Newsletter 07 Dec 06
STUFF HAPPENING AT JUST FOCUS
This will be the last fortnightly newsletter of the year as the JF staff go off on their holidays… (yay!)
Lena, who has been volunteering with us for nearly six months, left Aotearoa last week and is on her way home. She wrote you this before she left…
Hey all,
So I’m off, back to California…unfortunately back into another winter, but I get to stop in Tonga for a week and a half to catch some much needed sun. I have had an amazing time volunteering for Just Focus and will miss it (but I must say not the weather). I have learned so much from my time here and am so appreciative of the opportunity. Although I won’t be volunteering here in NZ, I’m still a JF member and will be sharing my thoughts on the forum.
Keep an eye out for my post about my experience in Tonga and what I learned about the current situation.
We will be in touch with all members before Xmas though to give you some news - there’ll be another change at JF’s office in the new year too – more on that coming soon…
RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS
It’s been a difficult time politically in the Pacific lately. Tonga continues to struggle after the riots last month – keep an independent eye on what’s going on by reading Indymedia.
And in Fiji there’s been a bloodless coup – the leader of the military has overthrown the democratically elected Prime Minister. Keep up to date with what’s happening on Scoop and there’s a Special Report on Fiji to fill in all the background available from the Guardian.
And a UN report has found that the world’s richest 1% own 40% of all wealth. In the first ever study of global household assets it has been shown that 50% of world’s adults own just 1% of the wealth. Read more about this report’s findings here.
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR YOU TO BE PART OF
NYE Volunteers needed for Oxfam and Rhythm and Vines Festival
Oxfam has teamed up with Rhythm & Vines Festival to provide volunteer staff at the festival this New Year’s Eve in Gisborne. If you want to cap off the year feeling good about yourself then volunteer for Oxfam at Rhythm & Vines and help overcome poverty and injustice. Get up and change your world, and have fun at the same time! For more info follow this link. Act fast tho - applications close tomorrow!
OXFAM STARBUCKS CAMPAIGN
Over the last few weeks, Oxfam has been campaigning internationally to encourage Starbucks to recognise Ethiopia’s rightful ownership of its coffee names – ownership which would increase Ethiopia’s bargaining power in the international coffee markets and ultimately increase the income for its coffee farmers by as much as NZ$132 million a year. For more info on this campaign and how you can take action follow this link, or visit Oxfam’s website.
Radical Youth Hui
Radical Youth Auckland are organising a national youth hui in January 2007 to learn new skills, have fun and find out what everyone else is up to. For more info follow this link or check out the Radical Youth website.
Also keep an eye on the Events page on this site.
NEW STUFF ON THE JUST FOCUS WEBSITE
Nicole Mathewson has written another great article about gender issues. Read her latest piece on “raunch culture”, called “The Confusion between Sexuality and Liberation”. She looks at recent trends which are leading to the over-sexualisation of women and young girls, and the confusion some women demonstrate between achieving equality with men and freedom to express their sexuality, with buying into male fantasies and presenting themselves in ways which compromise their intelligence and dignity.
Also we have a timely piece on Christmas, getting you thinking about the consumerist festival that it has become. Elisabeth Perham looks at how waste is generated even more over the holiday season, and also at what you can do to help make this year a less wasteful one. Read her article, “Christmas – Treasure or Trash?”
LINKS TO OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
Watch Store Wars - a five-minute movie featuring Cuke Skywalker, Princess Lettuce, Chewbroccoli and other organic rebels—played by real vegetables dressed as Star Wars characters — battling it out with Darth Tader, the evil lord of the Dark Side of the Farm! The movie is about the battle between Organics and industrialised agriculture.
oneminutesjr videos
These are sixty-second videos made by young people (between the ages of 12 and 20) from all over the world. Time is limited in a oneminutesjr video, but not the freedom to express oneself creatively, which is the basic right of every person. Check out the movies here.
Adobe Youth Voices is a global philanthropic initiative that empowers youth in underserved communities worldwide to comment on their world using multimedia and digital tools to communicate and share their ideas, demonstrate their potential, and take action in their communities. Find out more on the website.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?
Imaging famine – an interesting project looking at how famine has been represented in the media and debating the political effect these photos have on our understanding of the developing world. We’ve all seen pictures of starving children, from the TV news to charity appeals - but what do these images suggest to us and how do they create stereotypes around the people of Africa and other developing countries Check the site out and join the discussion in the forum.
NEW STUFF FOR YOU
McLibel DVD
The story of how a postman and a gardener took on the McDonalds corporation. This doco follows two campaigners who were transformed into unlikely global heroes as they took on the fast food giant. For more info visit the McSpotlight website. http://www.mcspotlight.org/
This film – and heaps of other great films - is available to borrow FREE from the Global Education Centre. Email info@justofocus.org.nz for info on how to borrow them.
WANNA GET MORE INVOLVED?
Want to add stuff to the next newsletter or the Events Page, or to write an article/review, or take a photo/create an image for the Just Focus website? Reply to us at info@justfocus.org.nz , it’s always great to hear from you.
NOT A MEMBER YET?
Join online!
