Jayo skates nz
Aotearoa (New Zealand) through-skate to build my birth mother’s house and to fight human trafficking.
36,000 USD raised in collaboration with Catalyst Foundation.
Roll thru, do good.
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The Skate
Interactive map, videos and notes.
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Catalyst Foundation - Nonprofit
About Catalyst and results from the skate (food distribution/education sponsoship.
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roadside dreams
Voice Recordings from the road — dreams from Aotearoa.
Aotearoa — New Zealand
The Skate
Thing to note:
Distance between stops is around 50-60kms for the South Island and 30-40kms for the North Island
Wellington —> Auckland has route distances and hidden gems marked and labeled.
Skated Bluff —> Auckland with 36” RKP drop-thru Santa Cruz Wave dot splice, 68 cm wheels — minimal modification (first time long-boarding).
Picked up Seismic speed vent 85mm wheels in Auckland, gifted by 113 Long boarders.
To see accommodation sponsors for this project, visit my other site.
The Results
Catalyst Foundation
Fight human trafficking through rural community building
Things to Note:
Food distribution to all 55 families (325 people) totals a bit over 1200 USD / month. We focus on staple foods, root vegetables, and everyday essentials.
One monthly order contains:
3600 lbs or rice (1633kgs)
110 cases of instant noodles
250 lbs of root vegetables (113kgs)
Chayote, sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes
Cooking oil, fish sauce, laundry detergent, bars of soap
Project Backpack 2022
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Tien - Seven Years Old
Tien is a funny 7-year-old boy in the 1st grade. He really likes school and loves his teacher. His teacher is one of two Raglai teachers at the primary school. She is really nice to him and his mother said Tien even wants to go to school when he is sick. He has 3 older brothers that have dropped out of school and are working. After school he likes to play with his friends and sometimes helps his mom.
(family #6)
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Tien - Seven Years Old
Tien is a 7-year-old girl in the 1st grade. She is Quan’s younger sister. She said she likes school and seeing her friends there. She also enjoys music and dance class. After school she like to hang out with her friends and play.
(family #39)
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Quy - Eight Years Old
Quy is an 8-year-old boy in the 3rd grade. His older brother is Diem. Quy is shy but likes school and really enjoys math. After school, he likes to do his homework and also helps his brother take care of the cows and goats.
(family #47)
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Doanh - Eight Years Old
Doanh is an 8-year-old girl in the 3rd grade. She really enjoys school, and her favorite class is math. She has 2 older brothers, 1 has finished school and is working and the other is still in school. She really enjoys the summer because she can play with her friends. After school, she helps her parents by taking care of the cows and goats.
(family # 46)
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Chinh - Eight Years Old
Chinh is an 8-year-old boy in the 3rd grade. He likes school and enjoys going with his friends. His favorite class is Vietnamese. He has 1 older sister. In the afternoons, he takes care of the family’s cows.
(family #12)
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Quan - Eight Years Old
Quan is a 8-year-old boy in the 2nd grade. He was very shy to talk and said he doesn’t like school. We asked if he had any favorite classes and he said he didn’t. We asked if he had fun with his friends and he said had to babysit his 2 younger sisters while his parents are working.
(family #39)
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Kien - Nine Years Old
Kien is a 9-year-old boy in the 3rd grade. He really likes school and enjoys seeing his friends. His favorite class is math because it is easier than the other classes. He has one older sister – Thao. After school he likes to play football (soccer) with his friends.
(family #30)
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Hoan - Nine Years Old
Hoan is a 9-year-old boy in the 3rd grade. He really likes school and enjoys seeing his friends. His favorite subjects are math and music. He said they are easier than learning Vietnamese. He has 2 older sisters that have stopped school and are working. After school he helps the family by taking care of their cows.
(family #20)
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Chau - Nine Years Old
Chau is a 9-year-old boy in the 4th grade. He enjoys going to school and likes math. All of his friends go to school and its fun seeing them there. He has 1 brother and 2 sisters. After school, he does his homework and plays with his friends.
(family # 3)
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Diem - Ten Years Old
Diem is a 10-year-old boy in the 5th grade. He has a big family including 1 sister and 3 brothers. When asked if he liked school he said, “he didn’t know because he has a lot of friends, but he thinks school is difficult.” His favorite class is math. After school he takes care of goats and cows for his family. He prefers the cows because he said the goats were naughty.
(family #47)
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Thach - Ten Years Old
Thach is a 10-year-old boy in the 5th grade. He is Doanh’s older brother. His favorite class is math. He said, “school was ok and he likes staying at home more.” He prefers to hang out with his friends and working. He helps his family by taking care of the cows and goats with his younger sister.
(family # 46)
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Phuc - Eleven Years Old
Phuc is an 11-year-old boy in the 5th grade. He really enjoys school and his favorite subject is math. He has an older sister that goes to a special boarding high school in Nha Trang. Phuc is proud of his sister and tries to get good grades like her so he will also go there. After school, He does his homework and helps take care of the family’s cows.
(family #16)
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Ngam - Eleven Years Old
Ngam is an 11-year-old boy in the 3rd grade. He likes school and seeing his friends. His favorite class is math. After school, he likes to help his family on their farm and go up to the mountain.
(family #11)
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Duong - Thirteen Years Old
Duong is a 13-year-old boy in the 4th grade. He really enjoys school. His favorite class is math and music. He has one older sister. After school he goes up to the family farm on the mountain.
(family #37)
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Thuy - Thirteen Years Old
Thuy is a 13-year-old girl in the 7th grade. She likes school a lot because she can see her friends. She enjoys music class. Le is her older sister. After school she likes to go to “fighting” classes (Tae Kwon Do), 3 times a week at the government center. She also helps her mom and grandmother around the house.
(family #7)
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Nguyen - Thirteen Years Old
Nguyen is a 13-year-old girl in the 7th grade. She really enjoys school and math is her favorite. She has one older brother that has finished school and moved. After school, she stays home and helps take care of the home, cooking and cleaning while her mom works on the farm.
(family # 42)
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Tuyet - Fourteen Years Old
Tuyet is a 14-year-old girl in the 8th grade. She really enjoys school and has lots of friends that go. Her favorite class is music. She has one brother and one sister. She enjoys working in the garden after school and helping her family.
(family #18)
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Hau - Fourteen Years Old
Hau is a 14-year-old boy in the 8th grade. He has 1 sister in school and 1 older brother in the army. He enjoys school and his favorite class is music. He has a lot of friends at school and looks forward to going every day. After school, he helps his mother cleaning the house and does his homework.
(family #48)
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Le - Fifteen Years Old
Le is a 15-year-old girl in the 9th grade. She enjoys school and likes math because it is easier than the languages. She also likes music and hanging out with her friends. Some of her friends have stopped going to school so they can work in HCMC. Two of her friends have gotten married already. She has one younger sister. After school she likes to study, to sew, and she helps her mom and grandmother around the house or running a small shop.
(family #7)
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Thoa - Seventeen Years Old
Thoa is a 17-year-old girl in the 11th grade. She really likes school and wants to be a teacher when she finishes university! She enjoys sports and exercise, especially track and volleyball. She has one younger brother. Most of her friends and still in school and she wants to go to university in Nha Trang. After school she helps her mother take care of the house and studies.
(family #30)
Things to Note:
The original budget plan for my birthmother’s house was 2,500usd. For construction, we wanted to source local builders, but have run in to complications due to local knowledge of this project and my own family history. We have gotten overpriced quotes of up to 11,000usd and are in the process of negotiation. The budget is now at ~ 7,000usd and will be updated once we finalize a bid on the house.
Food Distribution runs for the whole years, but most education related funds like tuition and medical insurance are only required for the school year (10 months).
Funds will be benefitting 325 people, 55 families, of which 97 are students in the provinces of Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận Vietnam.
Other numbers:
Tuition & Fees / student / month: 200,000 vnd
Medical Insurance / student / month: 100,000 vnd
Uniforms & Supplies & backpacks & shoes / students ~ 250,000 vnd
Food Distribution / month / family ~ 545,500 vnd
Roadside Dreams
A collection of recordings from the road
What do you want to do before you die?
It all started with a simple question: what do I want to do before I die?
I contemplate this difficult but critical question quite often and before I set out on the road I came to a moment of clarity: I wanted to build a house for my birth mother — a definitive solution for the complex feelings I’ve carried with me throughout my experience as an international adoptee. That’s how this all started.
On my journey across Aotearoa, I asked the people I met the same question. These are their answers…