ED NEWS: Sep, 2010
Books & Resources at Global Focus Aotearoa
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti provides an excellent case study for students on the topic of natural disasters. In The Quake the 
reporter Martin Smith seeks to make the crucial links between humans and natural disasters to identify what caused the Haitian people to be so vulnerable when the earthquake hit. Historical factors such as slavery, dictatorship, poverty, outside intervention and reliance on aid are investigated, offering a more robust approach to critical analysis and reflection on this disaster. Overall this DVD is worthwhile for teachers looking to gain background information and conceptual entry points on the topic of natural disasters. The first half hour especially is grim viewing and is likely to be disturbing for some students but take your time over the second half, some sections would be suitable for older students. A preview is recommended first: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/
DVD, 60 minutes
Free to borrow from the Global Focus Aotearoa library.
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This film provides an expose of a government's response to a natural disaster. Filmed in Sri Lanka after the Asian tsunami, it .jpg)
reveals ulterior motives behind a new law that prevented the survivors from rebuilding their homes along the island’s coastline. Told through the stories of two survivors and an aid worker, the film provides a sensitive depiction of the lives of those people who waited in tents while the global industry repositioned itself on their land.
DVD, 56 minutes.
Free to borrow from the Global Focus Aotearoa library.
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This new addition to our library is a must read for educators focusing on disasters in geography, history and social studies. It will 
give you enough information to feel confident and informed when your students ask the tricky questions.
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The book has been written with a view to create awareness among students and other readers about various kinds of hazards and 
disasters. The book includes a simple explanation of the subject, relevant case studies and quotes and interesting facts.
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In the rush for the latest publication, we often forget to look at the resources that already sit on our shelves. This is especially the
case with natural disasters. But to find the stories of vulnerability, we often have to look to history.
The Black Jacobins is one of those books that really captures a historical moment. CLR James looks at the beginnings of independence in Haiti, the conditions that led to it and the international reaction to it. It is the type of book that you can pick and choose excerpts from to get students thinking about how history has global dimensions which are connected to stories of vulnerability and dependence.
CLR James has written a movie on paper – it has a balance of horrific stories and actual statistics. It does have a Marxist edge to some of the chapters, reflecting the author’s own perspective; but it will prompt an interesting discussion in any social sciences classroom or even at home over the evening news when Haiti becomes a topic of focus.
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This award wining documentary reveals a situation of crisis in the Niger Delta, largely through the voices of local people in affected
communities. You’ll see the devastation caused by 50 years of oil extraction and the pathway to resistance of locals as they struggle for their rights. Expect to gain new insights into oil companies and ways the media distorts information. This DVD is valuable for your own understanding and background information alongside sections that could be shown to young people.
DVD, 94 minutes.
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Chapter one and ten are of particular interest in relation to the Niger Delta. Shaxson describes a visit to Nigeria in 2000 noting
that it is in this region that he has learnt the most about how oil corrupts. This book is written in an accessible way and is useful background reading.
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This documentary is suitable for students from year seven onwards as an introduction to the concept of sustainable tourism. Set in 
the Ecuadorian cloud forest, the story profiles a community-led ecotourism project. Some interesting angles are examined including the impact of environmental laws on land rights and the role of technology in sustainable tourism. A useful entry point into this DVD is the question: ecotourism – a dream or a reality?
DVD, 26 minutes.
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This CD Rom has a relevant section titled Trouble in the Delta and includes background information, adaptable activities and 
an interactive powerpoint. For teachers, this case study can fit into either the Place and Environment strand or the Continuity and Change strand and can be taught at any level.
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Looking for an interesting resource on HIV and AIDs which uses the social inquiry approach (3As)? Well, it’s on our shelves 
here at Global Focus Aotearoa and available for you to take out of our library for free.
When you want to look at the politics surrounding HIV and AIDS, then the first place to start is the PBS series The Age of AIDS. This series asks two key questions: What is the story of HIV and AIDS? And, why did it become a pandemic fed by the fears of organisations, governments, churches and individuals?
This series is the 3As in action. First, it creates awareness about the history of AIDS. For example, did you know that HIV and AIDS existed since 1959? Second, it raises the level of analysis by looking at the values and perspectives that have informed responses and decisions since the 1980s. In particular, it looks at how political and religious agendas in the US meant that progress in sexual health education and pharmaceutical interventions were stalled as people argued about the moral causes of AIDS, not the physical realities. Finally, the series opens a platform for discussion on our own silences when it comes to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Like every PBS series or documentary there are always sections that are not suitable for students, but viewed in parts, the Age of AIDS will bring health and reproductive rights into your classroom. The series as a whole, will also help you understand the complexities of this global illness and will better inform your approach to teaching through social inquiry in the classroom and community setting.
As a bonus, the series has a website which includes more analysis, timelines, maps and statistics and facts. You can even view the series on the website – but it always looks better on DVD.
DVD, 240 mins
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www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids
Case Studies
Before the first videos of the Pacific Tsunami made it to the internet, radio reports were hitting the shores of Aotearoa NZ. We
asked award winning reporter Leilani Momoisea her opinion about the role of radio in the reporting of disasters in the Pacific.
The first flight out to Samoa following the news of the disaster held families of the victims of the tsunami, the Samoan Prime Minister and other Samoan politicians, New Zealand politicians and journalists. This is where the reporting began. It began in the plane and the airport. Finding out where one of the first funerals would be held and meeting Ben Taufua, who lost 13 members of his family.
The role of radio in the reporting of disasters is that the reporting is immediate, and constantly updated. I can tell the story of what's happening as it happens. Just a phone call can fill a news bulletin. I can feed back all I know to the news team in New Zealand, or I can report it live, myself, from the scene.
My first day in Samoa is an example of that. I was up at 5 am for Tui Anandale's funeral, one of the first funerals of the victims of the tsunami in Samoa. I spoke with the family and gathered what information I could and soon after I was reporting that information, as well as all I had gathered the night before at the airport. From there I went to a Civil Disaster Management meeting, where I reported from the meeting the latest death toll and the known extent of the devastation. Next it was out to the South East Coast, where the tsunami had hit. There I filed news reports describing the devastation, speaking to aid workers and villagers who had lost everything. All of this was reported back to Aotearoa NZ as the information came to me.
When reporting a disaster – nothing replaces being there.
Another example of this is when I was again out on the South East Coast in Lalomanu and saw what I thought to be a body being carried by aid workers on the back of a pick-up truck. Following the truck to the hospital, I was able to confirm with the Red Cross that it was in fact a body that had been found as well as being able to confirm the latest death toll. And, as I was at the hospital interviewing people, more bodies came in. Bodies were still being found three days after the tsunami, and I was able to report these latest developments.
Reporting disasters is a difficult task. It is physically, mentally and emotionally draining. The first few days were 18 hour days, and, as I was the only reporter from Radio New Zealand, for most of the time I was required to provide news for the morning, afternoon, and evening bulletins and programmes – and, at night, file news for the next morning. Being Samoan, I naturally had an emotional connection to the story, and there was a real sense that I needed to do the story justice.
But while I am Samoan, I cannot speak Samoan, and language is a huge barrier.
Fortunately, as well as working in general news, I also work for Radio New Zealand International, whose sole focus is on news in the Pacific. While reporting in Samoa, I worked very closely with our RNZI correspondent, Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, who is a well known journalist. Autagavaia provided invaluable local knowledge and contacts, and helped to break the language barrier. My reporting would not have been close to the same if it had not been for this local connection, and many of the stories I reported may not have been possible without this local knowledge.
Radio reports provide a timeline of unfolding events. If educators were to engage young people in exploring reports of disasters in other countries it would be a good idea, when looking back at the reports, to look at what issues were focussed on and when. It will give young people an idea of the values that inform the news stories and how stories are moved along and developed.
With the tsunami in Samoa, the immediate focus was telling the story of the extent of the devastation and the personal stories of loss, as well as the overall picture of how many people had died and lost their homes. The story quickly moved on to the relocation of villages up to the mountains, the aid effort, and if aid was reaching everyone. Stories then moved on to focussing on the national day of mourning, funerals and then on to rebuilding, and looking to the future.
It would also be an idea for students to analyse what times the stories are played – if they are at the top of the news bulletin then the stories are the most important. As time goes by after a disaster, you will see the story move down in the bulletin, and eventually the story may fall from the bulletin altogether. Learners could look at why this happens, and what other stories were going on at the time that shifted the news focus from the disaster to another story. This is a good way of analysing any news event, not just a disaster.
Check out Leilani’s podcast
Education Services Updates
Readers have told us they want more practical tips on how to actually engage young people in global issues. Young people want, and need, more than just a magazine to read. They need learning experiences that are relevant to them and connect them directly to the issue being studied.
As a result of your feedback we are now aligning the teaching/learning foci of Global Issues and Global Perspectives to meet these needs. The two magazines will continue to provide a resource base on a given topic with connections to the internet, pod/vidcasts and other resources. As you can see, we have begun this process with the enclosed magazines on natural disasters. We’ll be working on the next issues to be even more educator-friendly. Here’s what’s happening.
Global Issues will continue to offer:
• Reading content on a global issue for years 9-13.
• Information that raises awareness about an issue.
• Case studies.
But will now have:
• Extra pages with more in-depth case studies encouraging analysis and critical inquiry.
• Perspectives from young people written by our very own Just Write team.
Global Perspectives will continue to offer:
• In-depth information on a topic and its relevance to young people in Aotearoa NZ.
• Activities that are focused on the 3As+R (the social inquiry approach).
But will now have:
• Pages for formal and non-formal educators specifically outlining theway the two magazines can be used in their work with young people and school students.
• A stronger connection to the case studies outlined in Global Issues.
• A one-stop place for teaching activities with curriculum links and connections to Global Issues on the teacher pages. This will replace the Global Issues teacher page insert: Classroom Activities in Te Reo and English.
300 free subscriptions available
The latest Global Perspectives complements Global Issues by looking at the same topic but at a different level. Rather than being a resource you can use with learners Global Perspectives will inform your practice as an educator (in the classroom or community).
This issue of Global Perspectives will explore the concept of ‘natural disasters’. It will assist you when you are trying to get young people to understand and respond thoughtfully to natural disasters. It will look at the influences on our responses and it will provide a number of techniques to get ourselves and young people thinking and acting differently.
This Global Perspectives is not about challenging our response to disasters; rather, it is about giving us the ability to combine our response with a deeper awareness and purpose. It is about taking the unfortunate moment of a disaster to build and develop compassion for others.
Over the last 12 months natural disasters have been a very hot topic around the world. The team at Global Focus Aotearoa has been considering the impact of major natural events in places of poverty and disadvantage. We decided to take this opportunity to rethink disasters – and their presence in the media.
The current edition of Global Issues is designed to be given directly to young people to get them thinking about the issues that turn an event into a disaster. For the educator,
Global Perspectives considers the influences on young people’s (and even your own) responses to disasters. It gives you a range of activities to engage young people in a deeper level of awareness, analysis and action.
Together, Global Issues and Global Perspectives give teachers and youth workers in Aotearoa NZ resources that will both inform young people about the reality of disasters, and also get them thinking critically about their responses to disasters when they happen in other communities.
The Just Focus team have been busy delivering workshops, including an advanced level story-telling workshop with some Trade Aid educators. Jennie has started work with the new Just Write team, and Will has just been in Turkey presenting at the World Youth Congress. This is a gathering of almost 1400 young people from around the world, who got together to share the culture, ideas, language, art, friendship and their dreams for a sustainable and just future.
New Just Write team
The 2010 Just Write team are an amazing group of young people, bright, passionate and committed to creating positive change in the world! The team came together recently for an action packed training weekend in Wellington. As well as getting to know each other and doing some team bonding, the young writers attended workshops on global education, media literacy, writing and interviewing, watched a collection of short films, went to a play at Bats theatre and listened to presentations on the Official Information Act and the NZ media industry. A highlight was the team writing and recording three podcasts at Access Radio, to mark the beginning of the International Year of Youth.
To find out more about the team and what they are up to go to www.justfocus.org.nz
World Youth Congress
Will to write
Just Write Alumni profile - Sylvie Admore, Albany, Auckland
When did you take part in the Just Write programme?
2008
What were the most significant things you learnt whilst on the team?
How to write to a deadline and to a brief. I gained a better understanding of the editing and publishing process and learnt about the media; how it works and the influence it has.
Do you think Just Write, or the people you met on the programme, have influenced any of your subsequent decisions or choices?
Definitely. It was the Just Write programme that reinforced my interest in global issues and how the media portrays them. It made me think a lot more about my role as a global citizen and the responsibilities we have as privileged individuals. The Just Focus team, the workshop facilitators and so many of the people I met through the programme were inspirational. It is so neat to work with a group of people this passionate, and this motivated, about working towards solving global and community issues. Most of all it showed me that there are so many avenues out there that we can take to make a positive difference in other people’s lives.
What adventures have you been up to since Just Write?
In 2009 I went on an exchange year to German-speaking Switzerland. It was a truly life-changing experience and I came back with so much more than my 20kg luggage allowance. I returned to New Zealand with a second home on the other side of the world, broadened horizons and a much deeper knowledge and appreciation of other cultures. This year I attended the 2010 Youth Parliament as John Key’s representative and am heading back to Europe as part of the New Zealand delegation to The Hague Model United Nations in the Netherlands in January 2011. In between all of this I’m in my last year of school at Carmel College, which is an adventure in itself!
What are you planning for the future?
Next year I plan to do a conjoint Law/ Arts degree at either Victoria or Auckland University.
The 5th World Youth Congress was held in Istanbul this year, and it was chaos! Imagine over 1300 inspiring activists, social entrepreneurs and educators jammed together for two weeks on a university campus in 35oC heat and 80% humidity, debating and dreaming up solutions to the world’s most pressing issues, and you won’t be far off.
After arriving a day early and somehow navigating the Istanbul metro system by myself, I finally arrived at the venue of the World Youth Congress - a huge university campus on the European side of Istanbul called Yildiz Technical University. 
Somehow they packed 1300 young people (in addition to their regular students) into the various dormitory buildings situated around the campus, and even more astoundingly, organised enough workshops and panel discussions to keep us all occupied for two weeks.
I was there to learn, but also to share some of Global Focus’ knowledge with these keen young changemakers, who were mostly aged 18-28 years. After sussing out the general culture, demographics and needs of the participants, I put together a super-condensed version of my tried-and-tested ‘Storytelling for 
Change’ workshop, which I run for NGOs and community groups around New Zealand. The room they put me in was fairly small, fit for about 20 people… but the participants kept coming and coming! Once I’d packed 35 people in the room I had to start turning people away. (Sorry guys! If you’re reading this and ever make it to New Zealand, please drop by for a one-on-one session!)
The workshop went really well, far better than even I expected. One of my Storytelling activities involved splitting people into 
groups and having them share important, life-changing experiences that have shaped their character and passion for global issues. It’s always an inspiring exercise, but this time around people shared stories so powerful and touching that some group members wept when they heard them. Many of the participants said that the workshop was the best at the whole conference, and two participants told me I’d changed their lives! Very humbling for me, though I’m convinced that it’s the stories that do all the real work. The experience reminded me of how powerful storytelling can be, and how privileged I am to facilitate these kind of workshops.
With my workshop over I was able to relax a little and focus my energy on learning from others. And learn I did! The conference was packed with inspiring young people. I met a youth from Puerto Rico who is starting the country’s first glass recycling company. Another young person I met from Kenya was part of a coalition that successfully pushed for law reform around youth participation in government, and I met a youth from Trinidad & Tobago who helped found an environmental research group that advises government on its environmental policy. I heard countless stories like this… all from people 26 years old or younger. Truly inspiring!
I returned from Turkey refreshed and optimistic about the future. We have a hard road ahead of us, with many global challenges to face. But I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. A global movement of active and critically engaged youth exists and it is growing. Connected and empowered via conferences like these, and tools like social media, these young people won’t stop until they see the change we need… and their enthusiasm is infectious. Together, we will get there.
ACTIVITIES FOR A GLOBAL CLASSROOM
Activities for a Global Classroom is packed with 40 fun activities to help add a global perspective to your teaching. Use this resource to:
• get your students thinking wider and more critically on a variety of issues
• make key concepts engaging for students
• locate that gem of an activity for your next lesson
• provide useful activities for relievers.
The activities bring together the BCUSS and BES pedagogy and are divided into nine key topic areas: trade, food, poverty, governance, sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate change, aid, tourism and Global Education.
All activities can be adapted for different age levels (years 7-13).
On Trade Me you’ll find our most popular education resources including back issues of Global Bits magazine and our multi-media resource kits spanning years 6–13
You can still purchase our resources with an order form from our website in the usual way.
Buy now on Trade Me
Download the order form
The information services staff have been busy researching and writing for our new website that will be launched at the end of this year. Current topics we are looking at are food, governance and aid. To support the latest issues of Global Issues and Global Perspectives we have produced a new Onepager on Aid. Aid: An Introduction gives you a quick introduction to this complicated topic, giving you the key definitions, debates and facts you need to know.
DevNet, the Aotearoa New Zealand Development Studies Network has just launched its new Website. On the website you can see details of the upcoming DevNet Conference that will be held at Massey University in Palmerston North in December this year.
www.devnet.org.nz
Take Action
Young people under the age of 25 are invited to make a short film, of any length up to 5 minutes, on the topic – ‘Sustainability is...’
Is it our environment, our biodiversity, our life, community development, social justice, peace, health, human rights, cultural identity, science, innovation, creativity, diversity, leadership, enterprise, citizenship?
Films can be made by individuals or teams and in any genre. The young film makers need to explore what sustainability means to them.
Entries need to be in by 17 September 2010.
More info: www.theoutlookforsomeday.net
The International Day of Peace (Peace Day) provides an opportunity for individuals, families, classes and communities to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by the United Nations and the first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.
Get involved and organise your own peace day event. It can be as simple as lighting a candle or as complex as organising a peace concert for thousands of people. To find out what’s going on around the world on peace day, or for ideas on how to get involved go to: http://internationaldayofpeace.org
On October 20, 2010, thousands of groups across Aotearoa New Zealand, and in over 180 countries around the world, will join together and get to work on climate change. Activities will range from tree planting to hosting bike repair workshops. 350.org wants to send a strong message to the world’s leaders that they need to start supporting climate solutions.
To find out about actions taking place around Aotearoa New Zealand, or to plan your own action, go to: www.350.org.nz/about/10-10-10
A unique opportunity to visit the real Nepal. A chance to meet with Nepalese organisations and communities and find out how they are tackling poverty and injustice. The tour will visit community development initiatives in different parts of the country focusing on health, education, women’s empowerment, environment/conservation, local ownership and management of natural resources and income-generation.
There will also be guided tours of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the ancient cities of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, an elephant safari and nature tours in the Chitwan National Park, a homestay in the beautiful hill town of Bandipur and opportunities to marvel at the spectacular Himalayas from Dhulikhel and Pokhara.
The tour will be escorted by Marion Quinn and Kevin Clark who have both had over 30 years development experience in Asia, the Pacific and Africa working with non-governmental organisations, NZAID and international agencies. It will be run in association with Samuhik Abhiyan – a Nepalese non-profit social development organisation committed to people-centred development.
Places strictly limited. You can download more information here , or please contact
mkinsights@xtra.co.nz
