I was born quite some time ago in a place far from here – about 12000 miles away. I grew up in a large town in Dorset before moving to study and work in West Sussex. In 2005 I decided to try something different and moved to New Zealand for ‘a bit of a change of scenery’. Been here six years now and feel quite at home, well second home.
I currently work full time as a Year 7/8 teacher at Churchill Park School in Glendowie, Auckland. It’s a good place to be and you get to work with some ‘interesting’ people.
In my bid to change scenery every now and then (life’s too short to stay in one place) I decided to become part of the group that travels to northern Thailand every second year. I had heard a great deal about the Pakpingjai project over the last few years and I was about to become involved in similar projects based in Kenya a few years back. This, however, never happened due to me shifting here to New Zealand.
I really believe that travel broadens the mind. So, I am looking forward to this trip and hoping to assist in a variety of ways.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Friday, 23 December 2011
Sam Fulcher's Bio
Hello, my name is Sam Fulcher and I am 14 years old. I have just finished year 10 at Sacred Heart College, and my favourite subjects are maths, science and mechanical engineering. I live with my mum in Hamilton but I attend school in Auckland. My favourite hobbies are skiing, reading and playing Xbox. I also love playing sport, and in the winter I play soccer and hockey and in the summer I play tennis.
I am going to Pakpingjai because I wish to make a difference for those less fortunate than myself. I am also going because I enjoy travelling and seeing how other cultures live. I can offer to the group a strong and caring young man who is always up for lending a hand when someone needs some help.
I am going to Pakpingjai because I wish to make a difference for those less fortunate than myself. I am also going because I enjoy travelling and seeing how other cultures live. I can offer to the group a strong and caring young man who is always up for lending a hand when someone needs some help.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Bio and Some words from Peter Chatteris, your Communications leader.
G'day!!
It's truly strange to think there is only 3 and a half weeks to go before we embark on the adventure that is the PPJ trip! Only 23 days until we meet at the airport. Just three weeks before we pack our bags.. yet in between we have Christmas and the new year! At this point you should know who I am, the person who has been pestering you for your bio's! So here it is...
Pete's Bio...
I was born in the 1950's... 1958 on the last day to be exact! That makes me 53 when we leave for Thailand. In all those years I have had a simple faith in God. Sometimes it has been tested but through it all that faith has stayed with me. Through the days of playing punk music in bands, through days of doing things that weren't great, through the horrid times of seeing tragedy, through the fantastic highs of this year's marriage to Sharyn and through the excitement of the RWC this year... faith has sustained me, fed me and given me strength.
I was born into St Heliers Church. I remember in the 60's, the great big (to me) pulpit and Rev Kenwood hollering his message of obedience to the congregation.. Memories flood back of the Johnson hall and bible class, the upstairs Sunday School and Family church camps on Waiheke. The sights of old men and women, families, kids and much more are vivid in my memory. The smells of polish, wood, perfume and a little mustiness hung in the air like a cloud of the finest droplets. The blue pew cushions, the prayer books, leather covered bibles....All those memories and all those wonderful experiences remain with me even today.
In 1983 I travelled to Aussie after playing in various bands and completing an apprenticeship in Aircraft Avionics.... After 19 years in Australia I returned to St Heliers and our loving Church. The once towering Pulpit has become smaller in my eyes and the "no-go" area on stage right is now the place of the grand piano. Where the really important people sat on the front left is now my Sunday office behind the wonderful Sonar drum kit! Even the Christening font somehow looks less frightening! Yet for all these changes, there remains a brilliant calm about the place. (except sometimes when we try a new song !) and a wonderful sense of community. My role in the church is quite easy. I turn up each Sunday morning at around 8:30, hit the drums a bit, and return home full of hope.
Yet despite my simple role on a Sunday, for this trip I have a very important role. I am your communications leader. That means basically I help you keep in touch... with yourselves, with each other, with the community and perhaps even with God. Anything to do with communications is my portfolio, so please make yourself known and let's stay in communication... surely that is what God wants. If we don't communicate, we don't live up to his expectations, and that for me would be sad.
So what do I do for a job? I am exceptionally fortunate to have work that is also my passion! I own a music school called Talent Train. I teach drums, production and a little guitar... I employ my cousin teaching guitar and together we teach kids from the age of 5 through to teens. To see these kids progress is truly wonderful.
Perhaps my work has prepared me for PPJ. I remember last time that the experience was almost too overwhelming, but at the same time so rewarding. This time I am more prepared and go into the trip knowing it will be hard but so very enriching.
I have a wife Sharyn, and stepdaughter Tessa (18) who went last time, plus two stepsons, Elliot (22) and Davis (20).
My sporting passion is taken out on the Rugby field where I play for the Presidents grade for College Rifles. To keep fit I work out in the gym 4 to 5 times a week. I also enjoy and have participated in motor racing both two and four wheels. My motorcycles are like my extended family in a way!
Anyhow... that's all for now... take care and see you all soon!!
It's truly strange to think there is only 3 and a half weeks to go before we embark on the adventure that is the PPJ trip! Only 23 days until we meet at the airport. Just three weeks before we pack our bags.. yet in between we have Christmas and the new year! At this point you should know who I am, the person who has been pestering you for your bio's! So here it is...
Pete's Bio...
I was born in the 1950's... 1958 on the last day to be exact! That makes me 53 when we leave for Thailand. In all those years I have had a simple faith in God. Sometimes it has been tested but through it all that faith has stayed with me. Through the days of playing punk music in bands, through days of doing things that weren't great, through the horrid times of seeing tragedy, through the fantastic highs of this year's marriage to Sharyn and through the excitement of the RWC this year... faith has sustained me, fed me and given me strength.
I was born into St Heliers Church. I remember in the 60's, the great big (to me) pulpit and Rev Kenwood hollering his message of obedience to the congregation.. Memories flood back of the Johnson hall and bible class, the upstairs Sunday School and Family church camps on Waiheke. The sights of old men and women, families, kids and much more are vivid in my memory. The smells of polish, wood, perfume and a little mustiness hung in the air like a cloud of the finest droplets. The blue pew cushions, the prayer books, leather covered bibles....All those memories and all those wonderful experiences remain with me even today.
In 1983 I travelled to Aussie after playing in various bands and completing an apprenticeship in Aircraft Avionics.... After 19 years in Australia I returned to St Heliers and our loving Church. The once towering Pulpit has become smaller in my eyes and the "no-go" area on stage right is now the place of the grand piano. Where the really important people sat on the front left is now my Sunday office behind the wonderful Sonar drum kit! Even the Christening font somehow looks less frightening! Yet for all these changes, there remains a brilliant calm about the place. (except sometimes when we try a new song !) and a wonderful sense of community. My role in the church is quite easy. I turn up each Sunday morning at around 8:30, hit the drums a bit, and return home full of hope.
Yet despite my simple role on a Sunday, for this trip I have a very important role. I am your communications leader. That means basically I help you keep in touch... with yourselves, with each other, with the community and perhaps even with God. Anything to do with communications is my portfolio, so please make yourself known and let's stay in communication... surely that is what God wants. If we don't communicate, we don't live up to his expectations, and that for me would be sad.
So what do I do for a job? I am exceptionally fortunate to have work that is also my passion! I own a music school called Talent Train. I teach drums, production and a little guitar... I employ my cousin teaching guitar and together we teach kids from the age of 5 through to teens. To see these kids progress is truly wonderful.
Perhaps my work has prepared me for PPJ. I remember last time that the experience was almost too overwhelming, but at the same time so rewarding. This time I am more prepared and go into the trip knowing it will be hard but so very enriching.
I have a wife Sharyn, and stepdaughter Tessa (18) who went last time, plus two stepsons, Elliot (22) and Davis (20).
My sporting passion is taken out on the Rugby field where I play for the Presidents grade for College Rifles. To keep fit I work out in the gym 4 to 5 times a week. I also enjoy and have participated in motor racing both two and four wheels. My motorcycles are like my extended family in a way!
Anyhow... that's all for now... take care and see you all soon!!
Monday, 19 December 2011
Shirley Kilgour
I am the youngest of 11 children and was raised by the Salvation Army in a Girls Home in Wellington. I moved to another girls home in Auckland where I met my husband who provided transport and help for the home. I am now working at creating healing for those girls in Salvation Army care who have issues with the organisation around their upbringing as I do. My husband and I have lived a full and exciting life as ministers/officers with the Salvation Army. We are now retired and supporting our grandchildren in Auckland and Brisbane. Ian and I are a package as we have always worked together, but we have very different abilities. I love craft, quilting and music and look forward to sharing something of these with the children of Pakpingjai.
(Both Shirley and Ian are Major's in the Salvation Army... Peter)
(Both Shirley and Ian are Major's in the Salvation Army... Peter)
Ian Kilgour Bio
I come from a Presbyterian background and became a Salvation Army Officer in 1970 enjoying Parish appointments in the North & South Islands. I had a strong conviction that God had called me to serve those who didn’t belong to the church and this lead to involvement in social and community issues, advisory roles to the Government in the fields of youth unemployment, community development, emergency housing and international aid work as Chairperson of UNICEF Auckland - hence my excitement about the opportunity to visit Pakpingjai. In 1992 I returned to Christian ministry as an Inner City Chaplain with the Methodist Church with my last appointment before retirement as manager of The Salvation Army Social Policy & Parliamentary Unit. Shirley and I have four married adult children and six grandchildren.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Annie-Rose Willis
Kia Ora! My name is Annie-Rose Willis, I am one of the latest additions to this amazing group and I am absolutely thrilled and excited to be able to travel to Pakpingjai! I am 18years old and grew up on an Avocado orchard in a small Bay of Plenty town called Katikati. I am currently on University holidays and I am living and working back home on the Orchard with my older brother William and my Mum and Dad. Helen Willis is also my younger cousin and we are great buddies! I love to travel and immerse myself in new cultures and love being around people and helping them in any sort of way. I have a passion for wildlife and the outdoors and love to cook! I have just completed my first year of University at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. Though this year has been pretty hectic with the constant and unpredictable rumbling of the ground it has also taught me that life is most defiantly to precious to waste and when an opportunity (like Pakpingjai!) arises where you can help people in any sort of way, you take it. I can not wait to travel to Pakpingjai and be able to meet and make new friends and memories. I am counting down the days!
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Herewini's Bio
Kia Ora,
Ko Herewini taku ingoa. Ko Hikurangi te maunga, ko Waiapu to awa, ko Ngati Porou te iwi. My name is Herewini. My mountain is Hikurangi, my river is the Waiapu and my tribe is Ngati Porou. I am of Maori decent and I am very proud of my heritage. There are five people in my whanau; Mum, Dad, elder sister Awhina, myself and my younger sister Sarah-Jane. I come from a musically talented family. I live in Mangere and attend Aorere College. I am an active member of the Sweet Sixteen choir and I also enjoy tinkering on the guitar, saxophone and bass. Dad and I play for division 1 mens softball team at Papatoetoe softball Club, we also attend the Maungarei Cadet Corp in Panmure, where I hold the position of Staff Sergeant. I have just completed year 12 and I am yet to complete year 13. I have a passion for music and the outdoors. I am looking forward to going to Thailand, and to all the new experiences and challenges that lie ahead. I hope that the talent and experiences that I bring to the team will be of great value and I am truly grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the team in Pakpingjai.
Ko Herewini taku ingoa. Ko Hikurangi te maunga, ko Waiapu to awa, ko Ngati Porou te iwi. My name is Herewini. My mountain is Hikurangi, my river is the Waiapu and my tribe is Ngati Porou. I am of Maori decent and I am very proud of my heritage. There are five people in my whanau; Mum, Dad, elder sister Awhina, myself and my younger sister Sarah-Jane. I come from a musically talented family. I live in Mangere and attend Aorere College. I am an active member of the Sweet Sixteen choir and I also enjoy tinkering on the guitar, saxophone and bass. Dad and I play for division 1 mens softball team at Papatoetoe softball Club, we also attend the Maungarei Cadet Corp in Panmure, where I hold the position of Staff Sergeant. I have just completed year 12 and I am yet to complete year 13. I have a passion for music and the outdoors. I am looking forward to going to Thailand, and to all the new experiences and challenges that lie ahead. I hope that the talent and experiences that I bring to the team will be of great value and I am truly grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the team in Pakpingjai.
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