Bubbles with purpose

Three-year -old Grace Paterson of Kaimata is a lively, friendly little girl who's cute as a kitten. She's happy to chat and pose for photos, unaware of her role as a little ambassador for the CF Association, a group that supports Grace and her family, and others like them, who live with cystic fibrosis.
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that causes the mucous within the body's organs to be very thick, which blocks the tiny tubes and ducts of various organs, causing problems in particular with digestion and lungs.
Grace is one of about 400 children and adults with CF.  She was diagnosed as a new baby.
Her parents, Sean and Jessica Paterson, have to closely monitor every gram of food Grace eats, as she must take a medicine called Creon to help her body digest fat.
.The Paterson family live on a 250-cow dairy farm. With both her parents working on the farm, life is busy as they juggle farm work with the focussed care that little Grace needs to keep her in good health.
As well as an array of medications and vitamins that Grace takes daily, her parents
Sean and Jessica Paterson help keep her airways clear of mucous with daily physiotherapy sessions, twice daily if she has a cold or infection.
One technique that Grace can do for herself is called bubble pep. While she's just having fun blowing bubbles, her lungs are getting good therapy.
Sean and Jessica say the research and knowledge about CF has improved markedly over recent decades, so that the disease is no longer just one of children, but an adult one also. Life expectancy for CF children has also increased from around 20 just a few decades ago, to the late 30s nowadays, and treatments are improving all the time.
The CF Association funds research and also supports families of CF children.
This week is CF Week, and there are various fundraising events being held around the country.
In Inglewood, the staff and children at Inglewood Community Childcare Centre, which grace attends, are having a dress up day to raise money for the association.
"We're going to dress in red, which is Grace's favourite colour, and donate a gold coin to the appeal," says Grace's teacher Jan Daley.