Robert Martin was pruning the rose bushes at his Whanganui East home yesterday - a far cry from rubbing shoulders with international United Nations delegates in New York.
Mr Martin arrived back in Whanganui this week after becoming the first person with a learning disability to stand for and be elected to the UN's Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
His historic achievement has attracted worldwide attention.
"I travelled to New York with People First national manager Cindy Johns," Mr Martin told the Chronicle.
"She supported me and we were given a powhiri at the New Zealand Mission in New York - that made me feel very welcome."