YONZO...OMTO???

Hi Yall,

We have arrived at the end of the year 2013, and the students have left these hallowed walls of The Old Convent here in Kaikoura, NZ. We, staff, are still smiling at the times shared with them and we are deeply grateful for this kind and loving group of people.

With all the Disco that was listened to and the gaudy sweaters
that were worn - this sure felt like the 70's :)

The students had a wonderful last couple of weeks that really tied up the loose ends of their semester. They finished their last bits of academics entitled, "Integration Week" facilitated by our wonderful director, Courtnay Wilson. During this course students had the opportunity to compile all that they learned and experienced here at CCSP NZ by writing a comprehensive paper. This was a big task to complete, but all of the students benefitted from the closure it brought to their time here. Some students even said they would keep this paper for their ENTIRE lives!!!!!! Good on 'em.

After the papers were turned in, documentaries were watched, betterment projects were revealed, and deep discussions were had - Integration Week was over.

The last week students spent here is called Debrief Week. This allowed students to process what they have experienced, are experiencing, and will experience because of their time here at CCSP. The week was filled with lovely time spent together through great meals, fun day hikes, large group discussions and activities, and plenty of exclamations of, "YONZO!" - Your Only In New Zealand Once.

Students Leah, Rob, and Diane stride up stream
on a beautiful hike to Sawcut Gorge

Overall, the students and staff of Fall 2013 had a fantastic semester. Strong friendships were formed and as our friend Lisa said, "This group truly became our whanau" (family in the Maori language). Although it was sad to see them leave, the time we shared together will illuminate all of our future experiences and commitments.

God is so good in his blessings! We have been blessed by Diane, Kelsey, Steve, Monica, Emma, Rebekah, Jacob, Leah, Jenna, and Rob. Good on ya' my brothers and sisters.

What a bunch of lovely and goofy "ratbagz"!

Remember - "YONZO....OMTO?" - Your Only In New Zealand Once....Or More Than Once? :)

Cheers,

Adam (Co-Student Life Coordinator CCSP NZ)

Almost a Wrap

Hi Yall!

The students have nearly finished all of their courses here at CCSP. Time sure does fly!

So far:

They were challenged by the social issues raised in Sustainable Community Development. 

In their two week course of God & Nature, they were encouraged to approach the Bible with an agrarian/land-based perspective.  In addition, students learned about the significance of how Jesus Christ's death redeemed ALL of creation, not just humankind.

God & Nature I: Students, Staff, and Professor Davis engage in
a student led session.

In Environmental Literature students read until their brain's were as fit as olympic decathalonists. Under the tutorage of Dr. Susan M. Felch (Professor of English, Calvin College), they explored texts by Annie Dillard, Wendell Berry, the Kiwi author Patricia Grace, and many many more. Students were enriched by the class discussions, the individual assignments, and the opportunity to read intentionally with close attention to detail.

The students recently wrapped-up their two-week course in Terrestrial Ecology with Dr. David Warners (Professor of Biology, Calvin College). 

CCSP's Thanksgiving mascot "Flamurkey"

The semester is drawing to a close with less than 2 weeks left. However, there is still more learning to engage in, more shenanigans to be had, more bon-fires on the beach to set ablaze, and more delicious meals to eat!

Lots of wonderful food for a lot of lovely people.

Speaking of meals, culinary delights were shared at our belated THANKSGIVING FEAST - Old Convent Style! Students and staff joined forces to make a fantastic array of Thanksgiving dishes ranging from sweet potato mash, green bean casserole, sausage stuffing, corn bake, heaps of sweet treats, and a good ol' turkey. It was yum-as!!!!

Anyway, Viva la Vida here at CCSP and Happy Christmas season's greetings to all yall!

Cheers, 

Adam (CCSP Student Life Coordinator)

Marine Ecology

Students with professor Jody Weir

It was a pleasure to have local Jody Weir as the instructor of our marine ecology course titled "Conservation and Behavioural Ecology of New Zealand Marine Species." Jody is a Canadian who has called Kaikoura home for several years. Her research interest is in mammalian development, ranging from that of dusky dolphins here in Kaikoura, to lemurs in the heart of the Maromizaha Forest, Madagascar. She has recently been dedicating much of her time to starting up an organization called the Kaikoura Ocean Research Institute and doing research on the population of the endangered Hector's dolphin. Jody is a big supporter of conservation projects involving and drawing from community support. What's one thing you can expect to hear Jody say? "Everyone has an important role to play in conservation!" 

Our first day of class focused on marine invertebrates and fishes. In the afternoon, we went tidepooling out on the Kaikoura Peninsula. We scoured the seaweed and rock pools for tiny marine treasures. Among them were anemones, sea stars, nudibranchs, and even the teeniest baby octopus!

"I had so much fun at the tidepools, and I felt it was a really effective way for us to put our learning into action by doing hands-on identifying." –Jenna, Wheaton College

Tidepooling on the Kaikoura Peninsula

Day two, we focused on marine birds. Ornithologist Lindsay Rowe, involved with research on our local Hutton's shearwaters and little blue penguins. He told us all about the work that he has done to protect the shearwaters along with other researchers, supporters, and community members. It was inspiring to hear about how everyone's hard work has made a difference in saving this special marine bird.

On a more global scale, we talked about how plastic pollution is affecting bird life, specifically the albatross living on Midway Atoll. Many chicks are dying after being fed plastic by their parents. With a seemingly full belly of materials that can't be digested, the birds are dying of starvation. There is six times the amount of plastic particles than phytoplankton in water samples taken out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Yes, even on the most isolated of places in the middle of the ocean feels the pressure of the human handprint on the earth.  It seems impossible to me to hear that without walking away with a new realization of the scope of our human impact on the creatures we share this planet with.

To learn more about the problem from photographer Chris Jordan, check out this PopTech talk:
Chris Jordan: Polluting Plastics

This heart-wrenching tale is beautifully captured in the trailer from yet-to-be-released documentary Midway:
Midway Film Trailer

"I was made keenly aware of the damage that plastic does to marine life. It was devastating to see the birds with plastic bottle caps inside of them and all sorts of plastic products. I know the importance of recycling plastic but just an awareness of the need to reduce my plastic intake was made apparent to me. Once again, the quality of life for people and animals is so intricately connected through the complexity of the ecosystems that we live in and are apart of whether we recognize it or not."–Monica, Messiah College

We topped off the evening with a visit to the Coastguard building for a special program called the PEAP (Penguin Education and Awareness Program). The aim of the program is to give locals and visitors a ‘peap’ into the lives of the little penguins living in Kaikoura. After an introduction to the lives of these penguins, we headed downstairs to take a look at their nest boxes and hopefully catch a glimpse of the real these curiously blue aquatic birds. Sure enough, we were delighted to be presented with a number of face-to-face encounters. Alastair and Lindsay were able to show us two chicks and two adults as they went about their research business. Surely not your average night of class!

"Marine Animals are an awesome creation of God! Dolphin Encounter was one of the coolest things I've ever done.  It was awesome to learn about an animal and then have the opportunity to interact with it too!  PEAP was a worthwhile program to check out.  Seeing baby penguins was a bonus." –Kelsey, Messiah College

Day three we focused on seals and sea lions, taking time in the morning to visit the NZ fur seal nursery and colony at Ohau. DOC worker Brett Cowan also gave a talk about seal conservation in Kaikoura.

Day three, we learned about and conducted field observations of the NZ fur seal.

Thursday was dolphin day! We kicked it off with a trip out with Dolphin Encounter. We were able to meet and interact with the dusky dolphins while paddling around the chilly water. The air was filled with the comedic chorus of students trying to auditorily captivate our finned friends. Jody also shared about her dusky dolphin and Hector's dolphin research with us.

We couldn't have had better conditions for our Dolphin Encounter trip!

This trip was a highlight of the week for everyone!

Our group out on Dolphin Encounter

Day five was dedicated to the wonderful world of whales. We started with a hike to Ota Matu, a great place to conduct shore-based whale observations. In the evening, guest speaker Ophélie Sagnol talked to us about her shore-based sperm whale research (chapter 2). With Kaikoura's reputation as a marine mammal Mecca largely due to the sperm whales so easily seen offshore, this was a big help for us in better understanding this place we call home.

Our group at Ota Matu.

Friday night we had a poster fair where each student chose a marine organism in Kaikoura to research and share about. The students put a lot of creative effort into their posters! CCSP staff and some invited guests acted as judges during the poster fair. It was a great way to end the week and reflect on what we've learned about the abundant marine life in Kaikoura.

Just a glimpse into the poster fair on Friday evening

 Everyone wanted to try on Jake's (Messiah) life-size albatross wings that accompanied his poster! 

This quote from student Emma Childs effectively summarizes the impact that this week has had on the students this semester:
 

"I so very often forget that my waste patterns, my consumption and my frequent inattentiveness to my footprint on the Earth affects not only the land I see below my feet, but the entire vast world below the waves. The creatures residing there are equally important to our fragile ecosystems and perhaps more often, lack a voice  because we see them less often (at least, those of us living in a non-coast environment). Out of sight, out of mind. What an attitude Jody inspired me to change. Now there will be a Dusky Dolphin, a masking crab and a royal albatross hovering in my mind when I go to the store and they offer plastic bags. Formerly foreign scientific marine names now have faces and stories to go along with them, for which I am so grateful." –Emma, Berry College

Harakeke Homemaking!

Flax weaving with our friend Ailsa.

For homemaking this past Tuesday, our friend Ailsa came over to teach us about flax and how to work with it. Our project for the day: flax flowers. Ailsa first gave us an introduction to flax, describing the sacredness of the plant and its traditional uses and value. To learn more about flax and its significance to the Maori, check out last semester's blog post. Next, we went out to the yard to each cut our own leaf to work with. After we all chose and harvested the leaves, we sat out in the yard beneath the shade of our fruit trees and began our project.

 

 

How to weave a flax flower.

It's important to choose a good leaf without any holes or obvious weak points. When weaving, constant and even tension is key to creating a beautiful finished product. Keep in mind that the flax will dry and shrink, so make everything nice and tight! The image to the left shows the steps we followed to create the flax "flower". We divided the leaf into 6 long strips, still connected at the base, as our weavers. Once you learn the basic technique, just repeat it over and over again, turning your work as you go. The flax will change from green to straw-colored over time. Keeping with tradition, make sure to give your first flax-woven item to a friend!

The flax weaving group!

Our Trip to Windy Wellington

  
Bon voyage! On Sunday, September 22, we boarded the Interislander ferry and sailed across the Cook Strait to Wellington. Courtnay, Allie, Adam, Emma, the terrific ten, and I (Kristen) spent the week in the Wellington area as part of the Sustainable Community Development course. We made our trip to the North Island to see how sustainable community development is being lived out in this urban area of the North Island.

One of our field trips took us to Naenae Boxing Academy.

After we arrived in Wellington, we had a powhiri and were welcomed to the Te Kakano o Te Aroha marae in Lower Hutt. This marae is unique in that it is also a church. While staying there, we had speakers come to the marae and also traveled into the city of Lower Hutt and Wellington.

We started off with a TED lecture featuring James Howard Kunstler. In it he talked about how public spaces should inspire members of the community to care about and identify with the place in which they live. Leah (Dordt) also took away from this lecture the importance of considering ourselves citizens, not consumers.

The next morning, we visited Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum, toured parliament, and explored the city. Fun fact: The parliament building, commonly referred to as "The Beehive", was voted the 3rd ugliest building in the world in 2009.

The following day, we started out the day with some exercise. We visited Naenae Boxing Academy, a place dedicated to turning young boys into healthy young men through coaching and mentoring from founder Billy Graham. After telling us his story, he had us skipping rope and tossing medicine balls to each other. From there, we explored Lower Hutt a bit and met with Hutt City council Urban Planner Paki Maaka. He explained what his role is and the projects he is working on to improve the city in the future.

Image showing areas of improvement for Lower Hutt's Central Business District. Image from Hutt City Council.

Back in Wellington city, we visited Innermost Gardens, an urban garden where, as their mission states, people are brought together through a love of gardening, which provides a vehicle for them to share their knowledge and learn from one another. We were accompanied by Richard Self and Nancy King, both core members of the garden. A message I'll echo from Nancy is to save our heirloom seeds! Richard brought us through the gardens and helped us learn about the purpose of each plant in the larger ecological picture, resulting in a pleasantly aromatic cup of tea. We ended the day with a lecture from JustSpeak, an organization that encourages young people to speak up for change in the criminal justice system. They shared with us ideas of restorative justice and explained the prevalence of over-representation of Maori in the prison system. It was a full day with many questions to digest in the time to come.

On Wednesday, we braved the rainy weather and visited Zealandia, a mammal-proof sanctuary in the heart of Wellington. Despite the rain, a number of us were able to see rare birds otherwise isolated to offshore islands like the saddleback, takahe, and hihi. The indoor exhibition was an informative sanctuary for the wet and weary. I learned that weta are the only insect known to consume fleshy fruits and distribute their seeds! Bekah (Dordt) said that "Zealandia was a great place to see species unique to New Zealand. The sanctuary did a great job of representing what New Zealand may have looked like before humans arrived." Then, it was off to Wainuiomata to take a walk through a wetland being restored by a man named Russell Bell. Despite the importance of wetlands, fewer than 10% remain in New Zealand with the rest being wiped out in the last 200 years. Russell explained why we should care for our wetlands and showed us what he's doing to protect them. As Jacob (Messiah) remembers Russell putting it, "If you're going to save the world, sometimes you need to be audacious."

We visited the home of Adi Leeson and heard his story of caring for "the least of these".

The following morning, we left for Ngatiawa, a retreat area for Urban Vision workers. Ngatiawa has also been referred to as a "contemporary monastery". We were able to take part in their daily rhythms as well as share meals together, join in on their weekly tea party, and help with work being done on their yurt. We visited activist Adi Leeson, part of the Ploughshares Aotearoa movement. Known most notably for dismantling the domes at the Waihopai spy base in the aims of protecting Iraqi civilians from becoming victims of war and torture. He encouraged us to live radically, take risks, and to listen to the little voice inside us rather than ignore it. Our final speaker was Jenny Duckworth, co-author of Against the Tide, Towards the Kingdom. She also told us her story and encouraged everyone to use whatever skills, privileges, and talents possible to help others. We were left with some encouraging words from Jenny Duckworth:

"The call is to align our hearts with the heart of God...Let's live our lives with open hearts to the fact that the world is dying and suffering, and the excitement that we can do something about it...There's no person and no skill set that isn't useful for helping the world...It doesn't really matter what you do, as long as you do something."

Now we're back in Kaikoura and ready for our second week of Sustainable Community Development with Mick Duncan. More to come soon!

Our crew helping to move the old yurt to a new location at Ngatiawa.

Reading Week

You know it's Reading Week when the Old Convent falls quiet and you find a student cosied up with a book and a warm mug around every corner. A lot of reading has taken place in the past few days, but we've been busy with much more than just that!

On Tuesday, I (Kristen, SLC) led a homemaking session on papermaking. Using laundry lint and office paper as our pulp, we created a handful of homemade sheets. Maybe you can expect a handwritten letter home from one of these fine new paper-makers!

Emma (Left, Berry), Jenna (Center, Wheaton), and Becca (Right, Dordt) each did a great job making their first ever sheet of paper.

Later in the week, we went out to the peninsula for an afternoon of volunteering with the Department of Conservation (DOC). They were in need of some gravel paths within the Hutton's shearwater enclosure, and we were the right bunch for the job. Hutton's shearwaters are an endangered bird special to Kaikoura; the Kaikoura mountains are the only place in the world where these birds breed! The mammal-proof enclosure on the peninsula keeps them safe from invasive threats they face today and provides them with a more secure future. Since the adults are all on their way back from Australia, we were just in time to get the project done.

CCSP's volunteer day with DOC

Something new and exciting to Reading Week was the Te Reo Maori course. Two students, Rob and Diane, and four staff members were able to participate in this course as an introduction to the Maori language. By the end of the week, we were all able to count to 100, tell time, greet one another, sing a few songs, give a mihimihi, and, everyone's favorite, perform a haka! It was great to be able to learn about the Maori culture through their beautiful language.

Rob (Messiah), Diane (Westmont), Adam (SLC), and Kristen (SLC) performing a haka

Next week, we'll be away in the Wellington area to see how members of these communities are making strides in sustainable living and community-building. We look forward to telling you all about it!

The First Week of Class Is Under The Belts!

Greeting from beautiful Kaikoura!

This past week, September 9th -13th, the students had their first week in the classroom!

The upstairs classroom at The Old Convent
was used by the nuns & the priest
 to hold services.

Here at CCSP, classes are taught in one week or two week long blocks. Students have 3 hours of class in the morning and 2 hours of class in the evening, Monday through Friday. This is a new format for most students, but it invites them to jump into the material straight away and become active in their class environment.

The first class is called Sustainable Community Development. This week long class was taught by the incredible Michael Duncan aka Mick. Currently, Mick is the pastor at Manurewa Baptist Church in South Auckland. In addition, he is a visiting lecturer at a number of colleges in NZ and Australia. His particular passion continues to be as a speaker, calling people and groups to be all that which they were created to be and do.  

Mick is truly a gifted speaker and he has a unique way of engaging people through the art of storytelling. The students were immediately drawn into the stories about him and his family having lived and served in the slums of Manilla, Philippines for 10 years.

Some of the student's reactions to the class were:

"Eye-opening!" - Jacob Pelkey 

"Great integration between students and professor." - Leah Werkhoven

"Thought provoking and challenging. A blessing to have a teacher with great wisdom for our first week of classes." - Diane Rodriguez

"I found Mick's class to be challenging and insightful, and a good start to our semester." - Rebekah Benson

"Mick was great because he shared all sorts of opinions and values/ideas that he holds, and it was really evident that he had years of experience and reflection backing them." - Rob Wheatley

*If you want to learn more about the experiences of Mick Duncan, check out one of his books Costly Mission: Following Christ into The Slums.


Into the future!
This coming week is called appropriately named, "Reading Week." Students are responsible for reading the texts in preparation for ALL of their courses. In addition to the HEAPS of reading and preparing that the students will be doing, an enriching course about the indigenous Maori language will be taught in the evenings by a local Maori resident, Brett Cowan. The course "Te Reo Maori" is sure to be a great way for students to interact with and learn from the Maori language!

*If you want more info about CCSP or you are interested in studying abroad, check out our website: http://www.creationcsp.org/


Cheers,


Student Life Coordinator (SLC) - Adam