Various Contributors – 29/10/99
This week read about two New Zealanders who have worked for voluntary organizations both locally and overseas to improve the lives of disadvantaged people.
John La Roche – Civil Engineer John has had a successful career as a professional engineer, but his community service has been unusual and outstanding.
After graduating in 1961 with a Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Auckland, he gained broad experience as an engineering consultant in New Zealand and overseas, and has designed and been responsible for substantial engineering works. His published technical papers have won prestigious awards. His contribution to professional society activity has included terms as an office bearer in major IPENZ (Institution of Professional Engineers NZ) Committees. During fifteen years of work with the Auckland Regional Authority, he was responsible for all design and technical aspects of Water Treatment Plants, and had a coordinating responsibility for Waste Reduction and Recycling initiatives. When the ARA was restructured in 1992, he accepted redundancy at the age of fifty four, to devote himself to his wide range of voluntary concerns.
What makes John rather special is his concern that engineers should extend their horizons beyond traditional professional and technical areas to matters of wider community and professional concern; specific topics on which John has left his mark include engineering ethics, environmental issues, overseas aid, disaster relief, the changing role of engineering in development and a concern for disadvantaged colleagues. This concern has been expressed through active and effective participation in such groups as Engineers for Social responsibility (ESR), Water for Survival and Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief (Red-R). The Institution of Professional Engineers NZ (IPENZ) in 1995 awarded to John the President’s Citation for that year in recognition of his contributions to engineering in the community and in development.
John is a painstaking and efficient administrator, but an ideas person as well. These qualities have contributed greatly to the outstanding success of the NZ Aid NGO,
Water for Survival, born out of John’s enthusiasm and conviction that engineers have a part to play in improving the lot of the world’s poorest. In its eleven years of existence Water for Survival, while extending its membership well beyond the engineering community, has raised $700,000 in direct donations, which with government subsidies has seen close to $1.5 million in total channelled to support 230 water and sanitation projects in fifteen Third World countries. Less than 2% of the money raised has been absorbed by overheads, a measure of the voluntary work done by John and his wife Sue as Director and Treasurer respectively.
John is a leading figure within the NZ Aid Community. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Council for Overseas Development, also a member and Chair of the VASS Committee, the body which administers the Voluntary Aid Support Scheme of the Ministry of External Relations and Trade. His international network is extensive and his advice is constantly sought on technical aspects of appropriate water technologies. In 1995 he received a travel grant from the Commonwealth Foundation to inspect rural water projects in Africa, India and Nepal, and to liaise with the large UK NGO Water Aid in London.
John played a leading part in the establishment of a branch of Red-R (Register 0f Engineers for Disaster relief) in NZ. He sees Red-R as having a complementary relationship with regional Civil Defence organisations, another of his interests. A large group of disadvantaged engineers for whom John has campaigned actively are the 8,000 immigrant professional engineers admitted to NZ over a five year period up to 1997, many of whom remain unemployed.
Contributed by Jack Woodward – Emeritus Professor of Electrical
Engineering, University of Auckland
Cecily Maccoll – service to the Save the Children Fund Cecily Maccoll gave outstanding voluntary service to the Save the Children Fund (SCF) for twenty eight years. After three years on the committee of the North Canterbury Branch, in 1966 she took over for the branch responsibility for sponsorship, both the finances and the arrangements of sponsors. In 1968 she became National Sponsorship secretary as well. She did both jobs for eight years, and then continued as National Sponsorship secretary until 1991.
In 1979 and 1981 she travelled overseas at her own expense to observe the work of SCF at first hand. Each time she worked as a volunteer in the sponsorship department of the headquarters office in London. In 1979 she assisted with the placement of Vietnamese refugee families and in 1981 she went to India, Bangladesh and Nepal seeing SCF projects in action in places that tourists never visit.
Her ability to deal with all the problems of the growing sponsorship scheme was outstanding. Her work required a loyal team of workers who worked for her in her home. Sometimes they would be working in four rooms, all requiring heating and lighting, and would be supplied with morning tea and lunch as well. The work for SCF became a family commitment with Cecily’s mother helping with child care and her husband Sandy working for SCF for a total of twenty seven years, in roles including Treasurer of the North Canterbury Branch and National Secretary.
For her work for SCF Cecily was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) in 1983, the SCF Award for Distinguished and Meritorious Service awarded by NZSCF in 1990, the SCF Award for Distinguished and Meritorious Service awarded by the United Kingdom SCF in 1991 and Life Membership in 1995.
She is still Vice President of the North Canterbury Branch of SCF, but is in a less demanding role which enables her to be involved in voluntary work in other areas. For five years she has worked for the Red Cross working for Meals on Wheels and in the library. For eight years she has been a driver for the Cancer Society and worked in the health promotion department. One day a week she works for the Music Centre of Christchurch and helps with the Wednesday lunch hour concerts, and she works on a regular basis for Canterbury Opera. She is secretary of the Friends of the Christchurch City Choir and treasurer of the Friends of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Her most time consuming commitment at present is as secretary and treasurer of the Regional Committee of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.
Contributed by Margaret Sweet – author of
A Canterbury Tale : the history of the first fifty years of the North Canterbury Branch of the Save the Children Fund 1947-1997
To find out more about the work of the Save the Children Fund read Changes 17 Save the Children Fund.
