Philippa Reynolds 1931 – 2012
It is with deep regret that we must inform you that Philippa Reynolds died on Friday, 3 August, aged 80.
A family member called in to see her to find that that she had passed away. Philippa had returned to New Zealand from England following the death of her husband, and has been living in Nelson.
Being a niece of Rewi Alley and a long time member of our Society, both in Christchurch and Nelson, many of us knew her well and enjoyed her quiet, sincere friendship. In 2009, Philippa represented the Alley family at the ceremony in The Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the occasion of the recognition of Rewi Alley as one of the ten most highly regarded foreign friends of China over the last 60 years.
Philippa has been on a number of the Society’s tours, including Bill Willmott’s “In the Footsteps of Rewi Alley” and recent Discover China and Projects Tours. She was booked to go on the forthcoming 60th Anniversary Tour and was very much looking forward to returning to the Shandan Bailie School for their 70th Anniversary.
For the Christchurch Gansu Friendly Relations Committee, and as a participant in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Rewi Alley’s birth, Philippa wrote a book on Rewi Alley for school children: “Rewi Alley – from Canterbury to China”.
It is very sad to lose such a valued member of the Society who has provided a vital link with one of our inspired founders.
On a happier note…
It is wonderful to be able to report that Sally Russell, National Executive member and President of Hawkes Bay Branch, is recovering very well at home although everything is a lot slower than usual with one hand and a metal halo!
She thanks everyone for their wonderful messages and the beautiful flowers from the Society. While she still has several months of recuperation in front of her, she is feeling very positive and is enjoying keeping in touch via shorter emails and phone calls. We wish her all the very best for a full and speedy recovery.
And great news from Beijing! Linda (Wang Lidan), our very good friend at Youxie and our inaugural Cornwall Scholar, is expecting a baby towards the end of November.
Most of you will have met Linda during one of her many trips to New Zealand, and/or will have enjoyed her vivacious company on tours and delegations in China. Linda and Haiyan were married in January, so this will make the Year of the Dragon very special for them both.
I know you will all join with us in wishing them both all the very best and we will look forward to seeing the baby photos later in the year!
Prominent Persons and Leaders Delegation 2012
Travel arrangements are well under way for this delegation who will participate in the Fifth Friendship Forum in Changchun, Jilin Province, and the Third International Friendship Cities Conference in Chengdu during September. The delegation will be led by National President Eric Livingstone and will include:
Prominent Persons
Philip Andrews … Historical Society President, former Polytechnic Teacher and Geology writer (Rotorua)
Waiki Edward … Senior Teacher, Chinese teaching, Board of Governors Rotorua High School (Rotorua)
Marilyn Gibbs … Nelson City Council Sister City Co-ordinator, International Student Mediator (Nelson)
Janine Morrell-Gunn … Director Whitebait Television, Trustee of “Adopt a Christchurch Family” (Christchurch)
Dougal McIntosh … Farm forestry specialist, Hospice, Whanganui Collegiate School Board (Whanganui)
Society Leaders
Natasha Barnett … Secretary of Christchurch Branch, previous Lanzhou City University exchange student, earthquake claims consultant, Sister City Committee (Christchurch)
Fay Hobday … Retired accountant and economist, business mentor for Chinese immigrants, Citizens Advice Bureau (Auckland)
Lillian Li-Kurtovic … Nelson Branch Committee, Co-ordinator of ‘Speak Out’ a Nelson Tasman refugee and immigrant protection initiative, Multicultural Council (Nelson)
Kate Ngai … Vice President of Manawatu Branch, English Language Partners (Manawatu)
NZCFS Tours presents: Explore China: The South East, April – May, 2013
The planning for this exciting tour is well under way. An early indication of the itinerary is now up on our website with more sites,
activities and detail to follow. This will be a new area for NZCFS tours to visit.
The ‘Explore China” series is designed to offer a close look at localised regions, with not too much need for long distance travel. This provides the opportunity to enjoy more activities and to focus on the local character and experiences. In the South East, the tea culture and the famous Jingdezhen pottery are examples of this. Fujian also offers the Maritime Silk Road, and the different perspective that brings.
A combination of history, culture and scenery will provide excellent balance.
For the early draft for this tour, please see: nzchinasociety.org.nz/news/tours-to-china/
July National Executive
Your National Executive had a busy meeting in Wellington on 21 July.
Amongst the many items discussed, they:
- approved a New Branch Policy that clarifies requirements and procedures.
- approved a new Members at Large category for interested supporters who live too far from a Branch.
- heard how many Branches thoroughly enjoyed the visits by two of our Honorary Members, Ma Baoru and Liu Guozhong, after Conference.
- were excited by a demonstration of Loomio – a new web-based tool for group decision making – and decided to trial it during the time before the next meeting in November.
- approved the funding of a third He Ming Qing Scholar from available funds.
Intern working for NZCFS
President of Tauranga Branch
As part of her French business school studies, Inès Roth le Gentil, must do an internship abroad and NZCFS is very fortunate to have been offered her expertise for two months. Passionate about helping develop an understanding of Chinese culture among young people, her mission is to help us encourage more participation by young people. While she has been based in Auckland, she has traveled to several North Island branches. We look forward to seeing the results of her work with us.
She writes:
“During this first month as an intern with NZCFS, I was really pleased to meet a lot of NZCFS members and young people in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Hastings. This helped me understand why NZCFS has difficulties involving young members and what NZCFS could do to attract young people.
Firstly, NZCFS should improve its communications towards young people because most of the time they don’t know anything about the Society. NZCFS should target the young people it wants to involve more precisely and define its goals more clearly so young people understand what NZCFS can bring to them.
Moreover, NZCFS should establish a list of concrete things young people could do if they were involved: these concrete things should be both regular activities – such as meetings around a meal, Mandarin lessons or festivals – and long-term projects. In fact, the meetings I had with young people in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington showed me that young people need to have both regular activities and projects with a goal.
Finally, the best way to attract young people is to create a young members’ group associated with the Branch in some areas. This group would be independent from the rest of the Branch and would organise its own activities, but at the same time it would be connected with the other members. Therefore, these young members would have responsibilities and independence, and still be part of a larger organisation.”
Liu Guozhong and Dave Bromwich attend Cooperative Conference
On June 21-22, the New Zealand Association for the Study of Cooperatives and Mutuals (NZASCM) organised an International Cooperatives Conference. At this conference, Liu Guozhong presented a paper titled “Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones: Challenges for Cooperative Development in Western China”, co-authored by Tim Zachernuck (Canadian Gungho Executive member and colleague in our projects in China), Liu Guozhong and Dave Bromwich.
This paper outlines what factors affect farmer cooperative development, and considers some NGO experience in promoting ICIS-style cooperatives in this environment in Western China. If you visit http://nzascm.coop/presentations/ and scroll down you will find the slideshow for this presentation, and the support paper (click on paper ‘here’). The NZCFS involvement comes under the heading “NGO’s Experience in Promoting ICIS-style Cooperatives in West China”.
You will also find a second presentation by Liu Guozhong, with his Masters supervisor, Elena Garnevska, titled “Analysis of Factors for Successful Development of Farmer Cooperatives in North-West China: case in Gansu Province”, which features two very successful NZCFS project cooperatives in Shandan.
The conference had several very good keynote presentations, including one by international cooperative expert Michael Cook, from Missouri, USA, who, coincidentally, was an assessor for Liu Guozhong’s Masters thesis. They had a very warm meeting!
The key theme of the conference was cooperative banking and financing. An interesting message from several of these presenters was that cooperative banks had fared quite well through the Global Financial Crisis relative to other banks, and it was remembered that this same message came through in the aftermath of the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
