Last week, four New Zealanders won awards for this year. Each of them volunteered their time and skills to help others.
It is hard to say only one thing about each of these people because they have all done so much. Sam Tutu Chapman won the Local Heroes award. He has worked with gangs to help them change their behaviour.
Divya Dhar won the award for Young New Zealander of the Year. She has just graduated as a medical doctor. She has been active in helping the poor in Third World countries among many other things.
Sir Eion Edgar is Senior New Zealander of the Year. He is the President of the New Zealand Olympic Committee. He is a businessman who has worked hard for people in sport and the arts – writers and artists. He is also involved in health issues like diabetes.
The main award, New Zealander of the Year, goes to Ray Avery, a man who set up a high tech laboratory in his garage. His company, Medicine Mondiale, has invented a number of products which can be used in the Third World. He invented a lens for people who have lost their eyesight because of cataracts. In 1992, these lenses cost $300 but Ray set up a factory in Eritrea and Nepal to make the lenses for a few dollars.
Here are some of his other inventions for Third World countries: a safe, cheap and re-usable incubator for pre-mature babies who have infections; a simple clip to control the flow of drugs to patients on an intravenous (IV) drip; a powder for children who have diarrhea. This product is made from waste meat and kiwifruit so the cost is low. It is freeze dried and packed in small packets like a tea bag. It gives sick children instant energy. It sells for very little money in the Third World but athletes in the First World also buy it, and the cost is high for them.
Ray Avery had an unusual childhood. He was abandoned as a baby and brought up in an orphanage in Britain. He ran away from the orphanage when he was 14 and lived on the streets in London. A year later, some university professors helped him to develop an interest in Science. He emigrated to New Zealand where he started a pharmaceutical company which makes drugs which help people. He said, “I believe that one person can change the world for the better.”
To find about more about these awards, go to the New Zealand awardswebsite.