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By Geoff Cooper, Auckland
Ever get the feeling that the more you find out about your world, the less you wish you knew? Is it simply that the human race is incompetent at managing the planet and people? Or perhaps that our attempts at global euphoria have just gone badly astray?
By Steph Garland. The freedom to express ourselves is something we can sometimes take for granted in New Zealand. So much so we couldn’t even say what ‘freedom of expression’ really means. Steph Garland found out, but discovered more blurry lines than answers.
Mariana Gledhill from Wellington, N.Z. spent 7 months, in 2005, in Peru doing voluntary work. She shares her experiences.
Sorry about the absence of messages. I have been travelling and I have not had much time to write, but I am back in Chincha now, so I have lots of time to write. I had better tell you about Chincha and what it’s like. Chincha is not exactly a city that is going to win beauty contests. Garbage litters all of its roads and there are pot holes everywhere.
By Graham Smout
Mmmmm! That smooth Espresso taste, but where does it come from and what hardships do people go through to give you the coffee that you know and love?
By Cameron Walker
For 24 long years New Zealand ignored the people of East Timor as they were being brutalized by the Indonesian military. New Zealand cannot ignore the human rights tragedy which is unfolding in West Papua, right on our doorstep in the Pacific.
By Corinna Howland, Wellington
In our never-ceasing quest for progression and expansion, it seems taken for granted that technological advancement is a positive phenomenon. Is this true?
By Cameron Walker, Auckland
On the 1st of January 1994, The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the USA, Canada and Mexico came into effect. At the time, proponents of the agreement, such as then US President Bill Clinton, claimed that it would ‘lift all boats’. However, 11 years later, these promises seem empty. NAFTA has lifted some boats but many people throughout the three nations have been made worse off.
By Kate Thompson, age 15, Wainuiomata
In February 2004, Wellington and the Manawatu region were affected with the worst flooding in recorded history. Then in July of the same year, the eastern Bay of Plenty region was hit even harder. They were subjected to severe flooding and they then had to cope with a consistent attack of earthquakes that lasted for a number of days, adding insult to injury.
