As hundreds of people slept on concrete overnight in the hopes of getting some donated food or gifts for Christmas, TVNZ1 Breakfast host John Campbell reflected today on the state of poverty in New Zealand.
Campbell was at Eden Park, where the Auckland City Mission is hosting one of four distribution centres set up in Auckland today. They are Papakura Marae and Ngā Whare Waatea Marae in south Auckland, VisionWest in Glen Eden and Eden Park in Auckland central. Thousands of people are expected at the centres, where Christmas goods have been donated for those in need. "Even though this is a story of desperate need it is also a story of celebration and humanity and kindness," Campbell said. However, it is also a stark reminder of poverty in New Zealand. "People are sleeping on concrete outside and they are sleeping to get food and presents for Christmas. Imagine having to do that," Campbell said, estimating 30 to 40 of the 200 people at Eden Park were children.
"We talk about this all the time and usually we talk to adults and we leave children out of this because whatever is going on it's never a child's responsibility," he said, crouching next to a sleeping child on the ground who had been waiting overnight with her family. "This is our country and there's no point pretending this isn't our country because it is, and those of us who are journalist's see it quite often. Those of us who work in this sector see it all the time. "There are many children here and they are waiting for food that their families might run short of and they are waiting for presents that they might not otherwise get, and this is the reality of life for some of us in New Zealand at the moment. Also waiting at the centre, a struggling mum told Campbell she was there for food and Christmas presents, as well as aroha and people's spirit. She caught the bus before 6am, carrying two suitcases to bring back kai for her whānau, because otherwise they wouldn't have enough. "Needing it every week," she said of running out of money. "Just to be honest and real, it's happening here in New Zealand. "We struggle, we really struggle. We reach out to agencies that are willing to give aroha from their hearts." The mother-of-one said she goes without power most weekends, telling her family it's "like camping". "We've got to tell the kids something instead of them going out and telling everybody that we've got no power - that's when you get social services on site and we don't want them on site. We just want people to know we're struggling." Agencies like City Mission and The Salvation Army are asking for donations of money, food and new presents for babies to teenagers.
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Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
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49.5% Yes
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48.6% No
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1.9% Other - I'll share below
Here's Thursday's thinker!
I am lighter than air, but a hundred people cannot lift me. What am I?
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Why make picking up reserved library books harder? What do you think? Challenge: Write the last stanza for the first poem attached below.
Once books are reserved in Auckland Libraries books, when they are available no longer go alphabetically by customer but instead go into a Holds pickup shelf number based presumably somehow on when each book needs to be picked up by.
I had two books reserved that arrived on two different days in the Blockhouse Bay Library and hence each book has a different shelf number. Hard to find unless you knew the shelf number in the notification email. Even if you knew the shelf number I found myself three books by the same author on the two shelf numbers.
More recently yesterday a book I reserved was on a different shelf number than was specified in my notification email (see image below).
Sadly it is clear from library staff that a numerical system for reserves is here to stay.
I suggest that so that all books for each person has the same shelf number, the shelf number becomes the last digit of a person's library card (0-9).
Within each shelf number a book is found under the day the reserve arrives in the library (01 to 31, hopefully the same date the email is sent).
Since a customer appears to have 10 days to pick up a book, ten days of the month would appear to be required at any time (for each digit 0-9).
Once there are 10 days used the next day's reserves could go back at the beginning of the shelf number after any remaining books not collected (hopefully none) are removed (along with the old day number and the new day number (01 to 31) inserted) after the last day available and future days' books remaining moved forward to make room.
Each day number (01-31) would appear once for each shelf number (0-9) before the first book on that day- perhaps cover an old withdrawn book with paper with each day number on the spine?
When a reserved book arrives in the library the last digit of the library card could be placed on a piece of paper in the book to be removed when it is put on the shelf, to be recycled the next day.
What do you think?
See the image below and page 3 below for a letter appearing in the Western Leader on 9 September:
www.neighbourly.co.nz...
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