31 August Newsletter
STUFF HAPPENING AT JUST FOCUS
VSA, in association with the Global Education Centre & Just Focus, has just produced a guide on Volunteering Overseas. Check it out here! It’s a great resource aimed at helping you work through some of the decisions you will need to make if you want to volunteer overseas. Other than that it has been pretty quiet in the Just Focus Office the last couple of weeks with Jennie taking a few days to enjoy the sights and sounds of Taupo, but next week we get back on track with Tessa, the new youth advocate, starting on Monday!!
RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS
The volunteering guide comes out at a time when VSA’s British counterpart VSO have raised concerns about young people volunteering during their travels or GAP year, reporting that without proper organisation the volunteering experience can be damaging both for young people themselves and for the communities they work with. Check out this article in the guardian.
Who owns our major media outlets and why we should be worried about it?? Bill Rosenberg from The University of Canterbury, recently wrote an article on media ownership in Aoteaora New Zealand which was published in the latest issue of Foreign Control Watchdog. Download the article here and check out Aotearoa Indymedia’s short (but very enlightening) doco Whose News?
On 7-8 September 2007, thousands of people will attend protests, organised by The Stop Bush Coalition and other groups, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney. Despite the massive police operation 10 000 activists are expected to turn up to defend their democratic rights, and voice their opposition to the APEC leaders and their policies.
Violent video games are often blamed for violent behaviour in young people. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah seem to have taken this idea to a new level and have launched a new computer game with Israel as the enemy. Read the article at Al Jazeera.
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR YOU TO BE PART OF
TRASH TO FASHION
Each year, Trash to Fashion acknowledges the huge impact our living environment has on the New Zealand way of life, and the impact our way of life has on our living environment. Trash to Fashion is a competition for secondary students and comes out of a desire to preserve our great natural resources. It is from nature that many contestants find their inspiration and materials.
For more info click here.
THE MIGRATING KITCHEN EXHIBITION
The Migrating Kitchen opened this month in the Bottle Greek Gallery at Pataka Porirua Museum of Arts and Cultures in Porirua. The exhibition, with a round-the-kitchen-table interactive display, will give the opportunity for storytelling, sharing food and recipes, and learning about different cultures in New Zealand. There will be cooking demonstrations and weekly talks by entertaining chefs and speakers, accompanied by song and dance.
For more information email: anna.cottrell@xtra.co.nz
THIS I BELIEVE ESSAY PROJECT
The Global Youth Fund invites young people (ages 13-25) from around the world to share their ideas and begin submitting short essays about their personal philosophies and the core values and beliefs that guide them day-to-day.
More info on the Global Youth Fund website.
LINKS TO OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
No school. No work. Buy nothing. Stay home or hit the streets. No business as usual. 9/11/07 General Strike is asking all Americans to join together and demand truth, justice, and accountability from the US government.
Stray is ANOTHER film competition, but this is a global competition and this year the footage all comes from Aoteaora New Zealand!
The supply of oil is a major global concern, check out this video Oil on Ice on Blip.tv
NEW STUFF ON THE JUST FOCUS WEBSITE
Check out Storme Sen’s Just Focus debut article, which reports on the climate change debate held during Youth Parliament 2007.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?
You are very quiet JFers!!
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.
