Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
We tend to get ourselves into some pretty amazing places and we certainly get to meet some incredible people in our journey with Box of Light, but I never expected to be sheltering from a hailstorm in a gun turret above Smaills Beach with a New Zealand finalist in the Miss Universe competition.
Corinna Hollamby (that's her above) is a 25-year-old community social worker for Stand Children's Services and one of just 25 finalists in the New Zealand section of the competition. If she wins, she will be representing New Zealand in Miss Universe. One of three Dunedin girls in the final she never dreamed she'd be in a competition like this.
"I woke up one morning and checked my emails – I had won a million dollars and had to contact someone in Bangkok to claim it and I had another message asking me to take part in Miss Universe," she laughs.
Corinna said she had never been involved in pageants before.
"The competition has been completely revised in New Zealand in recent years – they've linked up with Variety, The Children's Charity and so half our fundraising goes directly to that. They've dropped the world peace element, the talent section and there is no swimsuit on stage anymore either."
In her day job with Stand Corinna works with kids between the ages of 5 and 12 who are at risk – many of whom spend three to five weeks at their residential village in Roxburgh.
"We get referrals from various sources and then we meet with the families, identify the struggles and put a plan in place with the families. A lot of the time that involves a stay at Roxburgh – it's quite structured so there is a routine that is developed and it really helps the kids. We work with the families at the same time to help them with their struggles. Our goal is to get them to a point where they can operate independently and not rely on us to solve their problems."
"It is very rewarding, but it can also be really challenging at times – there are some tricky days. It's balanced out with lots of fun times with the kids – just playing games and doing activities that they might not normally get a chance to experience. "
Corinna spent five years at university before taking the role with Stand. She completed a Bachelor of Arts and Psychology degree and then did a second degree in social work.
As one of the top 25 finalists Corinna will go right through to a live televised show on September 18th in Auckland.
You can cast your vote for Corinna here.
We'll be in Samoa as you read this and the charts are predicting we'll have some serious juice on the southern reefs of Upolu – the Tahiti Pro is set to start at Teahupo'o around the same time (about 1600km to the east) and looking similar to the 2011 conditions for the contest. There will be a few sleepless nights for the pros heading into that, that's for sure.
See you in the Pacific ... Derek
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: