We have sold our house and bought a 4 ha lifestyle block. We moved into a rental two weeks ago and we will be living here while we build a new house on our
Mrs Herud fired me last month and I no longer hold the position of "house husband", due to poor performance on my part.
I have now started a new job at the Community College in Rangiora. The college is starting an agriculture course aimed at 16-17 year olds who are not doing well at school or are simply not going to school any more.
My job is to develop an agricultural based course that will engage these young people, give them confidence and boost their self esteem, while also showing them what a great opportunity farming offers them. I also need to get them to pass NCEA!
There has been much talk recently in the media and on blog sites about youth unemployment in New Zealand. There are stories of businesses who can't find staff for entry level jobs, we hear about young people turning up to job interviews with disgraceful attitudes who are simply unemployable.
I don't deny that these reports are true. In fact, I'm an employer too and I have first hand experience of employing generation Y and I have seen some terrible job applicants over the years.
I'll be dealing with kids who may have come from rough families with bad role models or kids who simply don't fit into school.
I'll keep you updated with my progress. The college are pretty open minded and I've got some pretty cool ideas on how we can put together a course that puts the funk into farming.
I'll also report back with my findings on the state of our young people in NZ and we'll see if I can make a difference.
