The ‘007’ themed Miss and Mr Deaf New Zealand, expertly hosted by Victoria Skorikova and Tony Walton, was hosted at the Alexandra Park Function Centre on 22 September 2001. Amie Hewitt, the Miss World New Zealand was in presence, as was Nandor Tanzcos, the then Green MP. The event was a major fundraising event for the 2nd Asia Pacific Deaf Youth Camp, which was organised in 5 weeks and raised $7,000 towards camp costs. The 007 event’s committee were Akiko Murozono, Mark Huria, Julie-Anne Taylor, John Schischka, Victoria Skorikova and Darryn Paul.
Ursula Becroft was awarded Miss Deaf New Zealand, with Sara Pivac the 1st runner up, and Nirvana Graham the 2nd runner up. Darryl Alexander was awarded Mr Deaf New Zealand, with Daniel Harborne the 1st runner up, and Patrick Thompson the 2nd runner up. Judges were Tricia Fitzgerald, Anita Treefoot, Ros Taylor and John Schischka, who was selected for the best costume award!
New Zealand won the bid to host the 2nd Asia Pacific Deaf Youth Camp (APDYC) in November 2000 and an intense period of fundraising started with the creation of the DEAFinitely Youth Group. The APDYC organising committee devoted a year of their life to organising the camp. They fundraised approximately $80,000 in 6 months to make the camp a reality. The 2nd Asia Pacific Deaf Youth camp (APDYC) was held from 12-19 January 2002 at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre in Turangi. Altogether, there were 43 Deaf youths from 12 countries, 15 youth leaders, 10 interpreters and a couple of guest speakers present.
