Christchurch teen takes icy plunge after life-changing Solomon Islands trip

Sunday, 21 June 2026

A freezing dip in the ocean was one of the final and most daunting moments of Emma-Grace Yule’s weekend — but far from the hardest challenge she has faced.

The Christchurch teen ran into the icy waters of New Brighton Beach on Sunday morning as part of a 40-hour challenge, completing 40 tasks in 40 hours to raise awareness of global hunger for World Vision.

Former Avonside Girls’ High School student Yule, now a World Vision youth ambassador, spent the weekend working through a randomly selected list of challenges drawn from a pool of about 50 ideas developed with students and young people.

The tasks ranged from the light-hearted to the deliberately uncomfortable, including 40 cartwheels, going without social media, baking 40 cookies to give away, spending time without furniture, and listening to the same song on repeat for an hour.

By Friday lunchtime, four hours after starting, the 18-year-old said the experience was already becoming “a little bit chaotic”.

“It keeps changing, and I’m trying to manage doing these random challenges while working, and adapting to them is interesting.”

Her first task was using only four fingers for an hour after taping parts of her hands together, a challenge suggested by a student from a primary school.

“It was a little bit hard to type and use my mouse and drink coffee, but I managed.”

By midday she had already completed four challenges, including picking up 40 pieces of rubbish around Margaret Mahy Family Playground and scoring 80% on an online general knowledge quiz.

Yule said the motivation behind the challenge runs far deeper than novelty tasks or endurance. It was shaped by a week-long trip to the Solomon Islands late last year, taken between her NCEA exams and high school graduation.

During the visit, she travelled to a place known as Fishing Village in the capital Honiara, where she saw what she described as “heartbreaking” living conditions.

More than 1000 people were living in an area of about 250 square metres, she said, with families of four to six often sharing a single small room with little more than a mattress.

In a kindergarten at the settlement, Yule spoke with a father whose livelihood depended entirely on fishing. He told her how much he had been affected by rising sea levels and changing ocean conditions.

“Sometimes it can take six hours to get to a spot where there are fish… Sometimes they go out and they don’t come back because the canoe sinks,” she said.

“But they have to keep going out because they don’t have a choice.”

Yule said what stayed with her most was not just the hardship, but the vulnerability it took for people to speak openly about it.

“It really stuck out to me because of the humility [to say it in front his kids] it would have taken.”

The trip, she said, made abstract ideas about poverty and climate change feel immediate and personal.

“I’ve always been passionate about people and the planet. But seeing it firsthand made everything I’m passionate about come to life.”

It also confirmed her decision to work as a World Vision youth ambassador, a full-time six-month role.

“It made me know for sure that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m meant to be doing.”

Yule said she hopes the 40-hour challenge helps people understand that food insecurity is not only about hunger, but about loss of choice.

“It impacts education, healthcare and quality of life. It removes choices from people. They have to do whatever it takes to find food.”

After 40 hours of challenges, she said she was most looking forward to something simple. “A hot shower and a bit of rest.”

Hundreds of young people across Christchurch and Auckland are taking part in World Vision’s 40 Hour Challenge this month, combining physical effort with fundraising to support communities facing food insecurity in the Pacific.

As part of the campaign, youth groups are also participating in large-scale native planting events designed to restore local ecosystems while raising awareness of the impacts of climate change on food systems.

World Vision says the challenge is designed to encourage young people to better understand the realities of hunger by stepping outside their everyday comfort zones for 40 hours.