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I remember quite clearly the Sunday morning I saw the advertisement for IMMagine Immigration in the newspaper. It was a picture of a child walking down a road all alone. I thought to myself "if only?" but put that thought in my long list of dreams. Both myself and my husband had enjoyed many wonderful years in South Africa but over the past few years - the ever-increasing crime, lack of work, general disregard for human life and downward spiral of quality education had prompted us to look at other living options. We then approached Helen at IMMagine Immigration in Durban in December 2001 and started the process of exploring a new life.
I remember sitting in front of my computer and looking at the long list of stuff that I had to get together for our paperwork and bursting into tears. I thought we would never get it right - but then I took a moment and decided just to work through it all bit by bit. We had some difficult moments - like getting my original birth certificate out of Zimbabwe!??. The thing that made it all so much easier was the constant support and advice from Helen and Gail from IMMagine Immigration. They walked us through every step of the way and at no time did I ever feel like things were out of control. We had constant updates as to the state of our paperwork and they also managed to connect us to all the relevant parties we needed to do different things.
At last - the time came - our house was sold - our furniture was on the water - and this was it . Gavin went ahead as I was waiting for passports for myself and the kids. We arrived in Auckland on 20 August 2002 - 8 months after we first saw Helen.
I was in the country for a week and heard about a brand new Christian television channel starting on Sky. I went in for an interview - and am presently the producer of all of the local programmes on Shine Tv .
I love my work - I am probably working harder than I have ever done before but I love every minute. In the past 11 months of work I have managed to build up a whole new infrastructure and life.
My daughter is absolutely thriving in the school system here and her favourite part of New Zealand is that there are not gates at the end of peoples driveways!
My son is about to turn 2 in September and has found a wonderful caregiver through Barnardos - She looks after 4 children and he feels like he is a part of her family. She is also extremely understanding with our strange and sometimes long work hours which is wonderful.
We have also made some wonderful friends here - and love the fact that we can walk to the shops without fearing for our lives. We have travelled all over the North Island - done white water rafting, flown over volcanoes - and I am aiming to jump off the Sky tower!!!
Gavin and I often think back to the whole process of immigrating and believe that our decision to use an immigration agent [and in our case IMMagine Immigration] was the wisest choice we made and the entire process as a result was effortless and enjoyable .
Editor's note: When Lauren talks about "jumping off the Sky Tower" she is referring to bungy jumping......... we thought it important to give you the context!
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