Southern View: September 13, 2016

6
Tuesday September 13 2016
SOUTHERN VIEW
Our People
Volunteer work a
SUPPORT: Chris Allan is a director of the Joshua Foundation, an
organisation he started 11 years ago.
Chris Allan started the
Joshua Foundation 11
years ago, which helps
troubled youth in the
city. He spoke to Caitlin
Miles about how the army
saved him from a bad
path, serving in Sierra
Leone and throwing
people out of planes.
Chris can you tell me a bit
about the Joshua Foundation?
Well, it started with the aim to
help troubled and at-risk youth.
Now it is about helping all young
people, getting them integrated
into and working with their local
community better. We do a lot
of work with youth in Linwood
and Aranui, but our work is
expanding. We want to create
projects that could be accessible
to everyone.
You said we, who does that
include?
My wife Pamela and I set it up.
Why did you decide to set up
the project?
We wanted to give kids a
chance, show them that they can
be heading down a bad track and
turn them around and get them
focused on making positive steps
in their own life and in their
communities so they can give
back to them. Once you change
one person in a family, that will
have a run-on effect when they
have a family and that will continue
down the line. That’s what
we want to do. Keep supporting
and pointing young people in a
positive direction for their lives.
Where did the name Joshua
come from?
We wanted to get a name sorted
very early on and my wife and
I were both trying to come up
with ideas. As a Christian-based
organisation we were thinking
of biblical names. We decided
to go into separate rooms and
not come out until we had it.
But then we both walked out
of the rooms at the same time
and thought of the same person.
Joshua. He was hard working
and had strong determination
and they are key values we want
to install in other young people.
Did your time in the army
contribute to your idea?
It’s fair to say I was one of those
kids that I now teach. I was not
in a good way, I had left school
at 15 and was starting to get into
some bad things. Then I joined
the army and those guys basically
became my second family. They
really helped to pull me out of
that place and gave me purpose.
They have definitely had an influence
on me and my life and that’s
what I hope to do for these kids.
What was your time in the
army like?
Like I said they are like my
second family. I also became a
jump master in the army so it
was my job was to throw people
out of C130 planes. I skydived for
25 years and it was really great. I
was a bit of an adrenalin junkie.
You spent time working in
Sierra Leone with the army,
what was that like?
It was horrendous. It was just
after the Civil War in 1993 so it
was a really unstable time over
there. It encouraged me to do
more work in other areas.
You have also done volunteer
work in Vanuatu, can you tell
me about that?
We bought a property over
there when I was a training
sergeant. Just loved the people
and the place. We wanted to serve
the villages with the kids in it. We
wanted to take our kids there and
show them how other people have
to live and show that we can help
them, so we went to some villages
and volunteered with the people,
we took over clothes and supplies
and things they need.
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