Prangs and Privilege

The other day I witnessed a minor shopping-mall accident where someone reversed out of a car-park without looking and drove into the back of a passing car. The reversing car was a new 4WD; the car passing by was a beaten-up old sedan. The driver of the 4WD was Pākehā (white); the couple in the…

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Inclusiveness is…

In my spare time I sing in a small world-music choir called Womansong. Last week at practice, Karen, one of our members, suggested that we add simple dance moves to an Arabic song we sing (Lamma Bada Yatathanna). We followed and quickly picked up Karen’s graceful arm movements, which were perfect for the song. But…

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Beyond the Funding Game

Community funding often isn’t as transparent as it should be; games get played and thorny issues are sometimes unacknowledged and often unaddressed. I explored some of this recently at a breakfast meeting with the Fundraising Institute in Auckland: – here is my presentation: “Beyond the game, through the thorny issues and towards thriving communities.” The…

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Walk a mile…

I have never had to walk 10 kilometres then catch a train in order to work at a minimum wage job.   I haven’t gone hungry so I can feed my kids like Tina, nor have I been one of a family of eight in a cold, damp, two-bedroom flat like Helen.  Instead I have led…

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