More Than a Band Aid

Anna Parsons works for World Vision. Her job takes her to some of the world’s poorest countries. Challenge spoke to Anna about her global job.

Challenge: What does your job involve?

Anna: I’m a programme manager at World Vision New Zealand. I oversee seven Area Development Projects (ADPs) in Tanzania and one in Myanmar.

I spend 12 weeks a year overseas. When visiting an ADP, I spend time with the local World Vision staff and meet with community groups.

When I’m not overseas, I work at World Vision’s national office. I organise funding for the ADPs and help them to plan their projects. Sometimes I arrange visits for people to meet their sponsored children and assist with other visits such as film crews making documentaries.

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For the Animals

Cheeky orphan cheetahs that need to learn some manners; a cute and cuddly kitten that likes to terrorise the family pooch; a gentle giraffe that might suffer stress at being transported overseas – problems such as these are all in a day’s work for Aussie veterinary behaviour specialist Dr Kersti Seksel.

Veterinary behaviourists are specially trained to understand and diagnose behaviour problems in animals. ‘We are the psychiatrists of the animal world,’ says Kersti.

‘Because animals can’t talk, it’s up to their carers to tell us about the problem. We observe the animal and try to help them by also looking at how the animal normally behaves as a domestic species or in the wild,’ she says.

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Wild Weekend Adventures

Some people never get the chance to live their dream. But for Clyde and Steve Graf who grew up in the wilderness, their passion for travel and making films has led to their first television series – Wild Weekend Adventures.

Challenge: Where will you travel to film the series?

Graf Boys: The series will be about nature and wildlife in Australia and New Zealand and, later, in Canada.

We’ll head into the Aussie outback, to the sapphire fields near Rubyvale, 1000 kilometres northwest of Brisbane. There are mine shafts, craters and dirt tracks that wind among the dingoes and kangaroos, and the occasional murky waterhole.

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Ah, the Serenity

What better way to spend a holiday than by enjoying the glories of nature? This can involve walking through forests, swimming with dolphins, exploring caves, lazing around on the beach and visiting areas of natural splendour, beauty and serenity. It can make cities seem ugly and noisy!

Tourists have always loved visiting nature but today more people are doing it than ever before – and that’s no surprise. You humans treasure your environment – most of the time, anyway! – so when you holiday in it, you’re always careful to protect it.

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