Working within Purple Orange as a Disability Inclusion Trainer is giving me a wonderful opportunity to share and utilise my believes and lived experience regarding disability and inclusion. 

I have been lucky enough to live in several countries, and having a great variety of personal experiences, which although some very difficult at the time, have enriched my life, nevertheless.  I also love embroidery and needlecrafts, so as a member of the Embroidery Guild of SA, I spend many Saturdays attending classes and studying historical and contemporary embroidery technics around the world. And when possible, having family and friends around a dinner table, enjoying food, [Spanish if possible!] would also make me very happy.