Let’s End Poverty Together!
By Pania Walton
Between August and October 2005 a group of dedicated students from Athena Montessori College in Wellington started investigating poverty with the Global Education Centre. What is poverty? Is it even a problem in Aotearoa New Zealand? What has it got to do with us? What can we do about it? As the questions started flowing, the answers followed, and the need to do something fun and interesting that would also make a positive difference started to grow.
“In every country there’s poverty, and not just in the harsh countries like Africa and India.” Lily
“I learnt that there’s poverty in New Zealand, which I didn’t know there was.” Rowan
The students (Lily, Rowan, Caitlin, Jess, Tess, Caroline, and Chrissa) ended up painting a mural at the intersection of Ghuznee and Willis Streets in Wellington. But painting a mural isn’t as easy as you might think! The group wrote letters to the building owner, and St Peter’s Church next door to make sure that they could paint the mural where they wanted to. And because the wall faced a carpark, they had to make sure that the cars would be moved on the day they wanted to paint. Wellington City Council had to be consulted with too to make sure that they didn’t need to get resource consent. And then there was the weather – which wasn’t very cooperative!
After researching how other muralists (such as Diego Rivera) got their point across, and carefully considering the message they wanted to portray, the group got to work.
“If a bunch of kids can do something like this, then adults should too.” Jess
“I thought that since we’re all separate countries that we’d all have our own rules and things like that, but I think it’s poverty that links us all.” Caitlin
The mural can be seen on the corner of Ghuznee and Willis Streets in Wellington. Check it out next time you’re in the neighbourhood!
