Miss Awhina (Afina)

Tena koutou. Tena koutou. Tena tatou katoa. Hello and welcome!
My name is Awhina Houpapa. I am of Maori descent from NZ. It is because of my
Maori ancestry that I have been given a name unique to my family and culture. I am
married and my husband is from Iran. We also have a Chow Chow (dog) named
Simba.
I am in my 13th year of teaching. I started my teaching career in New Zealand, where I
taught for two years, then moved to the UK to teach for a further six. Following this, I
lived in France for a year and worked in Geneva, Switzerland. Here I was not teaching,
but rather I gained experience working in an international organisation. While at the
time I enjoyed this new challenge, my love for teaching was not being nurtured. This
brought me to Dubai in 2012.
I am in my fifth year teaching in Grade 3 at GWA. I spent the past two years as
Mathematics Coordinator which was a great challenge. I look forward to working
towards another successful year with students and parents of 3AH!