The School of St.Jude's, Tanzania

Guys this is sooo interesting...read about what this woman has done....i had my first Cultural and Ethics tutorial and we were examining the quote: "the unexamined life is not worth living" - Socrates (469-399 BC). And my tutor mentioned that when we start to analyse (maybe overanalyse) certain aspects of what our roles as individuals are when it comes to alleviating poverty, we can critically analyse ourselves and say that "yes, i do contribute to poverty". Then this morning I got my ticket for this seminar which will be held next tuesday and just read the background on the presenter, Gemma Sisia...read it:

PRESENTER: Gemma Sisia
In 2002 a young lady, Gemma Rice (now Gemma Sisia), from a sheep farm in Australia, opened a small school, St Judes School, in Northern Tanzania with the help of her family, friends and local Rotary Club. What started with only a handful of children and one teacher is now a thriving school of over 1000 children, 130 teachers and 200 staff.
Over 90% of the children at the school receive a totally free education as local and international sponsors individually cover the costs of not only the educational fees but also the uniform, stationery, transport, hot meal, snacks and drinks of each child. What makes this school even more special is the fact that this success comes about due to the group effort of thousands of ordinary people from all over the world coming together to do something quite extraordinary.

Visit: The School of Jude's website here.

Gemma'a two sons, Nathaniel 7, and Jacob 5, are sooooooo cute!

( Source: The School of St. Jude's site)

Do you know what it feels like for a girl...

It's funny just sitting here behind this computer screen and thinking of what title this post should be, but that moment of confusion was quickly cleared when Madonna's lyrics for her single 'Do you know what it feels like for a girl' quickly streamed through my head.

So I just received an email from a dear friend of mine, one whom I keep very close to my heart and also my unpaid, on-call, therapist who I will call Starfish (to prevent an abusive comment ensueing from her). But for those who are familiar with this blog, Starfish has managed to inspire me to publish this new post.

I found this recent email I received from Starfish just beautiful, in all its simplicity it really says a lot.

...we need to remember we are young, we are awkward, we are female. youth and
being female is possibly just two of the worst things. being young - means dumb,
unsure, little crazy , female - two minds, wants everything, picky, etc. damn.
when do we stop being young? or being female?
its hilarious what we do. i love it. i love being so imperfect and young. i look in the mirror at this face of mine, this pimply (haha) awkard look and i know one day i will look in the mirror and realise that this girl is gone because i will be a woman. i will not have this youth or that look in my eye that i do now. sometimes i think the
older, wiser starfish* is in me talking to me, looking at me in foresight and
telling me how lucky i am and i can honestly glimpse me, the 18 year old me who
has no fucken idea what shes doing and i am grateful that i am so aware that i
am who i am meant to be at this point in my life. one day, my hair won't be long
anymore and i wont wear as much make up and my skin will clear and my clothes
will be more conservative and simple, and i wont laugh as loudly, i wont drive
around in my little car tooting at hot boys, i wont be dancing in the bars at
clubs, i wont be flirting with older men, i wont be teasing young boys, i wont
be with my girls gossiping in cafes, one day i will lose all of this without
realising. it will all just go and something will come - a job, a family,
marriage, maybe deaths, maybe divorces, who knows, but right now - i am free of
responsibility and i can fuck around and not have to prove anything to anyone. i
dont have to be perfect, i dont have to be right, i can do whatever. we can do
that spowf. we are at our best, right now, this is us, so young, lets not grow
up yet man. lets just be a little crazy, a little childish, a little wild.
because we can.
i am just blessed by the people who enrich it and make me
that more deeper, that more wiser and all i think is that im so afraid i am
going to lose all this and not make the most of it and why the fuck do i make
such a big deal out of nothing? think about it. spowf, these guys, why waste
energy on that? i still have feelings for seaweed* and i am aware that he still
has feelings for me, but not now, i dont want to dwell on it or think about it,
i just wantt to get stoned with my girls and swim naked at the surf break and
drive out in my little car on the worst roads on this island. i want to sit on
facebook when im meant to be at work. i want to do everything fucken wrong. i
want to make mistakes so i can learn. i dont want to be sure of anything. i want
to just be a little dumb while i can, this is it. i want to kiss randoms and not
think 'ohh what will so and so think, does he like me, blah balh' who fucken
cares, argh.
this is our time to shine man, and i fucken intend to do that,
be it blind drunk or so stoned or high on life, whatever, i just dont care
anymore. im young and im going to have fun and be a girl.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. "

- Albert Einstein

Note: This is my favourite quote.

Capitalism, globalisation and free trade: rhetoric versus reality

So I've decided to start an assignment right and its about bloody time too! I don't think I've spent so much time (honestly speaking) sitting in this chair and actually using my study desk which is usually filled with drink botttles, an alarm clock that doesn't work and the occuring sight of neglected food and cutlery that haven't quite made it to the kitchen yet.

So while researching for this assignment, I came around a very interesting quote that made me question everything from what are our roles as individuals in society to improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves to having that 'inescapable' subconcious which makes each and every one of us a global citizen.

Here's the quote:

[T]he emergence of capitalism represents a culture that is in many ways the
most successful that has ever been deployed in terms of accomodating large
numbers of individuals in relative and absolute comfort and luxury. It has
not been successful, however, in intergrating all in equal measure, and its
failure here remains one of its major problems. It has solved the problems
of feeding large numbers of people (although certainly not all), and it has
provided unprecedented advances in health and medicine (but, again, not for
all). It has promoted the development of amazingly complex technological
instruments and fostered a level of global communication without precedent.
It has united people in common pursuits as has no other culture. Yet it
remains to be seen when the balance sheet is tallied whether capitalism represents the epitome of "progresss" that some claim.

- Richard H. Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of
Capitalism (Allyn and Bacon, 1999), p.11-12

The last time I checked, the CEO of that U.S. multinational company had just received a large salary raise...but at whose expense? How about the low-income earning wage earner in the developing country which the same multinaitonal company has a factory. Don't get me wrong, but globalisation too has good points. It's just a matter of whose side you're arguing from.

***

“We welcome the process of globalisation. It is inescapable and irreversible.…” However, “…if globalisation is to create real peace and stability across the world, it must be a process benefiting all. It must not allow the most economically and politically powerful countries to dominate and submerge the countries of the weaker and peripheral regions. It should not be allowed to drain the wealth of smaller countries towards the larger ones, or to increase inequality between richer and poorer regions.”

- Nelson Mandela

What do you think? Not just about capitalism but the bull and hypocrisy of free trade ideologies that are meant to ensure equal economic benefits for everyone? Leave a comment!

Searching for meaning

Yu save bislama?

Meet another friend of mine: Yasmine. Yas, I know this isn't the hottest picture of you, but you are too damn cute!

She's Filipino and Swedish but considers herself an island girl at heart (born and raised in Vanuatu before she being 'shipped' to boarding school). At the age of seventeen, almost immediately after graduating she secured a governess position on a farm in Longreach outback Queensland looking after three kids all under the age of 6. Quite a feat that the kids (or even she) survived considering she didn't know how to cook! Anyways, after six months she decided that home (Vanuatu) was where the heart was so is now 'retired' and living at her beach house, living the lonesome idealist/dreamer's life. A life I too, wouldn't mind living.

The slideshow features pictures of her beachhouse and other surrounding areas in Vanuatu - of which I had the pleasure of visiting, compliments of my dearly father as a graduation present!

She just posted her first bulletin on her myspace. Here it is.

THIS IS MY FIRST BULLETIN. i thought i would take a break from the
following:

- swimming

- riding my bike (or my gardener's bike, sorry john)

- eating fresh fruit

- swimming

-body boarding

-verbally assaulting my dogs

-swimming ahahaha

-snorkelling

-lying in the sun

-looking at myself in the mirror and admiring my tan haha

- going into town to socialise briefly before repeating the above

-have spent five days literally by myself out here, first human being was
spotted yesterday (housegirl came back) yay!!but i wish i had a car. fuck that.
but am getting the tico this week, yeewww....despite sirens and graffitti and
stinkiness i feel so dumb doing this.

MISS THE FOLLOWING:kris,kat,nik,sof, nelle.

COME BACK AND ENJOY MY YOUTH WITH ME!!!!!!! dont go to uni or work!! we
will live off coconuts. and grow our own vegies and fruit. and kill our own
cows. and maybe swap our food for two chickens to eat and to have their eggs. we
will live without money....come on you five, come see me!!

Her bulletin brought back memories of life in the islands where everything is slow paced and sunsets never disappoint. Yas has always been vocal about her drive to travel the world and not care about superficial things. Before she left Brisbane for Vanuatu we had a conversation about how she wanted to experience life and how society's standards should not always be the driving force behind your life's decisions and dictate what you do in life. In her bulletin, she speaks of 'enjoying your youth', an ideal I am keen on pursuing especially at this pivotal stage in my life, something that seems so far away to grasp from the perspective of a uni student, yet something that funnily is still very tangible. This leads me onto questioning what our purpose, as individuals is in life?

I honestly don't want to be one of those people that finish their courses at uni and still feel undecided about my career and my future. I think this has a lot to do with discovering what each of our real purposes are. Our 'real purpose' must not be something that we feel obliged or pressured to accomplish because of societal of parental expecations however, it must be personal and something that you feel passionate about.

Okay, I am not overtly religious nor do I live a 'Christian life' but here is something from the Bible:

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labour. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:10:11

The BIG questions: Happiness, Individualism, materialism, poverty

Had brunch today. Nothing really healthy or appetising - very boring start to my day: toasted white bread, heaps of margarine and strawberry jam with a hot cup of Milo...it actually made me sick later on during the day. Hint: it involved the 'forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth' as Wikipedia describes it.

Anyways enough said, I like to read while I'm eating (well, at least when there's nothing else to stare at, apart from the walls).

I picked up the latest issue of The Weekend Australian Magazine. Flicked through a couple of pages. Went past a couple of articles - some which seemed rather 'far-fetched' especially considering I had just woken up. Hmmm. Flip, flip, flip. Next page. Bang. The words. Scribby in writing. But then after deciphering them with strained eyes, I could make out the only words spread out over two pages in capitals:

What do we mean by


Is affecting the way we live our lives?

Is the all there is?

is it a virtue?

Does exist?

The article entitled: "The Big Think" (dated 30 July 2007) discussed the link between the profession and everyday life. The discussion primarily focused on the views of some academics, or in this context, philosophers.

What grabbed my direct attention was probably the question: "Does God exist". At this stage in my life, I have spent a lot of time cross-examining what my core values and belief systems are. By inheritance (at birth), I was immediately labelled a Christian. However, after seventeen years and about three hours of that time sitting my my Human Rights and Religion lecture, I began to seriously question why I was a Christian/Catholic. Why was I a Christian? Do I really believe in the primary texts of Christianity such as the Bible and other divinities such as the Holy Trinity? During this crucial stages of 'self-discovery', from being strictly black and white about what religion I belong to, I shifted into the gray area and have since considered myself to be agnostic, ie believing in a higher power that is not necessarily the Christian's God. After a few months now, I caught myself having to rethink why I did no longer consider myself to be Christian.

This happened about two weeks ago, while I was having coffee with a friend, Kathryn. While chatting, an ambulance, sirens blazing and all was passing down the main road adjacent tto the coffee joint. In the midst of all this, I was aware of the ambulance and immediately did the sign of the cross (a habit I still do everytime I hear an ambulance drive past). This made me realise that Catholicism is truly beautiful with its dated traditions. I especially reflected on the sincerity and honesty of some the traditions that happen at mass and the Sacraments that I received while at Catholic School (ie baptism, confirmation, communion, reconciliation)....

PHUCK! i THINK I'M CHRISTIAN AGAIN!

welcome to my life! Just a bit indecisive LOL!