Why donât children get to vote? As far as I can see, theyâre as capable of understanding whatâs important about the world as many adults and they have a higher stake in the future of our society and world. As I wrote in this manifesto for The Spinoff: A classic Big Piece of Cheese episode of The […]
No one is too young to make the world a better place! Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize when she was only seventeen. She began her public life as an activist for girlsâ education in Pakistan when she was just eleven years old, blogging about life under the Taliban. Sheâs proof that ordinary young people can have genuine influence […]
During the United States primaries, I had to consciously limit my fascination with US politics and remind myself that it was getting daily updates on the campaign trail shenanigans wasn’t much different to reading about foreign celebrities in gossip magazines. I had better things to do with my time and attention. And then Trump got elected. […]
Last month, the newly elected Parliament of Myanmar chose Htin Kyaw as the country’s first non-military President since 1962. It was another step towards democracy, and a happy one, but Myanmar’s path to recovery is likely to be long and windy. The military still controls much of the government and has veto power over constitutional changes. They could […]
Michaela Cisney is executive director and founder of Priyam Global, a US-based international health organisation that works in India to tackle root issues of poverty for children affected by disability and their families. She also works as a freelance communications consultant for a large humanitarian agency. Michaela lives and works between Indiana, USA and Chennai, […]
I remember when I first read a report of how women and girls were suffering under the Taliban in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. I think I was about sixteen. Widows were starving – literally dying of hunger – because they weren’t allowed to shop for food without a male guardian. Girls were kicked out of schools and […]
With friends and family scattered all over the globe, I’d love to have a huge map of the world in our house. When we move to Thailand later this year, it’ll be a priority purchase. The only reason we don’t have one already is my West Wing addiction. What a marvellous show. I rewatched all […]
Have you gasped or shaken your head or cried over refugees this week? Was it when you saw a picture of Aylan Kurdi, a little boy wearing sneakers just like my son’s, lying dead on a beach? Was it when you saw a picture of him and his brother, smiling on a sofa, before their […]
This is the final post from guest writer Chris Chamberlain. See the whole series list here. We must be careful how we read Scripture What I would call a âZionistâ reading of Scripture seems to take a verse with no regard for its context, and apply it to the modern State of Israel. This is […]
On New Yearâs Eve, 2014, our daughter Hazel was born at Wellington Hospital, by emergency caesarean section. Gosh, we were lucky. âYou must be disappointed,â a healthcare assistant commiserated with me the next day, assuming I would be sad that what started as a straightforward, natural labour had ended in the most dramatic of all […]