Australian Family Weekend
Sea World Resort Gold Coast Queensland

The inaugural IDFA Family weekend took place on the 11 – 13th September 2009. 21 families (almost 100 people) with school aged PID children came together to the Sea World Resort on the Gold Coast Queensland to meet for the first time as a family PID group.

The weekend was a mix of social and workshop activities which proved to be a great success with participants. New friends have been forged and planning is already taking place for the next family get together.

The workshops on Saturday for children and young adults consisted of a number of age specific groups for both PID patients and siblings.

The teenager PID group worked with a very experienced workshop leader, and through creative posters, explored the effect PID had on their life and how they dealt with these challenges on a daily basis. The teenage siblings group shared their understanding of the nature of PIDs, followed by some very involved discussions about how PID effected their family, along with discussions on their hopes and concerns for the future for their sibling. Both groups came together at the end of the day for a combined session. Many new friendships were formed and email addresses exchanged.

The parents were treated to both medical and social welfare presentations through out the day.

The day at Sea World on Sunday started early, with a private guided tour of the shark enclosure for the IDFA group before the park opened. When Sea World opened later that morning, everyone headed back in to make the most of the beautiful day, enjoying the rides, shows and sea creatures with new found friends.

Some comments from a few of the parents:

“It was also great to meet other parents dealing with similar situations and heartening when they extended their hand in friendship and support.”

“Perhaps the icing on the cake for us though was that our son who is 13 and has CGD collected email addresses and Facebook contacts for several other boys. Just to realise he is not the only one and in fact that some others are much worse off was important for him. "

“The whole weekend was so well run, the workshops were fantastic, the speakers - especially Dr Peake- were really good. If only there had been more time! All the parents are so hungry for information and it was fantastic to speak to other parents and kids about our shared and different experiences.”