Orphans Aid International in the Press

Queenstown charity queen Sue van Schreven has been selected as one of three finalists globally for the prestigious Grahame Maher Award and its 100,000 pound (NZ$201,000) payout.
The former Invercargill founder of Orphans Aid International narrowly got in as the top kiwi nomination – just eight votes in it – before being selected by international judges as one of the top three among 16 to 18 finalists. “It was so stressful. It was neck and neck for days” she said.
Mrs van Schreven will fly to Qatar next week, courtesy of the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation, to represent New Zealand after the announcement of her win yesterday, on her 15th wedding anniversary.
Heads of charities in 27 countries were nominated for public voting but only previous winners of the Vodafone’s World of Difference Award were eligible. Mrs van Schreven won that award in 2005 for her work with Orphans Aid which now operates orphanages and programmes in Romania, Russia, India and Nepal.
If successful, she wants to expand into Uganda, maybe setting up an orphanage or helping other charities. “If we win, there will be a bit more research with people on the ground, particularly Kiwis, working with orphans there.”
In the meantime, she has to fend off Frederique Kallen of the Netherlands and Nick Eastcott of Britain, in Qatar, where she has to give a presentation and undertake three one hour interviews with the judging panels. The trip will be in stark contrast to the poverty of the Bhutan border, where she was helping her Indian workers just a few weeks ago.
She will be hosted at the Hilton Hotel and assigned a buddy to show her the sights.