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 [...]

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 [...]

The following was written by Catherine Rivera-Puddle My husband muttered under his breath as another motorcyclist zipped out in front of our car, oblivious to us or the tons of other motorcyclists and cars clogging the road. “I really wonder if these people have brains sometimes” he said through gritted teeth. To us it seemed that people in the town where we had come to work had a major death wish, especially on the roads. [...]

Laura Freschi over at Aid Watch has written an interesting blog post looking at the work of Devesh Kapur and the idea that the brain drain in India has a positive effect on democracy in the country. Basically the idea is that the migration of the elite out of a country allows for minorities and socially disenfranchised groups to be heard more than they otherwise would as they are given more room to access the [...]

Sam Chapman talks about the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People and what the conference in January has to offer.

By Carl Worthington In March this year I had the privilege of visiting villages in Paratawada, India. Each of these remote rural communities are served in different capacities through TEAR Fund NZ and their partner EFICOR. A large part of their vision is to provide water to the impoverished local people through water harvesting techniques. It was very hot the day we visited the Mazarkapadi Village. All of our team carried bottled water in our day packs. My dry thirst [...]

It’s somewhat unsettling to be reminded that the luxury’s we enjoy every day are often the result of appalling working conditions.  The latest reminder of this is Apple’s problems with its factory’s in China.  There are allegations, as reported by The Independent, that the working conditions in Chinese factory’s that make Apple products are far below the standard set by Apple.  Most of its 102 factories, allegedly, have flouted its rules of working hours, amongst [...]

TEAR Fund’s Easter Focus for 2010 has been empowering women in the slums of India, specifically focusing on the work of our partner, Saahasee in the Bhiwandi area on the outskirts of Mumbai. Recently a group of our advocates had an opportunity to visit that project. One of the them was Carl. This is Carl’s reflection on that visit. It includes a gallery of his images at the end of the article. In March I [...]

Kibera was my first experience of urban slums and sparked a personal interest in the development of slums and the contribution the model of slum living is making to some progressive modern city planners who are thinking about how cities should be built for the future. It is estimated that 1 billion people live in slums worldwide and it is projected that this figure will grow to 2 billion by 2030 with the continued migration [...]

TEAR Fund NZ’s senior Programme Officer is currently in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. He is there serving our partner, Tearfund UK, and will be acting as the Director of their Disaster Response Team as they go about establishing their work in the area over the next few months. Ian has kindly agreed to share his experience through regular blog updates. All the images and writing are contributed solely by Ian. All was quiet last [...]