Tawa is named after a broadleaf tree that was once widespread in the area, and the most well known landmark is a “bucket tree”. So when one hears of a street in southern Tawa called Redwood Ave, it is easy to conclude that it is named after one of the largest and tallest trees in Read more
Two years ago I was asked to write an Assessment of the Fiji situation as I saw it. Now I have been asked once again to reflect on the current situation and make an assessment of Fiji today. Two years ago I wrote: “Unlike the 1987 and 2000 coups which were carried out in the Read more
Twenty years ago, the Catholic Church played a major role in the fall of communism in Poland. Today, with the country changing rapidly, the church’s influence is quickly waning. Once considered the most Catholic country in Europe, the faithful are vanishing. Just past the Polish border, passengers traveling by train from Berlin to Warsaw can see Jesus. Read more
There’s a term biologists and economists use these days — ecosystem services — which refers to the many ways nature supports the human endeavor. Forests filter the water we drink, for example, and birds and bees pollinate crops, both of which have substantial economic as well as biological value. If we fail to understand and Read more
America’s annual celebration of Independence Day was accompanied this year by the U.S. bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom, a round of prayer and advocacy dedicated to the preservation of religious liberty. The exercise renewed debate over whether there is or isn’t a war on religion in America, fueled, of course, by the politics of the 2012 Read more
All the major religions place great importance on compassion. Whether it’s the parable of the good Samaritan in Christianity, Judaism’s “13 attributes of compassion” or the Buddha’s statement that “loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice,” empathy with the suffering of others is seen as a special virtue that has the power to Read more
Fiji’s military ruler sat behind an imposing wooden desk, deep in thought. This was the most attention he had given to any of the questions posed to him in the interview thus far, and he seemed to be struggling to find an answer. Finally, after a lengthy pause, he said that he could think of Read more
The classroom — one teacher, one group of students, usually of the same age, one rectangular space, door closed — is the great survivor of schooling. It is now as it has been for two or three centuries the main arena of the encounter between teacher and taught, and the taken-for-granted stem cell of schooling Read more
ESSCNews shares this article written by Pedro Walpole after he returned from the Earth Summit. Originally published in Intersect magazine in September 1992, the observations that Pedro wrote about 20 years ago eerily remain the same 20 years after in Rio+20. Last June, over 100 governments gathered at the United Nations Conference on the Environment Read more
Nicola Gray sits in her cosy kitchen, warmed by a large Sweetheart stove smouldering as the winter sun trickles through pink stained glass windows, creating patterns on the wooden walls and cupboards. Meat defrosts slowly on the bench for the evening meal that Nicola will prepare for husband Randal and children Samalah, 23 and Daniel, Read more