How is it possibly already February? The summer holidays seemed to stretch on forever and now all of a sudden school is back and the year is speeding away at bullet train pace. I’ve never experienced the back-to-school vibes before but my eldest started school this year and all of a sudden I find myself catapulted into the world of school drop-offs and pick-ups, lunches, play dates and birthday parties. To be honest, it’s a little overwhelming! Not so much the routine of school but just routine in general. And with the year thundering away there is a part of me that is slightly dreading the seemingly infinite routine ahead. School is 13 years right? For ONE child? I feel like I’m still running behind everyone at the back of race track, struggling to get my breath and we are only just off the starting blocks!
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Homecoming and what it really means has been on my mind lately – predictably I guess, since we’ve just come back to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland after nearly two years living in Vanuatu. But it’s something that I know lots of other people living away from home ponder too, especially as time marches inexorably on to Christmas, with all of the home-ness that Christmas always inspires.
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There's no doubt the world can be a crazy and sometimes overwhelming place. News of war and politics, famine and drought bombard us daily. In fact sometimes by the minute if we are connected to our smart phones. And yes, we should be concerned. We should be aware. We should have an opinion. But amidst the madness and the upheaval there is something simple and beautiful. Amazing people, doing some pretty cool stuff.
Frontier Innovators is highlighting some of these amazing people through the Frontier Innovators awards which honours some of the most impactful businesses and organisations across Asia Pacific. And trust me, there are plenty of projects and innovators to choose from.
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Is anyone else slightly perturbed that it's already the end of January? Did we not just pack up the Christmas tree? Was it not only yesterday that we started with ambitious goals and aspiration for a better year? A new you? A healthier body, a closer family, a wiser consumer a more centred-self? Are you on your way? Or are you still like me - running out the door with a processed snack in hand, an unattainable list of jobs to complete, kids half dressed, dreaming of your next getaway?
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We talk a lot about fair trade and what it means to be ethical and sustainable but I know this concept can be hard to grasp at the root level. We know being ethical is important, but how important is it? And what does it really mean for the supply chain? How does it impact the artisan or the manufacturer right at the beginning of the supply chain, on the other side of the world? And is it ok to do the occasional purchase at Kmart? I get it! I've asked all the same questions myself and the journey of becoming a more ethical consumer is exactly that - it's a journey!
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We live in a time in history when we are more connected than we’ve ever been before. We have 24/7 internet access with multiple social media platforms keeping us updated at all times. But have our online connections come at the cost of our human connections? I’ve been contemplating this a lot lately as I feel torn between wanting to maximise the potential for information and idea sharing on social media and the possibility for education, personal growth and society progression, juxtaposed with a growing sense of disillusionment.
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There is something so exciting about seeing the tangible difference that can be made in communities and societies when women are empowered. We talk a lot about the importance of empowering women but does it actually make a difference? Yes, yes and YES!
A panel discussion was recently held in London to talk about ways that the private sector and development partners can take forward the recommendations of the UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment. Three key questions about women’s economic empowerment were asked at this panel discussion and one of these was, what is the most critical thing we do if we want to see gender equality and empowerment for all women? The answer? Almost 68% of respondents recognised the need for cross sector partnership. What does that mean when the rubber meets the road? It looks like governments, companies and civil societies working TOGETHER, in partnership to address this.
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You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a pamplemousse from Vanuatu. It might seem like a sweeping and unverifiably big call, but I stand by it: the pamplemousse is amazing. According to Google Translate, pamplemousse is the French word for grapefruit. This is quite misleading. In my experience of grapefruit, in Australia at least, they don’t even begin to compare to the wonder that is pamplemousse.
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You know the great thing about living in a small town? The stuff you do makes a difference. And you know the downside of living in a small town? The stuff you do makes a difference.
Here’s one example. Here in Port Vila, recycling is still in the nascent stages. It’s hard for us Aussies to get our heads around the realities of the situation. We know this not only from personal experience, but because everyone of the gazillion of Australians who have come to visit us here has tried at some point to recycle a wine bottle – and it’s not possible here. Really. You can recycle beer bottles, as long as they are the green, locally brewed variety, by taking them back to the brewery. You can recycle aluminium and steel cans, by taking them to a one of the designated drop off points at a government department more or less near you. You can recycle batteries, by taking them to one of their (totally different) designated drop off points. As of last week, now you can even recycle plastic water bottles – by taking them back to the plastic water bottle factory.
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It’s the eternal question for wanderlusters like us: how long? How long do I need to stay? How long could I stay? How long should I stay? Will whatever I’m planning be long enough?
I’ve never been one of those travellers who arrives in a place with no plans, luxuriously free to follow their whims and intent only on seeing what delights are serendipitously dropped in their paths. I wish I was, but honestly, I’m just not. While group tours make my toes curl and I like to think I follow a more authentic travel experience path, I do find it hard to resist drafting long lists of highlights of any given venue and trying to fit in as many of them as my long suffering family will endure. Partly, it’s because thinking about the trip is a big wedge of the travel-pleasure-pie for me, and partly it’s a kind of FOMO – the fear that I might never find myself back in this locale again and dread the thought of lying on my deathbed running through a litany of places I wish I’d seen (and food I wish I’d eaten and people I wish I’d been kinder to) but didn’t.
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