Many of the news stories covering the Occupy Wall Street protests have expressed that the protesters don’t seem to have defined exactly what it is they want, as if there needs to be one clearly definable outcome that the protesters ‘sell’ so that others can ‘buy’. Such thinking misses the point. From the way I see it from the other side of the world in New Zealand, Occupy Wall Street is a sweeping expression of dissatisfaction about [...]

We Kiwis have a real connection with farming.  It’s been the backbone of our economy from the start.  Many of us come from farms, have farming friends or family, or at least have stayed on a farm for a while. We’re not too happy when we see big chunks of our farmland being sold to overseas buyers but at least we’re sure the Kiwi land owner agreed to the sale and sold at a very [...]

A few weeks ago as I was paddling across Purakanui inlet in a kayak – which was rapidly trying to become a submarine -  I passed a pleasant dad in a dingy rowing his two little daughters by the old boat sheds.  We chatted a bit, there on the water and it turned out that “Brian” and his family were from Christchurch.  Their house had been rendered uninhabitable by the earthquakes.  Some kind soul had [...]

Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death for children under five in the developing world. Because of this, the recent announcement by a group of leading pharmaceutical firms, including UK based GlaxoSmithKline, to slash the price of Rotavirus vaccinations in the developing world is a welcome announcement. Al Jazeera has reported the story and Paul Cook, head of Advocacy for Tearfund UK, was interviewed about the announcement. Paul is a great guy and did a [...]

Xmasitis is an epidemic disease that hits our society once a year around the start of December. Strangely our health authorities offer no medical response or official warning even though Xmasitis causes the most stressful, dangerous time of the year. Therefore it’s vital that each one of us learns to recognize the symptoms and takes measures to minimize the effects. The first symptom is an increasing sense of pressure. At work you scramble to finish [...]

This is a guest post from one of Tearfund UK’s key activists, Tom Baker. Tom is a good friend as well. The guy deserves a thumbs up for his mention of Ryan Nelson on a Kiwi blog! As a kid at school, I used to dread the moment it came to pick teams to take part in the lunchtime football match. If truth was told I was never going to be the next Wayne Rooney, [...]

Diversity and unity – it’s a superb combination – that will be celebrated at the World Christian Gathering of Indigenous Peoples to be held in Aotearoa/New Zealand beginning January 9th 2011. Here indigenous Christians will be sharing their cultures and their stories; worshipping with the richness of songs, dance, drums and ancient wisdom. Maori, Aborigine, Native American, Hawaiian, Saami and many other first peoples will be thanking God who gave them their unique character and [...]

Concerned young mother Emma Diack discusses the dire situation in Niger and fact that this desperate country is being largely ignored.

To donate to the emergency appeal, click here or call 0800 800 777. You can also visit www.tearfund.org.nz Here is some information about our response in Pakistan and how your money will be used if you choose to donate: We are supporting two emergency responses of two of our local partners on the ground: First Partner: One of our local partners responded to the SWAT valley refugee crises in the North of Pakistan last year, [...]

News from TEAR Fund emergency appeal. If you follow the news you’ll be well aware of the massive floods which are devastating Pakistan but do you realize that this flooding is becoming the biggest natural disaster in decades, affecting more people than the Haiti earthquake or the tsunami of 2004. Torrential monsoon rains swept into the northwest of Pakistan on July 22nd. They moved north to the Khyber devastating precious farmland particularly in the Punjab [...]