THE NEW ZEALANDERS

[thenewzealanders]

Danni (36)

Where are you from? Massey, West Auckland.

What do you do for a living? I’m a Child Protection Consultant for Child Matters.

What cause are you passionate about? Improving the safety of children in New Zealand because we have really high child abuse statistics. 

Child abuse is a problem that affects numerous children throughout New Zealand. It is an issue that has a significant cost to both society and our children, with the effects reaching long into adulthood. In fact research has connected child abuse not only to long term emotional and relational harm, but also physical health issues. In particular, I am passionate about working in the area of sexual abuse prevention and sex trafficking

What activity are you involved with that makes the world a better place? My current role involves providing education for people working with children around how to identify and respond to child abuse. I’m also doing my Masters on the effects of rescuing children from sex trafficking.

What effect has this activity had to date? My job has helped more people to identify when there are concerns for a child, and increase their confidence in how they are able to respond. That’s important because often abuse is caused by someone the child loves which makes it hard for the child to disclose, so if adults learn what to look out for then it takes some of the responsibility off the child, and insures that if the child does disclose that they are responded to safely.

How could this activity be developed in order to benefit more people? More staff and more funding to reach more people. The organisation I work for, Child Matters, is a charity that reaches New Zealand wide, but is dependent on funding and donations.

What do you love most about New Zealand? It’s a beautiful place with amazing people. 

In my role, I’ve been able to travel the country and meet some incredible people who are passionate and dedicated to making this world a better place for our children - often at much cost to themselves and with very little recognition. It is an incredible job that they do and gives me hope for the future.

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Photographer: Bex Charteris

[thenewzealanders]

Vikashni Moore

Where are you from? I am from Fiji. I moved to New Zealand in December 2013 and have been living in Auckland ever since.

What do you do for a living? Right now, I am spending most of my working time doing volunteer work at Volunteering Auckland. Prior to moving to New Zealand I was employed as the Human Resources Director for some of Fiji’s biggest companies.

What causes are you passionate about? I want to make our world a better place by creating opportunities for everyone to have the chance of a better and more fulfilling life. I believe that we all have the ability to give (in some shape or form) to those in need, to the community and to the world. Human rights, equality and justice is another cause I’m passionate about due to my experiences in my island home of Fiji where there is still much to be done in this respect.

What activities are you involved with that makes the world a better place? As a referral advisor at Volunteering Auckland (VA) I help people to find suitable opportunities by matching them with appropriate not-for-profit (NFP) organisations in Auckland that are looking for volunteers.

In addition to this I am in charge of a couple of projects at VA. One is a Special Events team. This team’s objective is to attend events in local communities in order to raise the awareness of volunteering and to get locals involved as volunteers for the betterment of their communities. The other major project I am responsible for is the Member Liaison Project which is about us reaching out to our member NFPs in order to help them improve their volunteer engagement programmes.

I have also been a volunteer in the Red Cross Refugee Resettlement Programme. I have assisted two refugee families resettle in Auckland over the last two years.

What effect have these activities had to date? For the work I do at VA it is difficult to quantify the impact our volunteers have had in the NfPs and the local communities as we do not yet have any formal measurement tools to measure the impact on such a large scale.

VA has referred over 5000 people to its 200+ NFPs. Without these volunteers our communities would not have received the services delivered to them. We do gather feedback from both the volunteers and the organisations, and it is the positive feedback from both that continually reassures me of the value of our efforts. The biggest thing that stands out to me is the impact volunteering has on an individual’s life. I hear stories from volunteers which helps reinforce my beliefs that the impact we make through VA in the community is very significant.

As for the refugee resettlement work, the impact within the refugee family is quite visible during the first few weeks of the resettlement process. As a resettlement volunteer I was part of a team that helped bridge so many gaps between the refugee families and their local communities; gaps like language and communication, culture, basic urban lifestyle, education and health, to name a few.

How could these activities be developed in order to benefit more people? The Member Liaison project has the potential to significantly impact the future of volunteering. What we see happening right now in most NFPs is that volunteers are placed in roles that are needed by the organisation. What we want to see happen is that NFPs utilise volunteers in roles in which the volunteer is both passionate as well as skilled.

We see a number of volunteers who are highly talented but are eventually used in low skilled roles. We aim to take volunteering to the next level and get NFPs to utilise the full range of skills every volunteer brings to the organisation. We aim to see volunteers impact NFPs and in turn the community at large in a real tangible way, which can only be done if the NFPs are able to retain the volunteers by making full use of their capabilities.

Projects of this demanding nature and scale require dedicated resources and we face our own challenges in delivering these initiatives since we are also dependent entirely on volunteers. In my view, if Volunteering Auckland had the resources to pay people to work on projects like these they could make a much bigger impact on the community and far more quickly.

For the refugee resettlement work I think more awareness could be raised locally about the difficulties refugees go through when they resettle in our country. Through my two placements I have witnessed how much insensitivity still exists out there towards refugees who cannot speak or understand our language, or who don’t dress and behave as we do. Obviously it works both ways, but I believe that we as locals could make the first move by being more sensitive and accepting. This can only be done if we all aware of what that means from the refugee perspective.

What do you love most about New Zealand? I love the freedom everyone has in this country. You can say what you think and fight for causes you believe in without fear. The law is bigger than the individuals practicing and governing it.

I also love the fact that New Zealand is my home away from home; it is so much like Fiji in so many ways – the people, a melting pot of different nationalities and cultures, the natural beauty of the country. It’s one of the best places on earth!

—  

Photographer: Nic Staveley

[thenewzealanders]

Sonia Pivac

Where are you from? Who I am is more important than where I am from. I am Deaf person. That's my cultural base and everything I am springs from that. The Deaf world feels as natural to me as being at home.

What do you do for a living? What I do is a balance between a place of creativity and a place of structure. It's a great place to be.

Deafradio is a New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) think tank and project centre where NZSL is our heartbeat, the core behind everything we do. We work on unique projects aimed at valuing the Deaf community and NZSL. We’re doing a splendid project at the moment, developing NZSL stories for Deaf children with Deaf characters, themes and storylines, brought to life by beautiful expressive NZSL story-tellers and video backgrounds designed by Deaf artists.

I also work as a Senior NZSL Advisor at the Ministry of Social Development, working towards the promotion and maintenance of NZSL and to provide expert advice to government and the community on NZSL.

What cause are you passionate about? NZSL is an officially recognised language of New Zealand. Sign Language is central to Deaf culture and identity, and is crucial in Deaf people’s ability to communicate and fully participate. We all have a responsibility to ensure the development, preservation and acquisition of the language.

What project are you involved with that makes the world a better place? I’d hope to have a few, but there’s a project that has and will always have a special place in my heart. SignDNA - an abbreviation of Sign Language Deaf National Archive - is first and foremost a taonga for the New Zealand Deaf community. It is an online archive with hundreds of vintage films and videos from or about the New Zealand Deaf community and sign language in particular. A Deaf virtual land. It is a place to celebrate who we are, see how far we have come despite great odds and to remember those that have helped and been a part of this journey.

Sign language has no written form and after realising the Deaf community’s visual history was literally dissolving before our eyes, thousands of hours were spent assessing, logging, digitising, editing, tagging, categorising and uploading each selected film.

What effect has this project had to date? In creating an archive, you can only hope that it is used and updated regularly by people who see it as belonging to them and reflecting their history and identity.

I’ve been awestruck by the amount of people who have done just that, even the people you wouldn’t expect. An email came out of the blue the other week from a son of a Deaf mother and as the only hearing child out of four children, he said most of his childhood was spent in the company of many other Deaf people. He had spent considerable hours on SignDNA looking down memory lane and was so pleased to see some old film of his mother as a young woman for the very first time!

What do you love the most about New Zealand? Our 'can-do' and 'must-do' attitude and approach. New Zealand is a young country that is not held back by stale tradition and ideas that do not fit with modern thinking. We embrace new ideas and have a temperament that suits innovation and social exploration. It’s the land of opportunity and possibilities to make things a reality.

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Photographer: Ian Robertson

[thenewzealanders]

Stephanie Woodman (47)

Where are you from? Wellington.

What do you do for a living? I’ve been a self employed art tutor and painter for 26 years.

What cause are you passionate about? Getting more art education into peoples lives.

What activity are you involved with that makes the world a better place? I run art programmes that provide kids and adults with opportunities to develop skills, gain knowledge and build confidence in the visual arts.

What effect has this activity had to date? I’ve seen people flourish with a creative outlet in their lives.

How could this activity be developed in order to benefit more people? I’d love to see a greater emphasis on art education in schools, to allow more creatively minded kids to shine.

What do you love most about New Zealand? The creative opportunities and options that are still out there. People get into creative and innovative businesses despite the challenges. New Zealand does grow and nurture innovation and creativity, we just need more of it in schools.

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Photographer: Dean Zillwood

[thenewzealanders]

Sister Christina Williams (72)

Where are you from? I’m originally from Samoa, but I moved to Auckland a long time ago in 1960.

What do you do for a living? I’m a nun with the Sisters of Compassion.

I used to see sisters back in the ‘60s and when I looked at them I thought I would like to be holy like them. They usually wore their long habits in those days. So I told this priest in Auckland that I wanted to enter the convent, but he said ‘No, no, not you, you’ll never make it as a nun’. For nearly 3 years I went up to him all the time, and I think he got sick of me, so he decided to accept me into the convent.

He asked me which convent? I said ‘Oh, I don’t know’, so he told me to go to the dining room and get the phone book and whatever Order he found in there first will be the holy spirit. He opened the phone book and saw the Sisters of Compassion in Herne Bay. That’s how I became a nun; through the Sisters of Compassion.

I was staying with my relations in Auckland at the time, and when I told them I was going to become a nun they were all shocked because I was such an outgoing person. Lots of boys were hanging around me at that time. When you’re young and beautiful lots of boys are always after you. Father thought I would only last for 3 or 5 days in the convent.

What activity are you involved with that makes the world better place? I travelled down to Island Bay in Wellington to enter the convent. I had never been to Wellington before so I came down with my relation by train and on the 15th of March 1966 I entered the convent.

There were lots of disabled people in our rest home in Island Bay and people with deformities. I had never seen this before and I was really scared, so I went and told the novice guardian that I wanted to go back home. But she talked to me and then she put me straight away in that ward, and you know, I never looked back.

You really fall in love with them all - some they have no back, they’re just lying flat and can’t sit up, some have big heads - but you really love them. The sisters at that time were looking after all of those people, not the government or the families.

I worked at the rest home for a long time and then I did community nursing and worked in the medical hospital area and I moved around different places. I went to Broken Hill and France. Then I went to St Louis and did my formation there for a whole year, and when you come home you have to train young women who want to become nuns.

What do you love most about New Zealand? Most of all I really love our convent here in Jerusalem, because of the serenity and peacefulness, and I can still see the spirit of Mother Aubert in this place.

All of the sisters in the past worked so hard for us and we congratulate them. They lived in a very difficult times, particularly during the Great Depression. Today in the modern world there are so many things to make life easier, but in those days our sisters had to work very hard on the farm and they had to travel everywhere by foot with their long heavy habits. They were here in 1892 and the first time they got a car was 1941.

I wanted to come here because this is where we were founded, and I have never regretted moving here. I am very fortunate to be here, and I love the gardens. I look after them and the church. There are two of us here and Sister Luciana looks after the convent (thank you Luciana).

We welcome anybody who comes to this place because our Mother Founder said you must treat everybody the same.

We’re here with the Maori people. They’re very good to us and we walk together with them. As Mother Aubert said, we should never try and change their culture. We leave Maori people as the Maori people, and we have to walk side by side with them always.

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Photographer: Stacey Simpkin

[thenewzealanders]

Hannah Jensen (31)

Where are you from? I was born in England, but have been living in New Zealand from the age of two.

What do you do for a living? I am a full time artist; drawing, painting and carving my way through life.

What cause are you passionate about, and why? I am passionate about the world and caring for it; nature, humans, animals, all of it.

What project are you involved with that makes the world better place? I have been volunteering at Starship for the last seven years, teaching art to patients at the Northern Health School. My next project I would also like to be involved with is mentoring at Nga Rangatahi Toa, which helps youth who have been excluded from other schools and offers them support and pathways back into education or their vocation.

What effect has this project had to date? It brings joy to the kids and I think that’s why I was put here. Creativity is good for the soul, sparks communication and brings a sense of ease in the right environment. I have definitely been inspired by my amazing mum who has been a counsellor at Dilworth for the last 20 years.

How could this project be developed in order to benefit more people? Yes it could definitely grow. There could be more volunteers in general, especially amongst our youth, and mentors from older generations sharing their wisdom. But really it starts with being kind, caring and loving to one another; your friends, family, neighbours and community. Everyday we can develop our skills to care better for the ones around us.

What do you love most about New Zealand?: I adore nature and being able to get to a beach within 45 minutes from almost anywhere. We are so lucky to be able to step into the ocean and have it be clean and healthy (for the most part!). Sustainable Coastlines are doing a great job educating us on how we can care for our shores even more. I am so blessed to be in this incredible environment of Aotearoa.

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Photographer: Nick Tresidder

[thenewzealanders]

Rob Wara Thomson

Where are you from? I was born in Auckland and have since returned to the place of my family roots in Te Araroa.

What do you do for a living? I have just finished a Bachelors Degree in Advanced Maori Environmental Studies. My final assignment was to complete a project where the community participated in a kaupapa (programme) that would benefit the whanau affiliated to the marae and hapu.

What cause are you passionate about? I am passionate about sustainable living and bringing our whanau back to the marae. Mokopuna, tamariki, pangatahi, pakeke learning and sharing together, breathing life back into Te Paerauta.

What project are you involved with that makes the world a better place? I’m involved with establishing a natural remedies tree cultivation court (Rongoa Maori Rakau Marae Maara) at our marae. A place to learn how to identify medicinal plants, shrubs and trees where we will collect our natural rongoa medicines, maintaining and harvesting taonga (goods) to make creams, balms and other healing rongoa for our whanau.

Rongoa Maori and like minded people are welcomed to our marae to teach and take us deeper into the learnings of our natural medicines.

What effect has this project had to date? Marae gardens and orchard are already underway, growing traditional vegetables and providing fresh fruit for whanau living around the marae, with an opportunity for education in tree pruning, grafting, thinning and propagating. We also plan to add beehives, teaching whanau how to maintain the hives and become beekeepers.

We have many native trees planted, and the gardens are thriving. We’ve made Te Paerauta Marae a place of learning how to be self sufficient and sustainable by using these areas that we have established. Whanau are learning to combine new ways and old ways of growing healthy fresh kai.

How could this activity be developed in order to benefit more people? By sharing information between other maraes and groups. Our solar panel goal actually comes from an example that Omaio Marae have done.

What do you love most about New Zealand? The land, the bush and the sea. You can always find your kai from the sea.

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Photographer: Jacki Key

[thenewzealanders]

Joyce Frost (71)

Where are you from? Born in Liverpool, England, I travelled to New Zealand by ship in 1965. Presently living in Orere Point.

What do you do for a living? Retired art teacher.

What causes are you passionate about? Care of the environment, conservation and making New Zealand pest free - because we are part of nature. It’s the cornerstone of our being, and an intriguing mystery.

What projects are you involved with that make the world a better place? I’m the Orere Point Rural Library volunteer 'leader' and a member of WekaWatch Kawakawa Bay.

What effect have these projects had to date? Orere Point Library provides a library service from Tuesday to Saturday, with a selection of books, DVDs and magazines. It’s also a place to meet others, share news and keep in touch.

WekaWatch strives to protect weka and control mustelids by setting and monitoring trap lines.

How could these projects be developed in order to benefit more people? Orere Point Library is lovely just as it is. I think WekaWatch is generally well supported by Bio Diversity Auckland, however, lots more can be done to move towards a pest free New Zealand. Certainly increasing DOC funding would help, but we also need education programmes to encourage everyone to participate. Working together we can do it!

What do I most love about New Zealand? BIG skies, blue and clear by day, starry and magical by night - love it!

—  

Photographer: Nic Staveley

[thenewzealanders]

Bradley Williams (50)

Where are you from? I was born in Melbourne, but I’ve been living in Auckland for the past 24 years.  

What do you do for a living? I used to be a suit - actually I was the fixer. I worked in the corporate world of international freight and shipping. I traveled the world extensively and solved problems. I also got consumed by it. I learnt the hard way about the dangers of overworking, drinking and mental health stress.

14 year ago I decided it was time to change. I have always been creative and good with my hands so I turned my hobby of house renovation into my full-time job.

What causes are you passionate about? There are number of causes that I’m really passionate about, the main one is spending real time with my kids and being present for them.

After that, I provide peer support for a number of mental health organisations. I help spread the word about mental health problems. I’m a talker and I meet lots people with my job. It’s amazing how many people are able to help in one way or another.

I’m passionate about mental health because I went from being the one who fixed everything to one who was broken. I was very lucky to have the right support network around me at the time - people I could really talk to.

What project are you involved with that makes the world better place? I’m directly involved with Live More Awesome (LMA) and the Mankind Project.

Live More Awesome is a nonprofit charity and movement dedicated to inspiring, encouraging, informing and helping people struggling with depression, anxiety and suicide. Being depressed is a very lonely place and to realize you are not alone - and that there are people who have been to the lowest and survived - can make all the difference.

We organise events like the world longest water slide as a way to promote LMA and to start conversations.

What effect has this project had to date? It’s hard to quantify, but we have thousands of people around the world on forums helping each other, speaking honestly and offering support. These forums also have a moderator on hand 24/7 in case they are needed.

How could this project be developed in order to benefit more people? We just need to spread the word. We all have mental health, we need to acknowledge it and look after it. If you’re having trouble looking after it, please ask for help.

What do you love most about New Zealand? I love the diversity, the people and the landscape.

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Photographer: Lee Howell

[thenewzealanders]

Ashwina Ratan

Where are you from? I’m originally from Fiji. I came out here 12 years ago on a visit and loved it so much I didn’t go back. I started in Auckland and four years later moved down to Wellington when I got married.

What do you do for a living? I work as an Associate Clinical Nurse Manager, looking after the Older Persons and Rehab Services ward at Hutt Hospital. So generally what we do is look after the over 65s and younger people who have problems such as strokes, or congenital illnesses such as spina bifida. They need more time to rehabilitate in a sub-acute care setting to get them up and mobile. Then we have the more complicated cases; patients who have issues with their competency, who have mental health or behavioral issues and need a period of time to get their medication reviewed so we can get them as well as we possibly can before they are released out into the community.

What causes are you passionate about? I’ve always loved working with older people. I come from a Fijian Indian background where you cherish your older people. The love that they give you and the wisdom that they pass on is amazing. I find it really intriguing that they’ve come such a long way and done so much, and the resilience that they have amazes me. I love the fact that they’ve give so much to their families and to society, and I’m now able to give something back to them.

What project are you involved with that makes the world a better place? In the ward we are able to spend longer with people that you would be able to in a more acute setting where the turnover is a lot faster. I often spend 2-3 weeks or more with patients, so I can really get to know them and their needs better. It can be hard to say goodbye to them, so I try and keep in touch and see them if I can.

I’ve been studying people who are 100 years or older in the community as part of my thesis, which I’m about to submit in a couple of weeks time. I’m hoping to publish it and I really hope people read it.

What are you aiming to achive with this project? You hear so much about the burden of older people in the community, to the economy and their families. But they’re not a burden. They have something to give back, and they have all their lives, so I hope the work I do helps to highlight this.

What do you love the most about New Zealand? When I first arrived I walked out of the airport and thought, “Wow, what a beautiful place, I could really see myself here!” Everyone was so friendly and helpful and welcoming, and the scenery was to die for.

It was the welcoming that made it feel like home. I’ve never felt like a stranger, even when I stepped off that plane. One of the biggest things was that I had opportunities that I would never have had back in Fiji: to study further and do the things that I do now in such a supportive environment. The amount of support I’ve received is enormous.

—

Photographer: Ian Robertson

[thenewzealanders]

Jason Hicks (42)

Where are you from? Wanganui originally, now I live in Upper Hutt.

What do you do for a living? I’m an artist. I paint to express myself and explore ideas that would otherwise not have been developed.

What cause are you passionate about? Native New Zealand birds and bringing attention to our imact on the environment.

What activity are you involved with that makes the world a better place? I use recycled timber from demolished buildings in the painting process, giving this waste material a new lease of life.

What do you love most about New Zealand? The wide open spaces, the people and the culture.

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Photographer: Dean Zillwood

[thenewzealanders]

Patience & Richard Izard

Where are you from? Taupo.

What do you do for a living? We’re retired now, but we pioneered the local manufacture of tungsten carbide tipped sawblades for the US market in the 1980s.

What causes are you passionate about? Aviation, classic cars, progress.

What project are you involved with that makes the world a better place? Richard: We’re lucky we’ve done reasonably well and it’s nice to be able to give something back to your country. We love trying to do things for people. We’ve had people help us at bad times and it doesn’t hurt to return the favour.

There are two majors; the Lake Taupo Hospice where we helped fund the purchase of their new site, and the Taupo Motorsport Park which we felt we just had to support.

The thing that hit me and made me move fast on the Park was that there was nearly $6 million put in privately - people mortgaging their homes and so on - and suddenly through a series of unfortunate episodes it was going to be sold off by the bank and the only people that would have got any money out of it would have been the bank. So I bought the bank out and now we’re working flat out at revamping the place.

What effect has this project had to date? Patience: The Motorsport Park is a good family venue for all age groups, which is most important. There’s expertise there so people can enjoy their vehicles, and learn how to drive properly.

Richard: It’s going to help grow Taupo. It entertains people and it gives the kids a chance to learn to drive at high speed off the main roads. There's also an ideal environment for teaching truck drivers, giving them training for control of vehicles under extreme conditions.

What do you love most about New Zealand? Patience: Its clean and spacious. We don’t have as much freedom as we used to – things have changed since when we were young. I wouldn’t fit in a box and I just got on and did it. Women could do what they wanted to do, it was up to them. There was actually nothing to stop people, it was just conventions of the times. The men ruled the roost though, and there are still one or two places now that are sancrosanct to males and females are not allowed.

Richard: Oh that’s changing dramatically. I agree with you though the days of going to the Northern Club have finished, when females weren’t allowed downstairs till 6 o’clock and weren’t allowed in the bar with us or be members.

Why I love NZ –  well it’s still one of the freest countries in the world. We’ve lived all over the world. You can see for bloody miles, there’s no smog and as long as you don’t live in Auckland it’s alright. I like the money that comes out of Auckland and we need Auckland. I like going to Auckland but I don’t want to be living there, but that’s our choice and the thing is you’ve got choice in this country.

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Photographer: Stacey Simpkin

[thenewzealanders]

Frank Sanft (90)

Where are you from? I was born in England, but I’ve been living in New Zealand for almost seventy years.

What do you do for a living? I joined the Royal Navy when I was 17 after my brother was killed in a U Boat attack in 1940. For the liberation of France my ship was attached to to the US Navy, prior, during and after D Day on 6 June 1944. After that I continued my war service in the Pacific and was there when Changi Prison was liberated. I was honoured to be on a ship taking liberated prisoners back to Australia.

After the war I settled in New Zealand and joined the Naval Reserve where I became a Lieutenant Commander and worked in the printing industry for many years.

What cause are you passionate about? I’m passionate about the youth of the country.

I see more good than bad with modern youth. It seems that mostly the idle ones get into trouble by missing out on the tremendous satisfaction of achievement.

What activity are you involved with that makes the world a better place? After the war I was asked to take over the Sea Cadets and it was the most satisfying time of my life. I would be walking along Queen Street and I would see a very smart young man with a brief case and he would say to me, “Morning Sir,” and it would dawn on me that he must have been one of my cadets. Looking back on my life I think I did more for the good of the country in peacetime than I did in wartime.

What effect has this activity had to date? I think Sea Cadets have had a very positive effect on the community. I remember when a police sergeant brought me a young lad who’d been driving too fast up and down Queen Street and asked us to sort him out. Well we took him out on the harbour in some rough weather until he was on the verge of being seasick and scared. Anyway, he turned out to be an absolute winner - he was a great boy.

What do you love most about New Zealand? I’m lucky enough to live close to the sea and I just look around and see our lovely harbour. Good weather or bad, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I’m a New Zealander by choice.

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Photographer: Nick Tresidder

[thenewzealanders]

Yvonne Wilson (58)

Where are you from? I’m originally from the Wairarapa, but I’ve lived in Hamilton for the past 25 years.

What do you do for a living? I’m a community project manager with the Maori Housing Foundation, Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa.

What cause are you passionate about? I’m passionate about ensuring that families and older people have good quality, safe and affordable housing, because this actually improves the health and well-being of families.

What project are you involved with that makes the world a better place? I’m involved with two housing projects at the moment. For the first project our organisation decided to build kaumātua villages. We have two of these villages already established, with 14 units in each of them.

The other project that’s currently underway is the Waiere village in Hamilton. This project is comprised of 62 homes, with a mix of affordable home ownership and also social housing. Based on the concept of māra kai, the village will incorporate shared gardens and food forests, and the residents will take care of each other. That’s the outcome that we’re looking for.

What effect has this project had to date? It’s been really exciting because these villages have given low-income families the opportunity to get on the home ownership ladder. So we’re helping families that never thought they’d ever be first home buyers, but now they are, and they can actually see their house being built from the ground up.

What do you love most about New Zealand? I love New Zealand because it’s home. And I love New Zealand because of the people – who we are, and what makes us who we are.

—

Photographer: Mark Hamilton

[thenewzealanders]

Gareth Owston-Doyle (25)

Where are you from? I grew up in Mairangi West, between Puhoi and Orewa. About 5 years ago I moved into Auckland.

What do you do for a living? I work for Fulton Hogan doing civil engineering. I’ve done that since I left school.

What activity are you involved with that makes the world a better place? I’ve just walked the length of New Zealand to raise money and awareness for Fostering Kids New Zealand. It took me 175 days from start to finish, averaging about 25km a day.

It’s a hard foundation to fundraise for due to the sensitivity around the cases they deal with. They can’t really tell stories about the kids they help, because they need to protect the privacy of those children. So it’s really difficult for them to get their message out.

A lot of New Zealanders are aware of fostering, but they don’t know anything about the process that makes it happen. It’s very complicated. I think there are a lot of families out there that would love to foster a child, but they just never hear about how the system works, or about the positive impact that fostering has on kids’ lives.

This has been my first foray into any kind of charity work, so it’s been an eye-opener for me. During the walk I stayed with about 20 foster families, and met a whole lot more. I heard their stories and met the foster kids, which was awesome. It made the walk a lot more rewarding and worthwhile, because I got to see first-hand how fostering helps these kids. Every house I went into I could feel the love.

What effect has this activity had to date? So far I’ve raised almost $14,000 via Givealittle. I’ve also had TV, radio and web interviews, which has been great to build awareness.

How could this activity be developed in order to benefit more people? I’ll be talking about my trip at the Fostering Kids conference this year, which I’m pretty nervous about to be honest. And I’ll be doing some talks in schools as well.

I’ll definitely be doing more charity work in the future, because I think it’s very rewarding for both parties.

What do you love most about New Zealand? The people. Everyone I met on the walk was awesome. They would all go the extra mile to make my life a bit easier – which was pretty cool to see.

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Photographer: Maxy

[thenewzealanders]

Barbara Spicer (57)

Where are you from? I’m a born and bred Kiwi – an Aucklander.

What do you do for a living? I work in construction as a project supervisor.

What cause are you passionate about? My family and the community I live in, because I feel these are the areas where I can make a difference, in a good way.

What activity are you involved with that makes the world a better place? I’m a volunteer for Auckland Rural Fire Service and St John’s First Response in Kawakawa Bay and Orere Point. I help people that find themselves in a vulnerable situations.

What effect has this activity had to date? Being a community on the outskirts of Auckland there is always a bit of a wait for emergency services to reach us. Having these volunteer services here gives local people peace of mind.

How could this activity be developed in order to benefit more people? Fortunately these services are already well established in other communities around the country.

What do you love most about New Zealand? What’s not to love about New Zealand?

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Photographer: Nic Staveley

[thenewzealanders]

Dan Hanks (44)

Where are you from? Auckland - via London, Whakatane, Queenstown and Christchurch. So I live in Auckland now but I was born in London.

What do you do for a living? I’m a sign language interpreter by profession, and I have been for 21 years. 

I run a company called Connect Interpreting which provides interpreting services, mainly in Auckland. I also run a company called Deafradio, which is sort of a project hub where we work on various different projects for the deaf community. Some of them are profit making services and some of them are not for profit.

What cause are you passionate about, and why? The main one for me at the moment is access, because there are so many communities that don’t have it, and providing access would be so easy and not expensive. It’s not even a resourcing issue, it’s purely a will issue.

Twenty years ago it might have been quite technically difficult and expensive to provide access to all people, in all languages and in multiple formats. But these days with new technology and new capacity it’s just so cheap and so easy there’s really no reason not to do it. And what it means when you’re not doing it is that knowing and being able to read English becomes a default privilege in our society.

What project are you involved with that makes the world a better place? Infowave is a website that’s designed for viewing on mobile devices, which can provide instant access to professional translations of information in various languages and formats. So a deaf person could go into a museum and view a video exhibit featuring audio content and click on a QR code or enter an alphanumeric and get access to all of the material relating to that exhibit on their tablet or smartphone in a format they can easily understand. Likewise someone with a learning disability could do the same thing, or someone whose first language is Maori, or Samoan, or Tongan, or Korean, or whatever.

For people who can’t access English content because of impairments this is a human rights issue. It’s really saying that those people have as much right to access the museum as a space, and this exhibit that their taxes have helped pay for, as you or I.

For other people like visitors or tourists, people who live in New Zealand and don’t have English as their first language, it’s also just showing them that they’re just as valued in society as everyone else. We’re promoting ourselves as a multi-cultural nation, but we’re extremely mono-linguistic.

What effect has this project had to date? Well, as an example, we worked with Auckland Museum last year on a couple of projects. One of them was called Tapu Tamaki, or Auckland Stories, which was an exhibition on Auckland history. They had a collection of artefacts and images, and they built an exhibition around that. It was aimed at children as well as adults and it was great – hugely successful for them. So we worked with their staff to ensure that entire exhibition, including all of the audio and text content, was translated into New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) and made accessible via Infowave.

For the first time people from the Auckland deaf community didn’t feel like tourists in their own museum. The feedback from them, and particularly deaf youth, was really great – because they felt included.

How could this project be developed in order to benefit more people? The principle behind this initiative is providing access for a marginalised community to a mainstream provider – whether it’s a museum, a government department, a public space, or whatever. I think the expansion relies on an acknowledgment that other communities with other languages exist in New Zealand, and people should be allowed and encouraged to use those languages.

What do you love most about New Zealand? Honestly, I fell in love with in New Zealand within 24 hours of arriving. We moved from a semi-detached council place just outside of London to a villa on Ohope beach with citrus trees that was one block from this big open stretch beach like I’d never seen before. So I was completely sold and I’ve never looked back.

It’s a beautiful country and I think the people are fantastic.

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Photographer: Aaron K