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O’Dell was paralysed from the waist down in a 1974 car accident, but that hasn’t stopped her professional drive. She is based in Northland, and works as a mediator for the Human Rights Commission  Disputes Resolution Team. O’Dell is pictured here on a recent trip to Auckland, where she facilitated a dispute over equitable access for disabled people (blind or vision impaired), to taxis at the airport. Ironically, on the day of the meeting, she rose at 4:00 am to be driven to Auckland, because of a new airline staff policy against ‘upper body lifting’ to help disabled people to and from their seats. Without enough lifters at each end of the journey, O’Dell toughs it out and hopes a solution is on the horizon.

 

And yet sometimes she feels that her own Māori community “have difficulty taking me seriously. For some, it seems inconceivable that someone with my particular disability can possibly hold down a fulltime job. There seems to be more concern about who’s taking care of me ‘in my condition’. They also have difficulty recognising that having a meaningful job is much more fulfilling than ‘being cared for’. I often get comments like ‘it gives you something to do’ or ‘it keeps you occupied.’”

 

O’Dell grew up in Panguru, a small community in the Hokianga, but when she first moved back up North in her mediator’s role, she was somewhat surprised by the discriminatory practices of some landlords, particularly in relation to solo mums, the unemployed or ex-convicts. Despite this, the number of complaints to the Commission in Northland is relatively low. O’Dell thinks this may be because the pressing issues are around access to health services, unemployment, transport and housing, and people are not aware that human rights are not just about job-discrimination.