Emergency Response Kit's

This post is an edited version of a previous post. It started as an urgent plea for help, now I want to use it to share an awesome story and message.

Between Wednesday the 27 of Jan and Sunday the 31 of Jan I took part in RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Award; a leadership course for young people aged between 18 and 24.

One of our challenges was to be the group to raise the most money over a two hour period, the money would go towards an Emergency Response Kit or E.R.K.




Below is the original post
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WE HAVE 2 HOURS ONLY!!!

I am taking part as one of seven partaking in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards from January 27-31.
Rotary NZ has developed and produced Emergency Response Kits (ERKs) to provide essential supplies to emergency effected households in the Pacific.

We in New Zealand are the first response to the Pacific when they are hit by Natural disasters. Rotary provided and delivered 900 to Fiji in 2012 and about the same to Samoa in 2009.

One Emergency Response Kit contains the tools to construct a basic shelter, find food from the land and sea, to allow people to cook and clothe themselves. The empty plastic containers can hold 90L of water. There are 60+ Items.

One E.R.K. costs $600 and we have until 2.35pm to raise as much funds and awareness for these E.R.K.'s as we possibly can so help out team PINK and donate to help out so we can prepare to help those people in need!
Even $1 counts! Sharing this post helps too!

You can donate through the following link:
rnzwcs.org/donate

You can donate via bank transfer or through the Give-a-little page.
PLEASE put the following in your comment:

RYLA 2016 ERK TEAMPINK

Thank you so much for helping towards a great cause!
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After making this post my group split off into different parts of Wellington city to raise money any way possible; one of my team members Moni and myself teamed up and went to some workplaces where they sent an email around to all employees. We then found a spot on Cuba St where we based ourselves asking for help from the public in the form of donations and also sharing with them our cause.

What happened next changed my view of people. We had many people who would walk past in a hurry, giving you the cold  shoulder. There were people who would say no and continue on with their day. There were people who would ignore you completely, not willing to spare the time just to say no.
Then there were the others. There was an incredible outpouring of generosity from all sorts of different people. Some of them would search the bottom of their wallets for any shrapnel they had, some would quite willingly give a $5, $10, or $20 dollar note. I approached one man who was a beneficiary who spent his evenings in a night shelter for the homeless, he gave me a dollar.
A lot of people honestly had no money to give, but would stop and talk to us; two Fijian ladies asked for more information in the form of an email address and a donations website so that they could then share with their Fijian social group our cause and see if anyone there would donate. One man had no coin to spare but was busy taking photos of the city. He took our photo and gave us his card, we then sent him some information about our cause and he in turn sent us the photo.

This was a very hard challenge for me to do as I absolutely hate asking people for money, but I really appreciated the diversity of people that I encountered. Whether or not they donated or not I appreciated that most people were willing to listen to me.

The E.R.K.'s are an awesome tool. By preparing them in a warehouse in NZ ready to deploy if a disaster does occur somewhere in the pacific we can be ready straight away to help out our pacific island neighbours. New Zealand is a nation of power and responsibility. It is our responsibility to help our neighbours in a crisis.
The link is still live; you can still donate, so if you have a few dollars to spare please thinking of sharing it with this cause. Thank you.
rnzwcs.org/donate

Animal Cutouts

An opportunity arose. I was asked whilst at the Petone Carnival about the animal shapes we had suspended from our Fire Sculpture. Someone was inquiring how much it would cost to purchase similar shapes from me.

For me this is big. HUGE. As a designer interested in D.I.Y. being given a job where I can spend a few hours playing with tools and making things is a dream come true. After the exchanging of details I planned how it would be done.

The Four animals I would be creating were a Kiwi, a Tuatara, a Morepork, and a Pukeko; this would end up in a kindergarten so they shapes had to be easily recognizable and safe to touch (no sharp edges). The Pukeko is a shape I'd not yet created before, this was going to be a learning curve.

I had to find an image of a pukeko and edit the shape to make the outline as recognizable as possible. I had saved the silhouettes for each of the other shapes from when I created them for the sculpture.

Using the same technique, I projected the image using a computer projector onto ply wood and sketched around the outline of all four animals in pencil. Making the most of the plywood I have; with the leftovers I'll be able to create more shapes (Hopefully for another client).

The oultines of animal shapes on the ply, seen resting on sawhorses ready to be cut out.

Tuatara Outline

Morepork and Kiwi Outline

Then it was out to the garage to cut out each of the shapes using the jigsaw. The process is one of time and precision. I need to move my body around the large piece of ply wood to find the best angle for cutting at. 

When cutting with the jigsaw, eye and ear protection is a must.

Finished cutting out the Pukeko

When all four pieces are cut out I am left with a large off cut which I put aside. The four animals are then sanded by a piece of sandpaper held in my hand. This ensures that no heavy tools will damage the shapes. For any areas that need sanding a little firmer, I use the multi-tool which has a triangular shaped sanding head, but is not powerful enough to damage the wood. The edges on each of the shapes were smoothed out making them safe for children to touch.

Pukeko cutout.

Morepork cutout.

Four Animal Shapes: Tuatara, Morepork, Pukeko, Kiwi.

The four native animal shapes were sold. This was a fun project for me, D.I.Y., craft, and working with power tools is something I am passionate about. I enjoy the creation process and I love knowing that my effort is going somewhere where it will be appreciated, loved, used, and built upon; such as a kindergarten. To the best of my knowledge the next step involves the kindy children decorating the animal shapes however they see fit. Brilliant, we are growing our next generation of D.I.Y.ers.

Getting around - Publlic Transport/Driving/Scooter

Wheels

The Situation.

I live in rural Wellington with my partner Shellie, together for the past few years we have relied upon driving a car that has been loaned to us, a red Mitsubishi Lancer. One morning a couple months back we were driving to work through the busy morning traffic; it was a cold winters morning, the windows were foggy from condensation, and there was blinding sun strike hindering our safe progression to the city; ultimately this led to us being rear ended by a little old lady who was also blinded by the sun.

The Lancer

Upon closer inspection, our car got written off, the result of a bent chassis. The insurance money was paid to the owners of the car, and we were left without a vehicle.
Some of you may know I live in an area of Wellington where public transport is not an option. We needed a vehicle as soon as possible to continue going about our daily lives. We ended up buying two vehicles over two weekends.

The old scooter, it putted out and got sold for parts

Perhaps you are to the view point that the use of petrol is killing our world and anyone using a vehicle unnecessarily is kicking their boot in at mother earth. I know that my use of petrol is killing the earth, but I believe that our use of two vehicles is the most suitable mode of transport for our lifestyle.
The first vehicle we purchased is a yellow Honda Fit, the Japanese equivalent of the Honda Jazz. This 'Small Car' "Fits" our needs nicely. Although smaller than the Lancer, it has a lot of storage space, it carries up to 5 people, perfect for driving friends and family around and holding a weeks worth of gear whilst we are away from home. Also, the Fit is more fuel efficient than the Lancer, we save $10 every time we fill it up.

The Fit

For the first week we made use of the fit for all of our needs, but we soon found we each wanted to be self sufficient as far as transportation. The following weekend we purchased a Motorized Scooter; a PGO, PMX Naked 50. I originally wanted to get a motorbike but being sensible we agreed to buy something that both of us could drive.

Our new PMX

In purchasing the two vehicles we exchanged money intended as our international travel fund, into two vehicles, two assets, and in doing so, cemented our residence as being in New Zealand for the next year or so.

Shellie was thrilled with owning our own car; this meant that she could get from one place to another and have the ability to work her jobs as a nanny for two different families, being able to drive children from A to B.
I am thrilled to have the scooter because it means not having to rely on the car; being able to drive through rush hour traffic slightly faster; and most conveniently, being able to park right outside my work building in the middle of the city all day for free.

Two of my least favourite things are getting stuck in traffic and paying for petrol. In a different world I would not have to face either of these daily realities, but instead I live a life that requires my mobility. With my lifestyle the choice of  vehicles that I drive complement the way I go about my daily business.

By driving a car I feel obliged to take into consideration fuel efficiency. Our current car is more fuel and money efficient than the Lancer, and the costs of driving the scooter are almost negligible; I am often taken aback by the fact that I can pay for a weeks worth of petrol for the scooter out of the few coins in my wallet.

I used to stress about having to pay money all the time just for it to turn from Liquid petrol into fumes that become lost to the air; the reality is though, that purchasing petrol has become routine. Whenever the car is empty it gets filled up. I know that this is an extremely privileged situation, but our income from working the lifestyle that we have chosen does allow for our transport costs to be covered.

I still do worry about my fuel consumption, If I lived anywhere else I would happily use public transport or even travel by bicycle. The reality is that having two vehicles opens up so many opportunities for us, yet it retains out desired lifestyle. Firstly we live in Makara, the rural part of Wellington. This place is inspiring, rugged, and beautiful. Living here has enhanced my ability to perform well as a designer and a photographer, it has encouraged my creative output, and ultimately it has promoted my emotional well-being and a happy state of mind, I wouldn't trade all of that in for a cheaper transport option.

Using the train system in Wellington is very efficient.

Vehicles allow Shellie and I to do the things we love, this includes our ability to attend scouting activities. Without a vehicle we would be unable to turn up and be scout leaders for the twenty or so children from the Karori West Scout troop, we would be depriving them of learning life skills and bush craft. We would be unable to attend Rover Scout events, depriving ourselves opportunities of self-development. Personal transport allows me to see my parents most weekends, therefore strengthening our relationship. As an adventurous couple, Shellie and I like to explore the country. Our vehicles allow for this, whether it is a road trip on State Highway 1 in our car, or a afternoon adventure with the two of us on the scooter, our appreciation of our country is made better by the use of our vehicles.

Not neglect for the environment, but passion for living. That is the reason we use machines that consume petrol and output bad emissions. The environmental impact still weighs on my mind, but not enough to change my choice of lifestyle, not yet.

Buy good things - Clothing, Technology, Everything

Through life as we grow we are ever changing. Our needs change in the smallest ways that effect what we do, what we use, and therefore what we buy. 

Since I was about 13 denim jeans have been my choice of trouser, warm, comfortable, and fairly sturdy. In the last few years however my lifestyle has become more active, especially as a scout and a scout leader. One of the unfortunate results of this is that being active tends to result in holes in my jeans, in particular right in the middle of the crotch. 
This has led me to reconsider the suitability of denim jeans for my lifestyle, although I have tried to mend my ripped pants, many pairs have already been thrown out. I have been led to believe that there is nothing like a new pair that won't rip in the first place.

Holes around the crotch

I was gifted a $100 voucher for my birthday redeemable at Kathmandu, an outdoors retail store. I'd browsed the store previously and noticed they had a range of trousers for men and women ideal for tramping and other outdoors activities. I went in one day and grabbed a few pairs that looked like my size. I tried a few of them on and went back to ensure that I had the best fit for me; only for the store worker to tell me that they were women's pants. I thought this can't be right, they were regular black pants with no sign of being catered to women, but I checked and surely enough they were measured in size numbers 14, 16, 18... instead of the blokes sizes of S, M, L, XL ... I went back to the shelf and realized there were no remaining men's trousers.

This conflicted me a little bit. I knew that they fit me quite nicely, and I knew that if I couldn't tell the difference between men's and women's trousers no one else would. But I still knew that I was wearing women's pants, would this knowledge leave me feeling emasculated? I decided to buy them anyway. 3 pairs of pants for $90 was an absolute steal.

At the counter the worker told me I can always come back to change them if I feel uncomfortable wearing them. Even in that moment I had made up my mind and I knew I wouldn't return them; even now as I type this I am wearing them and they are as snug as ever without the slightest tear in them. My testicles are in tact too.

Kathmandu Womans Size 14.

I have learnt to purchase good items that are suitable for my lifestyle that are going to last. These may cost a bit more than the cheaper alternative (I still keep an eye out for a sale though).

I still have old clothes, these are used when I do physical labouring work, gardening, painting, or exercise. Nobody cares how I present myself in any of these situations; and I don't care if my old clothes get ripped, dirty, or painted on.

Paint splattered clothing for my eyes only

In my first year of university study my first big purchase was a decent DSLR camera (Cannon 550D), saving up a wee bit more money for a decent model of camera that would be sufficient throughout my studies and beyond. I'm still using it and it has no sign of giving up just yet.

Buying one expensive thing that will last a long time is far better than buying hundreds of cheap things that will break. In the long run it is more economical, and it is much more environmentally friendly.

Cheesy reflection shot

I have always wanted to own a pair of doc martins boots, among my hip friends many have their own pair of docs which they purchased brand new; apparently the best way to buy something so valuable and personal. For me the opportunity came when a friend was selling his boots I seized the chance. $50 I had my own pair of docs, I had to grind down my own gradient to the shoes and find some new laces but now I own them and they fit me as any new pair would; with a bit of shoe polish they look brand new as well and none of my doc wearing friends know any different.

With a bit of Shoe polish they look brand new again.

The list goes on and I can give you innumerable examples of when spending more is better than buying the cheap alternative. But each situation requires its own thought from you, the consumer.

I am a practical person. Spending more should result in a better product. I don't believe in spending more just for the status of investing in a brand, but I don't want to waste my pennies purchasing rubbish that is inevitably going to end up in landfill. I search for the reasonable middle ground. Practical lasting quality from a good product is what my money is worth.