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)

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!