Pacific Project 2017 Ella Flavell

Hi,

Thanks to your help, in June I headed off to Pacific Project. To summarise the experience for me, I would say it made my year and changed my life. I travelled with eight other NZ highschoolers to the Australian UN Youth NatCon in Perth as the first leg of the trip. I spent a week with some of the most amazing people I will ever meet whilst debating, creating, and most importantly learning a huge amount. We discussed challenges facing youth and our delegated countries (I was the delegate for Yemen) with teenagers from all corners of Australia and Taiwan. In the second leg of the trip, we NZ'ers headed to Vanuatu for another week filled with learning and exciting experiences. We were lucky to stay in a guesthouse in Pango Village near Port Vila. During the week we visited the NZ high commision, went to church with the locals, visited nearby schools, and went on a sailing trip. We learnt a huge amount about New Zealand's role in the Pacific and the challenges facing nations like Vanuatu. This experience gave me a whole new perspective on my responsibility as a global citizen to listen and take action with challenges such as climate change - of which the effects are being seen in low lying nations such as Vanuatu. Since arriving back from Pacific Project I have stepped up my leadership. I attended the UN Youth APEC conference and GirlUp's national event in Wellington. I ran for student rep to the board of trustees for my school and became a more visible leader in my community by doing this. This year I am in charge of coordinating a school-wide colour run to raise money for the heart foundation and am coordinating the yearbook. I have also started a GirlUp club at my school (GirlUp is a United Nations Foundation for girls in developing countries who experience inequity due to their gender).

I hope you all have a fantastic 2018 and are enjoying January so far! Thank you again for supporting me on a trip that has changed my life.

Ngā mihi nui,

Ella Flavell