Here are the answers to your questions. Let me know if you need anything else like photos. I've got some on the job if that would be helpful. Good luck with your project and thank you for your interest.
Kind regards, Barbara

Date of Birth: 25/9/68
Family: son aged 10, parents, one sister, one brother, one niece, one nephew, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Grew up on the island of Tarawa in Kiribati which straddles the equator. Kiribati was known then as the Gilbert Islands, it was British colony and gained its independence in 1979. Hence the name Kiribati (pronounced Kiri-bus) it is local dialect for Gilbert. My father (NZ'er) was a teacher there and my mother is from Kiribati.We lived there until I was ten when we returned to NZ.

Childhood life - was wonderful. Because Kiribati was a British colony many people contracted to work there were from all over the world. Mostly British but other countries that were British influenced as well or British people that had married into other cultures. My primary school therefore was made up of I-Kiribati kids, British kids, Indian kids, African kids etc. There was a huge Mormon school there as well so several families were from USA. There was no television and films were outdoor. After school (which started early and finished around 1.30 because of the heat) most people would have a nap because of the heat and then we would go swimming in the sea and play outside on bikes, marbles etc. My mother,s family all lived there so we would see a lot of my grandparents, cousins etc. Because Kiribati is a coral island you cant grow fruit or vegies there except for pawpaw and coconuts. The ship would come with provisions once a month but most things were very very expensive. We'd sometimes have sausages as a treat and apples when the ship came in. The staple food was fish and rice - which I love to this day. People didn't have access to a lot but I remember my childhood being excessively happy.

Interesting facts:
1. I lived in the Cook Islands for eight years in the 1990s and co-owned a newspaper the Cook Islands Press. It was the first time big stories were exposed...we would have documents pushed under our door at night by people angry at the level of government corruption. We did such a good job that the Prime MInister at the time Sir Geoffrey Henry accused me and Jason Brown the other co-owner in parliament (so it was broadcast on radio nationwide) of being CIA agents brought in by the US government to help overthrow his government. Now 15 years later Sir Geoffrey and I get on pretty well and we enjoy having a catchup! Our weekely newspaper won the freedom of information award for the region (awarded by the Pacific Islands News Association).
2. I am very short (five foot or 152cm) inherited from my Kiribati side. However I love playing indoor netball with our news team. Unfortunately we have lost every game to date.
3.My mother has 12 brothers and sisters. I now have aunties, uncles and cousins in most parts of the pacific - Kiribati, Christmas Island (which is part of Kiribati but very remote), Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and one even ended up in Germany.

Hobbies: travelling, indoor netball, reading, writing, collecting pacific art.

Jobs before becoming a pacific correspondent:
- reporter on Cook Islands News
- editor and co-owner Cook Islands Press
- correspondent for Agence France Presse, National Business Review, Radio New Zealand International
- columnist and feature writer for the NZ Listener
- editor of Achievers magazine
- reporter for Radio New Zealand
- general news reporter for TVNZ
While some of the above jobs are general news positions I have always done Pacific reporting for those positions.

What inspired me:
My background and heritage primarily, given I had worked and lived in the pacific I had a good knowledge base of things pacific. Also the fact there is a big gap in mainstream media in covering pacifi

Who is Barbara Dreaver?
Barbara Dreaver is the Pacific Correspondent for T.V.1 News, and has been for 4 years. Barbara grew up on a small island in the pacific called Kiribati. She was born on the 25 of September in 1968.

How does she achieve human rights for people?
Barbara Dreaver and her film crew travel to the Pacific Islands to report stories about peoples whose rights are being abused. Barbara will then have these stories televised on the news, and let people know about them, asking for help. Then people in New Zealand will donate money or protest against it.


What human rights has she achieved?
Barbara Dreaver has achieved many rights for many people. She choses her stories and reports the ones that she finds interesting and most desperate. One story she reported was about a woman with 8 children who had no home. After the story was screened on television, a home was found for her. Another story, a man had a heart disease and was fruit picking to raise money for his operation. Once seeing the story, New Zealanders managed to raise the $40,000 needed for his operation. There was once a scam artist, and the scam was stopped after Barbara reported it. She also helps people who need answers about a death, or unfair loss of money.

Why does she do this?
Barbara Dreaver helps people because it makes her feel good. She enjoys giving people the chance to speak out.

Where does this happen?
Barbara Dreaver reports stories in the Pacific Islands and in New Zealand. It is New Zealand that helps her help these people.