"The goal of promoting world peace through developing relationships
is close to my own philosophy – we can all make a difference in the world
one person, one experience at a time."
Kia Orana (May you live on)
 My name is Debi Futter-Puati. I was born and raised in New Zealand and moved to the Cook Islands with my husband of 26 years, James, and our two children Jordan (19) and Samantha (17) in 2002. James and I had been considering moving to the Cook Islands for some time as he is a New Zealand born Cook Islander and had always lived in New Zealand, and our children of course, had as well. The children did not know their Cook Islands heritage which we felt was so important in enhancing their self identity and self worth.
Now, after six years of being here, our children are part of the top dancing troupe on the island, and last year our vaka (village) group won the national dancing competition that is held every August. The costumes they are wearing in this photo also won best costume award, every single thing is hand made and took months of preparation (which is done by the Mama’s of the village) as all of the materials are natural. The skirts are made from the bark of a tree that is left in the sea for weeks to soften before being combed and then dyed. The orange flowers are made from coconut fiber; the shells have been cut and polished as have the black seeds.
Of all James’ family we are the only immediate family living in the Cooks. Unfortunately the Cook Islands has few Cook Islanders returning to their homeland. One of the biggest challenges the Cook Islands is facing is depopulation, as the developed world offers more choices, more money, more options – the grass is always greener! We only have 15,000 people left. You can imagine that this makes some parts of living here very difficult. We still need to have all of the professional people that every other country needs (teachers, police, dentists, doctors, parliamentarians, service industry etc) but have so little people to choose from, and of course not all of those people actually have the skills required.
In New Zealand I worked as a Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour where I worked with the teachers and families of students with learning and behavioral challenges to develop interventions to enhance their experiences. I also worked as a contractor to the New Zealand Ministry of Education in the area of health education. I developed resources and trained educators throughout the country in such areas as drug education, sexuality education, how to handle change, loss and grief, mental health education etc.
We originally came to the Cooks as I got a two year contract with the Cook Islands Ministry of Education as the Health and Physical Well-being curriculum developer. This contract turned into a four year contract as once the curriculum was written I then provided professional development for all the teachers in the Cook Islands in the two subjects of health education and physical education. Since the end of the work with the Ministry of Education both James and I have worked as trainers throughout the Pacific in a variety of different contexts. Our most
current work has been to develop training for all the police within the Pacific region in reducing domestic violence. We have developed the training and then trained two trainers from every nation. They have then taken the training back to their countries to train all officers. We are both very committed to this important work.
At the end of my four year contract we decided as a family that we wanted to stay in the Cook Islands rather than return to New Zealand. We have now built a small home on my husbands’ tribal / family land in the village of Tikioki, Titikaveka, on the island of Rarotonga. James has set up a family business with a school friend (also a Cook Islander who went to school in New Zealand and returned home). Our business is “Matutu Brewing Company” which is a boutique (micro) brewery. The idea came to James as there was no local beer in the country and with tourism as the Cook Islands main income; tourists were always looking to try a ‘local beer’. Needless to say there has been a steep learning curve going from being an educator for 20+ years to being brewers! We have both continued to work as educational contractors as well, so yes, there are many busy days.
 My favorite things are spending time with my family, I feel that my most important role is being a mother and I cherish the fun I have with my kids and my partner. I also love being in the outdoors, whether that be swimming, running, canoeing, cycling, walking on the beach. Living in the Cook Islands makes these things very easy to achieve. I love cooking and sharing great food with great people. It is such a simple pleasure… even better if it is on the beach!
Becoming the country manager for Global Volunteers in January 2008 has been a really interesting and enjoyable experience for me. The goal of promoting world peace through developing relationships is close to my own philosophy – we can all make a difference in the world one person, one experience at a time. I value relationships enormously and
feel that often we are not taught the so important interpersonal skills in our education systems. The people I have met so far have all been wonderful, giving human beings who I thank for coming to our small country to support our organisations. There have been many laughs and many insightful moments for volunteers, locals and myself. I look forward to meeting all the potential friends / volunteers in the future.
I look forward to welcoming you to our beautiful country, the Cook Islands. Come and join us.
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