Me with children from Partners in Compassion Centre at Wat O Pot near Takeo.

I grew up in the western suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand and the suburbs of Kelston, Glen Eden, and Titirangi were my home for eighteen years.

Throughout my school years oral language skills were my forte, sometimes to the dismay of my teachers. Equally strong was my sense of social justice and I would spend many lunch times in the library pouring over autobiographies of famous people like Helen Keller, June Opie, Martin Luther King and Ghandi, to mention just a few.

Thanks to the foresight of my headmistress, Mrs Anderson and several teachers, I was given the opportunity to repeat my second year at Kelston Girls High school. I went from around bottom of the class one year to top of the class the following year. I learned that failure was not a noose around my neck, but an opportunity to be seized and challenged. I obtained my School Certificate and only just missed out on my University Entrance.

The following five years were spent drifting from a number of clerical jobs including insurance, travel, law, production planning and fruit management. It took this long for me to realise, secretarial work was not for me.

I bought a back pack and began a solo, hitchhiking trip around New Zealand. Before I knew travel was in my blood so I would need a career that encompassed my desire to help others and accommodate my passion to explore faraway places.

I returned to school as an adult pupil, at a time when the idea was unheard of, graduated, and was accepted into North Shore Teachers College. I had taken the first steps along a path that would lead to a variety of teaching positions, most of which would involve children and adults with learning disabilities and difficulties.

I have three beautiful daughters and a delightful granddaughter, an interesting teaching career and time enough to travel the world helping people, taking photographs and writing travel stories. Never in my wildest dreams could I ever have imagined my life would be so cram-packed with challenges, adventures, mountains, and friendships. For that, I am truly grateful.