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)

Featured documentary: India Reborn

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.

Make Poverty History images

A few months ago, I made a post about Siobhan getting selected as a ZeroSeven Ambassador. I also promised to get some pictures off her and post them up. Well here they are: The wait is finally over!

"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural"

MPH: Make Poverty History

It's Our Time

To Change

Make Poverty History!

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!

Make Poverty History: Bon is a ZeroSeven Ambassador

Meet a good friend of mine, Siobhan (aka Bon)



She's cute isn't she?

She loves to play volleyball, is very opinionated (especially in Economics classes) but is also an active global citizen in the fight against poverty. She is an official ZeroSeven Ambassador - one of 500 Ambassadors from all over Australia who have been selected and trained in order to spread the Make Poverty History message and inspire those they meet to take action to end extreme poverty.

Every 3 seconds, a child dies from a preventable disease - watch this video.



Every single day, 30,000 children are dying as a result of extreme poverty.

07/07/07 (hint the reason why the road trip will end in Sydney on 07/07/07) marks the halfway point to achieving all 8 of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, a plan to halve world poverty.

The MDGs were created in September 2000, amongst the largest gathering of world leaders, at the UN Head Quarters in New York and now the time has come to ensure we make those goals a reality.

The Millennium Development Goals :


Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger ;
Achieve Universal Primary Education ;
Promote Gender Equality ;
Reduce Child Mortality ;
Improve Maternal Health ;
Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria & Other Diseases ;
Environmental Sustainability ;
Develop a Global Partnership ;


Embracing this new era of global responsibility, the Australian Government has set an aspirational target* of contributing 0.7% of the country’s total wealth to Foreign Aid by 2015.

However, today the Australian government is running behind schedule with only 0.3% currently committed.

'If the Minister is as serious about increased aid as he is about effective aid then I think the two will combine to transform Australia’s role in the world of engagement with the poorest of the poor' ...Bono, U2 Frontman (on Treasurer Peter Costello).


The Government has pledged to increase aid by 2010. This effort however is only expected to lift Australia’s contribution to around 0.36% of the country's wealth. This is predicted to place Australia 19th out of the world’s 22 richest nations for our lack of generosity.

Siobhan will begin her journey to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY on the MAKEPOVERTY HISTORY ZEROSEVEN Road Trip from 01/07/07 for one week and head down to Sydney. The Road Trip aims to make a call on the Australian government to take action to end extreme poverty by taking action to increase aid to 0.7% of budget by 2015. Along the route from Brisbane to Sydney, there will be a number of MAKEPOVERTY HISTORY events, including 6 MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY concerts. This will provide regional communities, as well as capital cities, with an amazing opportunity to become involved in what is the greatest youth movement of our time.On board and lending their support in various ways are the who’s who of Australian musicians including Missy Higgins, Evermore, Little Birdy, Dallas Crane, Blue King Brown, Antiskeptic, Borne, Bliss n Eso, Guy Sebastian, True Live, Custom Kings, Bias B, Jess Mc Avoy and Symbiosis among others.

Visit her myspace page here.

She's a great photographer so at the end of the trip, she should disperse with some great shots - some of which I will post in the nearby future.

Keep the great work up Bon!

Onto more pressing global issues...

I was just reading the United Nation's Development Program Report entitled 'Beyond Scarcity Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis?

The Report primarily focuses on the issue of the water crisis, the causes and the problems experienced by the poor. The main arguments being that water is not a scarce resource, however, the poor have been sysytametically disadvantaged due to political choices.

However, what really drew my attention and something that I think would start a great discussion relates to the following excerpt (see page 3):

In the world of the early 21st century national
security concerns loom large
on the international
agenda. Violent conflict, concerns
over terrorist
threats, the proliferation of nuclear
weapons and the growth of illicit
trade
in arms and drugs all pose acute challenges.
Against this backdrop
it is easy to lose sight
of some basic human security imperatives, including
those linked to water.

The 1.8 million
child deaths each year related to
unclean water
and poor sanitation dwarf the casualties associated
with
violent conflict. No act of terrorism
generates economic devastation on the
scale of
the crisis in water and sanitation. Yet the issue
barely
registers on the international agenda.

It would be interesting if people could get involved and share some ideas or thoughts.