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21st
October 2007
Mijin - my good friend and fellow worker -
has some contacts at a local community college. She told me that
they pay1 people like me to come and give a series of talks
about their own country. I agreed to do it, but only on the
condition that I can do future talks about the Philippines, Uganda and
Ghana.
But first, I had to get the New Zealand talk out the way.
The audience was a bunch of about fifteen kids aged between
ten and twelve. Some of them had quite good English, but
at times I had to call on Mijin to translate for me.
This is what I talked about:
- My own history
Concentrating mostly on the volunteer stuff, as
everything pales in comparison. I showed them the
GrassRootsUganda
video.
- The history of New Zealand
Both the good stuff - like
Women's Rights,
our nuclear stand and
Edmund
Hilary - and the bad stuff, like
Treaty of Waitangi and its associated issues.
- Maori Culture
We had the kids draw some
traditional Maori tattoos on some handouts we gave them.
- The Kiwi
It may be a nocturnal flightless bird that sticks
its beak in the mud to find worms, but we New Zealanders
love our national bird. Check this out for a
delightful video about the kiwi.
- The Lord of the Rings
I just had to put this in as so many New Zealanders
are proud of it - including me - and it is something the
kids can identify with.
- New Zealand's Beautiful Scenery
Including this shot and
this shot taken by
yours truly.
 I
think the talk went quite well. Interacting with the kids
was a lot of fun. I handed out bribes (bite size snicker
bars) for any kid brave enough to answer a question.
Talking about New Zealand was fun.
I am very much looking forward to my future talks. I
have some quite harrowing stories that even I struggle to read.
Should I share these with the kids and give them a healthy dose
of realism, or tone them down? Dunno.
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