Deserving Family Wins Healthy Home “Do-Over”

For many years, Farisha Ali had seen her sister Farzana Roshan working hard, raising four children, and doing her best to make changes to their cold Mangere home to make it warm for their son who suffers from chronic asthma.

“She works really hard and always puts herself last,” says Farisha of her sister who works as a hospital administrator at Middlemore Hospital.

“Over the years they have upgraded areas in the home to make it warm for their son but that costs a lot of money, so it has never been fully completed. I jumped at the chance to give her home a makeover.”

That chance came when she entered Farzana, her husband, and their four children in the Daikin Healthy Home Do-Over which gave a deserving Kiwi family the opportunity to get their home transformed into a healthier and more liveable one.

After being nominated by her sister in the competition, Farzana won the do-over prize valued at more than $10,000.

Farzana, whose children are aged seven to 17, says with limited heating, and windows and doors that are not properly sealed in their old-style home, it gets very cold and uncomfortable to live in.

She says due to poor insulation in the home many of the walls have water damage and a few years ago they were forced to rip up the carpet in their living room and bedrooms due to mould.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to complete the re-carpeting of the bedrooms, but we were able to use second-hand temporary carpet for the bedrooms in the meantime.

“Our house has affected my son, especially because of his asthma. So, winning this prize is life changing because we have a very busy lifestyle, working and looking after four children, and it does mean we have a very tight budget.

“It now means we will be able to complete many of the changes we wanted to make to help my son’s asthma and provide a warm home for all our children.”

The Daikin Healthy Home Do-Over will see the installation of two Daikin heat pumps, a fresh coat of anti-mould paint from Resene, roof insulation from CSR Bradford Insulation, and Jacobsen Breathe Easy carpet along with Comfort Group carpet underlay.

The drive behind the Do-Over project, led by heat pump and air conditioning specialists Daikin, comes from the fact many homes in New Zealand are damp, cold and mouldy, with around half of all Kiwi homes showing signs of visible mould.

“It was so amazing to receive the call that I’d won this. I didn’t realise that my sister had nominated me, so I was not expecting it and it’s absolutely fantastic,” says Farzana.

She says her son always want to play soccer, but his asthma holds him back, so the new heating and other healthy home additions will help her son’s health.

Daikin Sales Manager Gary Felstead says the company launched the Daikin Do-Over to make a difference for a Kiwi family and to highlight the importance of living in a warm dry home.

Daikin and the brands involved are partners of the Sensitive Choice program, which reviews products and services to determine their potential benefit for people with asthma and allergies. Only products approved by an expert panel can carry the Sensitive Choice Blue Butterfly.

Felstead says New Zealand has one of the highest rates of respiratory disease in the world, with one in six suffering from a respiratory disease that is made worse by unhealthy homes.

“The Do-Over of Farzana’s home will showcase some simple but effective changes Kiwi families can make to their homes warm and dry.

“Many homes around the country are prone to mould and dampness which have adverse effects on the health of the household, especially children.

“With the government’s Healthy Homes legislation having a strict compliance deadline coming into force in July next year the need for rental properties to meet minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, and other essential elements is even more important.”

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