Kāpiti Coast District councillor Sophie Handford has been awarded a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia, and she couldn’t be more excited.
Her scholarship means Handford, who is the Paekākāriki–Raumati ward councillor, will be going over to Tokyo on May 29, where she will be embarking on a two-month sustainability internship.
The scholarship was awarded by Education New Zealand, and Handford was the only awardee from Kāpiti for this round.
Handford’s internship will involve working as a sustainability intern, where she will be working on expanding and integrating initiatives focused on decarbonising communities and systems.
She said she was motivated to apply “through an understanding of how pivotal broader Asia-Pacific co-operation and collaboration is in addressing the climate crisis, which is arguably the most pressing issue of our time”.
“Through building relationships in Asia and connecting with other like-minded climate justice advocates, the wider movement is strengthened as we seek to lead the way toward a future we’ll feel proud to pass on.”
She said the application process was pretty long and involved a lot of thinking, big questions, references to gather, and a video to film.
“We had several weeks to articulate exactly what we wanted to contribute to or learn in a part of Asia or Latin America we wanted to base ourselves and then submit the final application.
“The act of pulling this all together was a worthwhile exercise in itself, despite being something I decided to do relatively last minute.”
Sophie Handford has been awarded a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia.
Handford said she felt grateful to receive the scholarship, considering how many other young people she knows would have applied.
She was also thankful to Education New Zealand, who co-ordinated and funded the scholarships, for “backing the impact I’m seeking to make”, her family for their support, and Paekākāriki, where she was raised.
One of the things Handford is most excited about is the learning she will be able to bring back to New Zealand and “contribute to our context here in Kāpiti”, and the opportunity to engage with the local government sector in Japan, and also the young people seeking to affect political change.
“The language barrier may be a challenge, but it’s also something I’m looking forward to navigating and furthering my understanding of.
“I’ve started learning Japanese on Duolingo so will hopefully be somewhat conversational by the time I go.”
And her role in council will not be too affected either.
“With the wonders of technology, I’ll still be participating in meetings, replying to emails, and furthering council mahi for the eight weeks I’ll be in Tokyo.
“Being in my second triennium now, I’m very aware of my responsibilities and blessed to have an incredible team of colleagues who are supportive of this endeavour.”
