I would like the thank APW for the grant received towards my study in 2011. I have chosen to use it for course books this year. As I am studying fulltime and doing it by distance it is extremely beneficial to have course books on hand for assignments and study. It has been great to be able to purchase the books in the weeks leading up to my courses starting. What has been interesting is that since my husband studied at Otago University 8 years ago the books used and the expression of theology has moved on also. Hence his resources are considered to be out of date in terms of study. The APW Grant is allowing me to be resourced without creating a huge student loan. This is my second year of study at Otago working towards a Bachelor of Theology. I am thankful for the prayer support and encouragement I received from my local APW group last year. When I shared with them about the successful grant from the National Committee they were as happy as I to be part of a group committed to helping women achieve their goals.
Thank you again so much for this support.
Blessings
Erin Pendreigh
Kia ora koutou. My name is Joanna Matheson, in 2011 I am entering my 5th and final year of university study. I have completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and this year will complete a Bachelor of Social and Community Work. I am passionate about social work and community development and about empowering those who are vulnerable in our communities. Long term I am interested in doing community development work in East and Central Africa. I am really looking forward to my year of study, particularly my final practical placement. I am incredibly grateful for the grant you have awarded me and your support of my academic study. Thank you.
Joanna Matheson
My name is Lynne O’Brien and I am in my final year of an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion and Anthropology at Victoria University in Wellington. In the first year I studied with Massey University.
Beginning my degree part way through 2008, this is my first time at University (I am forty five) and came after a number of years of what one might describe as a ‘life-experiential-pilgrimage’. These experiences have forged a deeper desire to participate in positive change within the community. Thus, the nature of my degree is focussed on the human, phenomenological experience, and how that is reflected and/or encountered within our own communities.
Currently at summer school doing a paper on ‘Pilgrimage [religious and secular]’, the study grant awarded to me by APW has been put toward papers that I will be studying this year. These include: The challenges of ethnography; Migration, culture and identity; Visual Anthropology; Religions, culture and politics [in NZ]; New Religious movements and New Age spirituality; and, Religion, identity and community.
I intend to return to Victoria in 2012 to complete a one year honours post-graduate programme before seeking full time employment. I hope to work in an environment which recognises the values and beliefs of individuals and groups as inherently significant to meeting the needs of, and understanding, deeper underlying social issues.
I am hugely appreciative of APW’s endeavour to support myself and fellow students to achieve our goals.
Many thanks and Blessings Be,
Lynne O’Brien.
Kia ora, my name is Cate Burton and I am the Children and Families Pastor at St Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Katikati, Bay of Plenty. I began this role after completing at Bachelor of Ministries with Laidlaw College and over the last three years the position has grown from part time to full time.
In 2010 I began a Graduate Diploma with Otago University. I have decided to undertake further study as I am currently testing the call to National Ordained Ministry with the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and will be going through National Assessment in May. I have been informed by staff at the Knox Centre of Ministry and Leadership that there are several papers that were not a component of my Bachelor of Ministries, which I would need to complete in order to meet the Foundational Studies criteria. I also believe that it is important for me to continue to learn, and wrestle with theological issues at an academic level.
The study grant from APW will be put towards two theology papers I will be taking in 2011, one with Otago University, God and Ethics in the Modern World, and the other with Laidlaw College, Theology D: Ecclesiology, which will be cross credited to my academic transcript with Otago University.
I would like to thank the APW for their generosity; tena rawa atu koe (thank you very much).
Cate Burton