kids, 8 cartons of Sanitarium Weet Bix, one tired support team is a
collage of the day.
The day started with the truck picking up the remaining cartons of
Weet Bix from the Sanitarium factory at Berkeley Vale on the Western
side of Tuggerah Lake. No guesses as to at least one item that is on
the menu for breakfast.
The first event for the day was a presentation at Wyong Public School.
About 200 kids were present in the hall to watch the dvds on Raju the
Rickshaw Wallah and the Millenium Development Goals. One of the
teachers, Rosslyn, at the end of the presentation said that "the kids
were entertained, informed and captivated" during the whole
presentation. Khaleque and Hajrat gave a short musical presentation
between the videos. The visit was completed by giving some of the kids
rides on the rickshaw around the basket ball court. The only regret of
the event was that the team did not have time to give all the kids a
ride. Thanks Graeme Homes, Principal, and teachers and of course kids
for your warm reception. The local regional television NBN sent a crew
along to record the visit but so far none of the team has seen whether
it was on the news presentation in the evening. We were all busy!
The next event was a display and some rickshaw riding at the canteen
courtyard at the Ourimbah campus of the University of Newcastle. This
was arranged by Debbie Hunt who is the Make Poverty History
Coordinator for NSW for Oxfam. Some of the students took advantage of
the opportunity to have a ride in the rickshaw. Hajrat's comment was
"the students at this Uni are all older". Mature age study is not a
common phenomenon in Bangladesh. Debbie is a passionate advocate for
the Make Poverty History movement and we appreciated her enthusiasm.
The afternoon saw the team set up for an arrival event at Gosford in a
park. The Deputy Mayor, Craig, kindly came along, assisted by the
Events Organiser, Kelly. Craig greeted our sole rider for the day,
John McIlveen. John rode all the way from Erina to Gosford interrupted
several times to replace the chain on the cog. Kelly described the
event as "unique" which is better than two students at the uni who
described it as "sick". (Jeff assures me that this is not a pejorative
term in modern parlance. Not sure about that.)
In the evening the team was kindly invited to a political forum
organized by Oxfam for the Make Poverty History Movement. The sitting
member and candidates for the Federal election were invited to attend
to talk about their respective parties' policy to foreign aid and the
Make Poverty History goals. Craig Thomson, the sitting member
(Labour ) and the Greens candidate were the only political candidates
present. Debbie of Oxfam was again responsible, kindly allowing us to
participate even inviting Morris to the platform to make a short
speech and participate in the answering of questions. There was an
audience of about 40 people but Debbie had collected nearly 300
signatures on a banner representing people in the electorate who
wanted the Government to increase the quantity and quality of foreign
aid.
The team all returned to Budgewoi for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment