Wairoa a Great Experience Say Family

The Wairoa Star

Community

Wairoa a great experience say family

7/30/2009

Wairoa has been a wonderful little town to spend the last 14 months of our lives.

A year ago our family came from Michigan to experience another culture. My husband Chad, a GP physician, was looking to gain more experience in rural medicine and coming from a large city, a small town appealed to our family.

Chad had a good experience working at the Health Care Centre. He enjoyed using his medical skills beyond the office and appreciated the opportunity to join the local search and rescue team as well as help with the Lake to Lighthouse Challenge.

I have enjoyed learning new quilting tips from the women in the quilting club and even entered a quilt in the Wairoa A and P show. The women from the spinning group were happy to let me join in and even brought a spinning wheel over to the house so we could have a go at spinning wool!

Ballroom dancing class each week has fulfilled a childhood dream.

A kaumatua group welcomed me onto their marae each month for their meetings, sharing the Maori culture and teaching me a lot.

Our older children Damon and Maddie attended the college. Wearing uniforms each day has been a change from what they are used to.

A school trip to Lake Taupo last year gave them the opportunity to ski at Mt. Ruapehu, see a military base and learn about the volcanic zone in New Zealand.

Our youngest, Elena, has attended Tiaho and has enjoyed the opportunity to be on the newspaper team, join in kapa haka and attend a Young Leaders conference in Rotorua.

The kids enjoyed trying many of the clubs Wairoa has to offer. Squash rowing, sailing and water skiing were all sports they had the opportunity to experience for the first time.

Being in a country where farming is predominate, we tried our hand at gardening and raised two little lambs. The lambs were a unique experience for us and we tried everything from bathing them in the bathtub to feeding them with a bottle!

As a family we enjoy the outdoors and have had fun exploring all of New Zealand. We are very impressed with all there is available around Wairoa.

We spent many days at Mahia playing with Moko, looking for pipi, exploring the reef and playing in the water.

We also enjoyed the beautiful hiking trails at Lake Waikaremoana.

But our time here has't been without its challenges. There has been an adjustment to the culture, as well as being long-term temporary residents.

Heating a home with a fire has required learning the art of starting and keeping a fire going. With shops being closed in the evenings, we have learned to be prepared or go without.

It took a while, be we have become comfortable driving on the left side of the windy roads!

As we look back, we see that what we have experienced here is intricately intertwined with the people we have met.

In sharing our experiences we would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who have made our year exceptional.

We are better people because you have shared your lives with us and for that we thank you.

- Kristen Faber

See What You Can Do

The Wairoa Star

Community

See What You Can Do

11/2008

New Zealand is a beautiful country of rolling hills and mountains, fields and forests, rivers and waterfalls, lakes and oceans.

It is an invaluable gem in a world that is losing its precious wilderness to meet the needs of a growing population.

Some may wonder why we should be concerned with the environment. Past generations acted on a lack of knowledge thus disturbing the world we now live in.

As we look to the future we need to decide what type of world we wish to leave those generations after us.

It is easy to look to others to take responsibility for us. The government can't fix all the problems in society so it is up to the individual to claim responsibility and make changes.

In the past few years I have taken a closer look at how I live my daily life and how my actions are in turn affecting the world around me.

In moving to New Zealand I have taken an even greater step in that direction.

The first step in change is to realize the need for change.

There is so much about our daily lives that we do't think about.

What will happen to this article after I am done using it?

What is left in the air after a drive to town?

How is heating my house affecting the air that I breathe?

A trip to the local dump was an experience that left me thinking where does my daily rubbish go?

How many years until this dump is full and then where does the rubbish go?

Is there a way I can reduce the amount that I am contributing to this each week?

New Zealand is miles ahead of America in the average person's care of the environment.

Here I have reduced my wast to one small bag a week with my recycling container overflowing.

I have found that most packaging contains the recycling symbol yet there is still room for improvement.

New Zealanders currently recycle 70 percent of their aluminum, 50 percent of their paper, 45 percent of their glass, 30 percent of their steel and only 18 percent of their plastics.

We have made it a practice to compost our vegetation scraps, I knew of only one other family that composted back in America.

Residents of Wairoa have shown me many ways to compost including worm farms and compost bins.

The council now even has a compost system available that also helps to produce a liquid fertilizer for your garden.

Conscious living can also be fun and rewarding. I was recently at a party here in town and the host had 100 percent compostable plates and wooden eating utensils.

Everyone had fun standing in line tasting their plates!

The kids at school are often doing projects as well with the concept of reusing something old to create something new.

I even know someone here who makes their own petrol for their car by recycling vegetable oil.

On a business scale I have discovered that businesses displaying the black square with the white fern have achieved the Qualmark.

This is New Zealand's official mark of quality for tourism.

Businesses are assessed on their environmental performance in areas of energy efficiency, conservation initiatives, waste management, community activities and water conservation.

I have seen these principles in practice as we have traveled with garbage separation and composting in hotels, light switches that are activated with room entrance keys, energy efficient light bulbs and recycling containers at camping grounds.

To care about the future of the earth one does not need to carry a picket sign in a demonstration march or wear a t-shirt proclaiming 'Save the Whales'.

Each person has the power to make a difference.

I urge you to stop, think, consider and evaluate.

It is the small choices each of us makes on a daily basis.

Through all of us making those conscious decisions we will leave a gift to the future generations.

- Kristen Faber