Charlotte Squire
Editor
Happyzine
It takes courage to believe in a good old fashioned thigh smackingly huge dream. To not only dare to believe it could happen, but to also hang in there during its unfolding despite those challenging moments that life inevitabley serves up, is indeed a brave act. As Happyzine morphs from a glimmer of a thought into a stronger and increasingly solid reality, I often call upon this quality to remember the dream of its potential. The latest is that Happyzine is moving along another step, into the realm of the blogasphere. That’s right, after much deliberation, the positive news and ideas of Happzyine will soon present themselves in the form of a blog on our website. In this way, thousands more people can instantly access Happyzine. Happyzine will offer inpsiring news daily, and you can still subscribe. So who are we getting excited about this month? Shane Te Ruki’s art and words bring in a glimpse of te ao Maori and a warmly written gretting. Our Inspiring Kiwi is soon-to-be famous Anthony ‘Ants’ Field – a student of Christchurch. Ants turned trauma into opportunity. Also, find out about the professor who is enthusing about turning us humans and our activities into a beneficial species. Finally, check out the news section for tales of brides on busses, best friends, and more. In this world, it is a courageous act to be optimistic. It takes courage to keep the faith, and its so worth it!
Charlotte Squire Editor
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Inspiring Kiwi – Ant’s Crusade When thirty two year old student Ants Field was knocked off his bike, he decided to turn his misfortune into a positive experience. He launched a peitition to the Christchurch City Council to improve the cycle ways of Christchurch. To date he and his supporters have gathered well over 2000 signatures. Says Ants: “Christchurch has a few wonderful separate cycle lanes, and some excellent bike routes, but we are calling for a network of these to allow safe transit throughout our fair city…Now is the time to look towards the future, a future that puts cycling safety first. A future in which more and more people choose to bike. A safer, healthier and more sustainable future.” You can get active and join the Ants crusade – email here email here for cycle-way petitions. They’re due in October the 30th. Also, check out www.eco-ants.co.nz for more information on Ant’s eco-adventures – he’s applied his passion for DIY to everything from spa pools to seperating the fruit from the muesli! There’s no doubt about it, Ants is a ‘project guy’ to keep your eye on. |
Puls’n Planet Wouldn’t it be nice to feel proud of being a human? Dr Michael Braungart, Professor of Process Engineering at Universitat Luneburg in Germany, and one of the principals at McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, recently featured on Radio New Zealand’s ‘Kim Hill Show’. He has initiated worldwide scholarly and scientific inquiry into the adverse environmental and physiological impacts of industrially-produced consumer goods, and co-authored the book Cradle to
Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. Michael argues that it’s important to celebrate human genius and creativity. He says we must reinvent things to be good for the biosphere or good for the technosphere. He gave the example of ants – “ants are not just sustainable, they’re beneficial… rainforests wouldn’t exist without ants”. He said ants have a biomass four times larger than that of human beings, yet they’re good for the biosphere, because they give back. Michael has invented an icecream wrapping which biodegrades and releases rare seeds. His book is printed on plastic. To find out why and to listen to his fascinating story click here. |
| Wild Youth: Amped for Life Amped For Life, based in Auckland and Tauranga, are creating positive change for New Zealand youth who are facing drug and alcohol addiction issues. They’ve reached over twenty-five thousand youth to date. The Amped Group desires to sow life, build resilience and create a healthy sense of self esteem with our rangatahi (youth) and challenge them to aspire for greatness in all aspects of life. The Amped Group delivers a message that realistically and graphically communicates the risks of Drug & Alcohol Use and abuse. Says Helen Buckley, spokesperson for the The Amped Group:
“Our assembly presentations are not your typical ‘don’t do drugs’ message from a straight laced person who has only book knowledge and ‘no street cred’. Neither are we an organisation that goes through the in’s and out’s makeup and medical history behind drugs. Neither do we talk about all the dangers of drugs (we know kids know that). Instead Ryan and Pat share their incredible stories and talk about the reasons behind why people get into drugs and alcohol in the first place. An incredible rapport is established between our two presenters and the students within the first fifteen minutes, followed by showing some powerful blogs found on New Zealand websites. Next we share stories that have been told to us by kids and begin to open up their minds to think about the backgrounds that the people sitting next to them just might come from. Our assembly presentations encourage all the kids in the room to take a stand in being careful not to slap a label on others, keep the dreams in your heart alive, and seek help for any problems you are facing.”
Some comments:
“…Everything just gets so hard to handle and I can never see the light at the end of the tunnel. You made me see that there are other people that will listen where my friends wouldn’t give a crud.. Thank you so much for giving me hope”..
Rodney College Student
“I learned that even though you feel like the world is against you there will always be someone who will cares.” Botany College student
“I thought your talk yesterday took some guts to say. I am grateful to you for sharing your past. I think lots of people took it to heart. Your talk has been one of the best talks I’ve heard over the time I’ve been here. Thanks” Teacher Rodney College |
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Voices of our community