A momentous year ~ Life and Style - Waikato/NZ

Each year the Waikato Times tells stories of people's lives, their issues and opportunities. As 2011 signs off, Denise Irvine revisits some of our newsmakers to check on progress.

Swarnjeet Sidhu & Sukh Takhar

This time last year Sukh Takhar was single, he was living in Cambridge, and he was about to make one of the biggest decisions of his life.

He was heading for Punjab in northern India to find a wife through the process of an arranged marriage.

Sukh grew up in Waikato but he follows the Sikh religion; he's always known that when he chose a life partner he would do it according to the Sikh tradition of family consensus.

One year on he's living in a new home in Hamilton with his beautiful new wife, Swarnjeet Sidhu. He even took on a new job earlier in the year as a small enterprise business account manager for Telecom, and now he and Swarnjeet have a baby due in April.

"It's been a really good year, a huge year. So much has happened, so fast," he says.

The marriage was certainly fast by Kiwi standards. Through contacts in Punjab, Sukh had arranged to meet three prospective brides. Swarnjeet was one of these, and his family got together with her family for the first time on January 3.

Then Sukh and Swarnjeet sat in a room on their own – with the door open – and continued their discussions. They liked each other, there was another family meeting on January 5, and Sukh and Swarnjeet talked more. Sukh was sure he'd found "the one", he told Swarnjeet how he was feeling.

There were further family consultations, Sukh and Swarnjeet became engaged on January 18, and they married four days later in a splendid ceremony.

Sukh and Swarnjeet both say there was no pressure from either family for them to marry – in the end it was their decision, and they both believe strongly in the Sikh process of family involvement.

Love grows, they say, and they quickly became comfortable with each other, and gained a really good understanding.

Sukh mentions there have been some hard moments for Swarnjeet in the transition to a new life in a new country. It has been a life-changing year for her as well, and the couple have talked a lot about these issues.

Swarnjeet says: "I am very happy in New Zealand with my loving husband. It's true that sometimes I feel sad and miss my family, my friends, and my job. It could have been very easy for me to settle in my native country with a bright future. But with all this I might be not have had such a good person as a life partner, like Sukh."

She adds that Sukh "holds my hand in every situation and loves me a lot".

Swarnjeet is happy and excited about the baby, and becoming a mother. This will give her new priorities to focus on, as well as some personal goals for study and work.

Swarnjeet has a master's degree in computer science. Next year, after the baby arrives and her permanent residency comes through, she will look at doing more tertiary studies, either in computers or teaching.

Sukh says he and Swarnjeet have been well supported by both families, just as they expected.

The best thing about this hectic year, he says, is the way everything is falling into place.

"I was a bit hesitant about how it would all go, concerned it might not work out. But everything is going well, we're really happy and we've got no regrets."

Anthony Hall

Anthony Hall had been co-ordinator of Hamilton's Enderley Computer Clubhouse for two weeks when the Times visited in April.

He had a warm smile and tonnes of energy then, and eight months on he's still showing the same pleasure in his work.

"Everything that excited me in the beginning still carries on," he says, "I still have that enthusiasm."

Hall was born, raised and educated in Hawaii and has been based in Hamilton since 2002, where he coaches the Hamilton Hawks American football team. He has a double major in computers and education and his work in computers has taken him all over the world.

Earlier this year he took on the job at Enderley Computer Clubhouse, a free after-school outfit based at Enderley Park Community Centre where kids can go to learn a range of technology skills, develop their creative interests and build their confidence.

The Clubhouse is part of an international network that originated in the US in 1993 and now covers about 25,000 young people in 20 countries. The philosophy is to give kids in under-served communities access to technology and mentoring they otherwise might not get, and to foster learning through social experience, with kids working together on projects.

The Enderley set-up opened in February last year; when Hall took over it was serving about 90 kids aged from 10-18 and now they've got about 140 on their books.

Enderley is sometimes described as one of Hamilton's poorest suburbs, yet the Clubhouse kids have a wealth of pride and purpose in their achievements. Hall also says it has been a plus for Enderley to be able to offer the Clubhouse to the wider community, showing that "good things happen here".

Hall's been part of the Clubhouse's out-reach, talking to groups and encouraging newcomers. In the beginning it mostly served local kids, now there are youngsters from Ngaruawahia and Melville attending, along with a Tongan group and others.

Hall estimates that most of the kids who come don't have computers at home, and even if they did they wouldn't have the state-of-the-art technology available at Enderley.

The Clubhouse is quiet on the morning of the Times' return visit, the banks of computers unattended. Everyone's taking a break during the school holidays and assistant co-ordinator Brydie Myers is the only one working, on her plans for next year. Raven Wilson, 12, pops in to show someone an award-winning poster she designed.

She's been attending the Clubhouse since it opened, and Hall says she is one of the hardest workers, as well as being a Clubhouse youth council member.

Hall was taught from an early age that knowledge is the key to progress in life, and he believes knowledge will lead the Clubhouse kids to something better.

He's dealt with the good and the bad this year; some kids haven't done so well, and others have achieved plenty. He says some of those who are bit of a handful have turned out to be amazing workers.

He says Brydie Myers has been really good at finding challenges for the kids, extending them. "You can tell kids that they can create whatever they want, but sometimes they're not sure what to do. They need a little bit of direction."

He notes some achievements: School-leavers Jordyn Kohi, Moewaka Kohi and Shayna Hemopo have recently gone on to do a computer business course. "Without the Clubhouse they wouldn't have felt competent enough to do the course."

Member Legen Hale has developed his own online radio show - "he nutted it out with Brydie" - and he's already done three interviews for it.

A big thing for the coming year will be a visit by three Enderley members to the Clubhouse Teen Summit in Boston in June. The kids are yet to be chosen, and their trip will largely be paid for by the parent body in Boston.

Hall's confident of the Enderley Clubhouse's future. It was established in Hamilton with funding from the Internal Affairs Department and Hamilton City Council, with some money from other sponsors. From next month the project will transfer to a specially formed trust to drive the funding and development.

Hall expects a smooth transition. "This is a positive thing for the community."

Ray & Peg Broadbent

Peg and Ray Broadbent celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in August, there's hardly been a dull moment since, and they're likely to show up on television in the new year.

Peg and Ray are former school teachers, doing long years in the classroom at Komakorau School, between Taupiri and Gordonton, then at Fifth Avenue School [now Te Ara Rima] in Hamilton.

They'd met at Auckland Teachers' Training College in 1938 and married in Waihi in 1941, just ahead of their respective 21st birthdays. Ray served overseas on submarines during World War II; they've raised three daughters, and they enjoy life together in Flagstaff, Hamilton.

When the Times wrote about their 70th anniversary - and their long, good-humoured marriage - it sparked a lot of mail from throughout New Zealand, and the world. Says Peg: "We're so old, and we've taught so many children, and we know so many people, so mail just kept coming."

She thinks that mothers of former students spotted the story about "the old wrinklies" (Peg's words) and sent it off to their kids, who sent it on to others.

"We've got a box full of letters and cards from people locally, and another box from overseas." Some letters came from as far away as Switzerland and England, and a lot from Australia. One former pupil wrote saying he remembered that "Mrs Broadbent was a pretty hot cricketer".

There was more to come: Peg and Ray were approached to be part of a new television series on relationships hosted by clinical psychologist, author and TV presenter Nigel Latta. This will appear on TV One next year, although Peg doesn't know the dates yet.

Latta and his crew came to film them at their home in Netherville Retirement Village in October; it was great fun and everything seemed to go well. "It was all very friendly and jolly," says Peg.

As well as their wedding anniversary and the television interview, Ray and Peg both recently celebrated their 92nd birthdays. The celebrations were going to be low-key, but Peg says it was "party, party, party for weeks".

The Christmas break will be quieter, though. Peg contends that their world has got pretty small but they are very comfortable with their lives. "We're not short of things to do."

She adds: "We've just got to keep breathing regularly."

It's nearly a year since Hamilton's John Twizell was called to Christchurch to help in the aftermath of the killer earthquake that struck the city on February 22.

The images from those days remain in his head, and his enduring memory is of "a lot of broken lives".

Twizell, 50 is a volunteer for LandSAR (Land Search and Rescue), and he was part of a team of about 25 members from Hamilton who spent several days on reconnaissance and reassurance duty in the devastated southern city.

Twizell felt privileged to be there, and lend a hand: "We're just a little country and when something like this happens it hits all of us. We were among the lucky few who were able to do something. For every one of us there would have been 10,000 others who wanted to help. Kiwis are great"

Twizell recalls people in Christchurch who were on the edge, and he says at one stage they probably averted a suicide. "It was pretty tough, just the sheer scale of it. I still find it hard to get my head around it. So many people had been living on the edge for months. Then it happened [the second quake]. I felt so sorry for them."

He mentions images that made an impact, large scale destruction and small things like "an old guy struggling along the road carrying a five litre container of water". Twizell saw the man when he was travelling in a convoy and regrets that he was unable to stop and help.

Since the Christchurch operation, Twizell and other local LandSAR members have been involved in a number of searches on their own patch. "Some are reported in the media, most largely go unnoticed."

Some of the searches have involved people who may be in danger of committing suicide or dementia patients who have gone missing. They've also searched for hunters and trampers.

Twizell's been part of LandSAR for about 25 years, and he continues to get satisfaction from "returning someone who is lost to their families". He thinks he was drawn to LandSAR by hearing stories about missing people and thinking "crikey, I could have done something". The work is interesting, he says, even though it can be physically and emotionally hard. "You meet good people."

When Times feature writer Tracey Cooper wrote a story in October about the 86th Roller Mills rugby tournament in Thames – a few days ahead of kick-off – it sparked an outbreak of nostalgia, emails and interest.

Aside from the Ranfurly Shield, the Roller Mills is the country's oldest rugby competition. It is for players aged 13-and-under and weighing less than 55kg from Waikato, Thames Valley, King Country, Bay of Plenty, Auckland, Counties-Manukau, North Harbour and Northland.

It's named after Auckland company Northern Roller Milling, which presented the tournament shield in 1924, and it's been the young stamping ground of rugby legends such as All Blacks Sir Colin Meads, Sir Wilson Whineray, Waka Nathan, Bryan Williams, Warren Gatland and many others.

Then there was Paul Aubrey, aged 85, from Wanganui, who played in the winning 1939 Waikato team, and there's a nice little yarn about him that happened as a result of the Times feature.

Mike McCarthy, who runs the Roller Mills tournament website, says when Aubrey read Tracey Cooper's feature just before the tournament, he hopped into his truck and drove to Thames on his own for a week to watch the matches.

McCarthy says Aubrey gave an inspirational speech to the Waikato boys before their crucial match with Auckland West. "He was great."

It was all part of the Roller Mills legacy, the way the memories of this sporting week stay with participants for the rest of their life, with old hands still coming along to support the new boys.

Another earlier player at the Thames tournament was Ray Coffin from the King Country, who had played alongside Sir Colin Meads at the 1948 Roller Mills.

McCarthy says it was a nice touch that although there were former All Blacks such as Eric Rush present in Thames, the boys were keener to get autographs from the likes of Aubrey and Coffin than the big names.

Sukh says he and Swarnjeet have been well supported by both families, just as they expected.

The best thing about this hectic year, he says, is the way everything is falling into place.

"I was a bit hesitant about how it would all go, concerned it might not work out. But everything is going well, we're really happy and we've got no regrets."

Anthony Hall had been co-ordinator of Hamilton's Enderley Computer Clubhouse for two weeks when the Times visited in April.