Keith Suter’s Global Insights
What on earth is going on?
Articles (5 of 27)
Archive Article: All In God's Time.
January 3, 2009 | Looking for lost relatives can be a long process. But then suddenly there is success. This may be a matter of God's timing. About three years ago, a Karen Clinch from Sydney rang Wesley Mission to get information about Dr Frank Rayward who, as Superintendent of the Mission, arranged for her adoption in 1958. She was anxious to get in touch with her birth mother. As we later found out, her mother was Judith Elizabeth Amy Wilson who gave birth to Karen at the age of 17 out of wedlock. Karen was taken so quickly from her mother, that... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 2:33 PM Comment
Archive Article: Africn Refugees. 8 Feb 02
January 3, 2009 | We are hearing a great deal about refugees from Afghanistan. We should not forget that there is also a refugee crisis in Africa. A few days ago, I was at the Sydney Community Consultation at which The Hon Philip Ruddock MP, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, discussed the Migration and Humanitarian Programmes for the year 2002-2003. I was very interested to see the way in which the number of Africans resettled in Australia has continued to increase. Three years ago the figure was 1,550 and this year it will be 2,030. There are about 12... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 2:28 PM Comment
Archive Article: While We Live We Learn. 15 Feb 02
January 3, 2009 | The schools are now getting back to work - including the country's largest school for older Australians. But unlike many younger Australians who may not be quite so keen on school, these older Australians love learning. There are at least 16 schools for seniors in Australia. Wesley Mission's School for Seniors began in 1969. It then had 400 students and it now has almost 1,400. The minium age for enrolment is 50. The oldest current student is 94 years young. The School began solely with volunteers and there are now about 111 volunteers involved. But as the School has expanded,... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 2:23 PM Comment
Archive Article: Soldiering As A Form Of Healing. 22 Feb 02
January 3, 2009 | As we are seeing in Afghanistan at present, winning a war may be easier than winning the peace. Military operations need to be planned with the end in view and with the determination to create a good peace. The Sydney-based Conflict Resolution Network has argued that a soldier's work does not necessarily end with the armistice, and may well continue for a long time afterwards in the process of healing the country. Therefore, soldiers need be trained for healing as well as fighting. Some of them will be deployed in Medical and Humanitarian Contingents. Modern warfare (for example the... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 2:18 PM Comment
Archive Article: Recommendations For The NSW State Government Budget. 1 March 02
January 3, 2009 | The State Budget is the most important set of decisions affecting disadvantaged people in this State each year. Each year the Government receives some good advice from the community sector - and this year is no different. The NSW Council of Social Service - "NCOSS" - is the peak body for the social and community services sector. It represents more than 7,000 social and community services and over 100,000 consumers and individuals. The NCOSS submission to the Government was launched a few days ago at Parliament House. The report is entitled "Balancing the Bottom Lines". The document is as usual... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:48 PM Comment
Archive Article: Switzerlnd To Enter The United Nations. 8 March 02
January 3, 2009 | Switzerland has voted in the last few days to join the United Nations. It will become the UN's 190th member (with an independent East Timor in due course to become the 191st member). Switzerland is governed partly by referenda. All major issues (not just foreign policy ones) may be put to the vote. The result then binds the government. The result also binds the losing side (and so the people who lost in the UN referendum will not try to overturn it). Switzerland has not been involved in a major war since Napoleon's day, two centuries ago. Its neutral status... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:43 PM Comment
Archive Article: Australia's Indigenous Peoples And Alcohol
January 3, 2009 | Australia has a very low murder rate and it has remained low for a century. But if the Northern Territory figures are taken on their own, then the Territory has one of the world's highest murder rates. It is mainly violence between Indigenous Peoples, and alcohol, other drugs and petrol sniffing are often involved. One of the most controversial statements on the health of Australia's Indigenous Peoples was contained in the Charles Perkins Memorial Oration given at the University of Sydney last October by Noel Pearson. An edited version of the lecture has now been published in "Arena" magazine. Mr... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:38 PM Comment
Archive Article: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. 22 March 02
January 3, 2009 | This has been Seniors Week and we have been acknowledging the contribution that older Australians make to the community. Older people in Australia get a raw deal from the economists. There are various complaints about whether "we can afford the elderly" because of the costs of providing pensions etc. But the economists do not take into consideration the contribution that older Australians make to the community. For example, the second largest providers of childcare are older Australians. Parents come first; grandparents come second. The professional organizations are a long way back. I have just been reading a thoughtful New... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 12:53 PM Comment
Archive Article: A Climate of Hope 29 March 02
January 3, 2009 | We have just marked the sixth month anniversary of the September 11 tragedy in the United States and we are now in the Easter season. There is a link between the two: the need for hope. September 11 has been billed as an "event that changed the world". I am not so sure - the world, after all, has so many crises each year. But it has certainly changed the United States. The object of terrorism is to terrorize. The intention is that one terrorist event will scare many other people because they fear a repeat of one sort or... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 12:47 PM Comment
Directory - Health and Social Welfare Organisations
January 2, 2009 | Christmas is a time for getting together with family, reflecting on the year passed and making plans for the future. Unfortunately for some it is also a time of great pain when the stress and isolation of being homeless, alone or addicted is too much to bare. This weeks e-newsletter gave out some links to web sites and organisations that can offer help to those in need. Until a permanant blog location is created on which to build a directory of services a few have been posted below with more to follow: Beyond Blue Alcoholics Anonymous Wesley Mission Homeless Services... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 8:45 PM Comment
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