14 March Newsletter
March has been a super busy month for us at Just Focus. Our new journalism programme Just Write is underway, with ten lucky and talented writers selected and preparing for training in Wellington at the end of the month. Media That Matters Aotearoa is also all go – we have around 30 young people involved in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Plus, there were a few enthusiastic people in Dunedin who have decided to run an extra screening – give us a bell if you’re keen to join forces with them.
Half the team – Jennie and Will – are at WOMAD this weekend, so if you’re there too keep an eye out for them. Free badges for you and new members for us, wahoo! Tessa is leaving us next week, off for an adventure in the Solomon Islands for six months; she may keep us posted with missives from the Happy Isles…
RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS
The violence in Kenya which began back in December shocked the world. Youths were the volunteer foot soldiers during the violence that left over 1,500 people dead countrywide and more than 500,000 displaced. As they come to terms with the devastations of the short-lived yet costly conflict, many young people are now beginning to realise that war does not resolve political conflicts. Many are now engaged in seeking non-violent methods of resolving conflicts. Read the positive story: “Kenya: Youth Seek Non-Violent Conflict Resolution”.
Fijian activist Virisila Buadromo, Executive Director of Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, has won an International Women of Courage Award. Seven other women from Afghanistan, Paraguay, Iraq, Kosovo, Pakistan, Somalia and Palestine have also received this year’s award. Buadromo has been honoured for her strong grassroots advocacy for women’s development and human rights lobbying for greater gender equality and legal and political reforms. Following the 2006 coup, she was hauled into the military barracks on Christmas Eve and endured horrific abuse, followed by a two-month travel ban. Read more on Scoop.
UPCOMING EVENTS/ACTIONS FOR YOU TO BE PART OF
Remember to keep an eye on the Events Page but here’s a quick summary of stuff for y’all.
WOMAD
This weekend over 400 artists from all over the world and an audience of 12,500 will converge in Brooklands Park & TSB Bowl in New Plymouth for three exhilarating days of rhythms, sights and sounds! WOMAD is your ticket to a fantastic trip around the world where you will experience international and New Zealand performances, broaden your horizons with entertaining workshops, enjoy new tastes from foreign lands and dance to a different beat all weekend long! Just Focus will be there, so if you are going then come and say hi! For more info on the festival go to the WOMAD website.
Wanna save the planet? If so, check out the opportunities with the Sir Peter Blake Trust – you could win the chance to work as an Antarctic Youth Ambassador, or take part in the Youth Environment Forum. Applications are open now.
Do you know that more people are living in cities than in the countryside, for the first time in history? Could you write about your city’s opportunities and challenges and win US$5000 and go to South Africa for the Award ceremony? Enter this international essay competition, but you have to hurry – the deadline is Sunday 23 March.
RACE RELATIONS DAY: TE RA WHANAUNGATANGA
Friday, 21 March
The theme for this year’s Race Relations Day is “Finding Common Ground”. Get involved in some of the stuff happening in your community and show you’re committed to getting on – www.hrc.co.nz.
WORLD WATER DAY
Saturday, 22 March
Water might seem to be something we’ve got heaps of in Aotearoa, but more than a billion people around the world (about 20% of the world’s population) don’t have clean, safe drinking water. Learn more about this massive public health issue, or join the Virtual Walk For Water and become a Water Advocate. Heaps more info is on WorldWaterDay.net.
LINKS TO OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
Food fight video on You Tube. Check out this unusual look at American-centric warfare, from WWII to present day. It is told through the foods of the countries in conflict….see if you can guess which food represent each country and which battles are being portrayed.
NEW STUFF ON THIS WEBSITE
Cameron Walker has posted an update to his story on eco-prisoners.
Mava Moayyed’s article Cluster Munitions Survivor Turned Campaigner is based on her interview with Soraj Ghulam Habib, a 16-year-old Afghan who lost both his legs when he was ten in a cluster comb attack six years ago.
And Miriam Wood writes about her experience living and volunteering in Vanuatu in her article The Quantity Versus Quality Debate: A Case Study in Vanuatu.
Have a read. Then have your say. All these articles have threads in the forum for you to post your comments and thoughts.
IN THE FORUM…
The Beijing Olympics - why are some people protesting?
Feed the world without leaving your desk! Visit www.freerice.com and answer the simple vocabulary question. Every right answer donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. The vocabulary will get harder as you get more questions right.
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.
