TV show a reality check for Rotorua student

Rotorua's Stevie-Jean Gear is one of five young people discovering how popular consumer items are made in Asia

Working alongside Asian factory workers toiling for small change has changed the way a Rotorua student thinks when she shops.

Stevie-Jean Gear, 21, is one of five young Kiwis appearing in TV3's new show Reality Trip, which began this week.

The series is seven episodes long and shows the young consumers travelling around Asia learning where the products, including computers, bananas, costume jewellery, clothing and tea, come from.

Viewers on Monday saw Stevie visit a computer assembly plant in the Philippines. Her group worked a 10-hour shift and struggled to meet their targets. Viewers saw their supervisor hassling them to stay focused. At the end of the day they were paid and the amount is staggeringly low, even for the girls who outperformed the boys and managed to earn themselves a bonus.

Miss Gear said the experience had changed the way she thought. "I'm a lot more conscious about what I buy. I'm more grateful, I'll make things last longer and I'm mindful that people have put their heart, sweat and soul into them."

She said the trip, which also took in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, opened her eyes to materialism and consumerism. "What I want people to see is you don't need the glitz and glam to be of any status. There are people who work their arses off to survive. Be more appreciative of what you have."

The former Western Heights High School student said she saw an ad for people who liked shopping. "I went online, filled in an application and one thing led to another. I never thought it would lead to this."

On Monday she sat with her family to watch the result. "I loved watching it," Miss Gear said. "It brought back all the memories but every time I came on the screen I wondered what I was going to say. It was so hard watching myself."

-Reality Trip screens on Mondays at 9.30pm.