Do you have a sewing machine hanging around unused at your house? Perhaps you know an elderly relative or friend who is no longer sewing and would like to see their beloved machine put to good use? Give an underused sewing machine a new life! In 2019, just with the power of the internet and […]
Do you know your refugee facts? I’m guessing you’re online right now, so I suggest you have a wee surf for any answers you don’t know. Let me know if you get stuck with any of them! 1. Name ten people in the Bible who are refugees at some point. 2. How many people are refugees outside […]
You might remember Jessica’s stunning speech on feminism, published here when she was nine years old. This year for her school’s speech competition, she introduced her classmates to the idea of activism – and won! Here’s her winning speech, written just before the election, with an introduction just for us: Hi, I’m Jessica Tuhua. I […]
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 […]
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 […]
The teachers choosing the song list for my primary schools in the 1980s were clearly a bunch of ex-hippies. We had psychadelia, folk songs and lots of Beatles, and certainly nothing written for children (unless the thoroughly depressing Puff the Magic Dragon counts?) And lots of protest songs. A friend and I (we grew up in […]
One of my very favourite places in Melbourne is Sandridge Bridge, home to the Travellers sculptural installation. Enormous steel figures fan out along the bridge (they used to move out at sunrise and in at sunset) representing the indigenous people, and then nine successive waves of migrants. The bridge also hosts 128 panels for Melbourne residents’ […]
A warm welcome to this yearâs Advent in Art series, where we join thousands of others in contemplating artistic works. This week we are in the season of Christmas, and conclude the series. For an introduction to this series, and He Qi, the artist featured in 2014, please see the first post, on the Annunciation. […]