Voices For Justice 2011

Well, Day 5 has finally come and gone, and frankly I am quite saddened by this happening. I have been in “Voices For Justice” for 5 days and already it seems like the bond i’ve created with other people has become inseparable. I am joyed by our endeavours, but also saddened by it’s timely adjournment. I have seen both the House of Representatives and the Senator Rooms, both in action from the parliaments Q&A sessions.

It seemed like the 5 days I spent in Canberra were merely a few moments in life, it just happens so quickly. And that the learning I have accomplished by being involved in Micah Challenge, Voices For Justice, is far greater than an entire semester of theoretical knowledge–although I do like my classes :P

People come and go, Governments come and go, Life comes and goes, but friendship always stays. I personally believe that I have gained many priceless friendship in this event. I have gained new perspectives on how I view the poor and our role in helping them. My eyes have been opened to just how open these Parliamentarians really are to outsiders who has something worthwhile to say. But most of all, I have seen the good works of God through man in the all aspects of aiding the poor, lame, blind and even the healthy with the things that they are struggling with.

So without further ado, here is a quick dot points on some highlights of todays events:

- Got to lobby with Senator McKenzie, who turned out not only to be incredibly cool, but also incredibly nice!

- Got to take a picture of Senator McKenzie whilst near the Giant Toilet. Now the Giant Toilet is a representation of the 2.1Billion People who do not have a proper toileting facilities, which contributes to the millions of deaths which occur in developing countries.

- We waited for Mr. Alan Tudge for an interview but we didn’t get to him :(

- I went to visit the same playground my sister and I played on back 10 years ago when we first set foot in Canberra–I was 8 years old!!

Lastly, I’d also just like to give a moment of thanks to RUSU (RMIT University Student Union) for their contributions and support in my endeavours of attending Voices For Justice 2011. Through them I have achieved things that far greater exceeds my wildest dreams. It has been such an incredible experience, and is one that i’ll never-ever forget. Thank You RUSU.

http://www.su.rmit.edu.au

Essentially the title pretty much sums up my entire day. I personally think my day has gone through peaks, valleys and anything in between. So without further ado, I will now list everything that has happened using super interesting dot points.

- Woke up at 7am just so I can get ready for the parliamentarian meeting. Which was not pleasant.

- Got to parliament at 7:20 just to stand in line for 30 minutes, just to get to the cafe doors, which were closed, just to sit in the cafe for a good 2 hours preparing for the interview!

- Got to the interview, sat down on the chair to wait for my turn to speak.

- My turn came, and I completely screwed it up, which was nice since I put incredible effort into my speech (Sarcasm). But in the end it all worked out fine and I got my point across!

- Exhaustion dawned on me at around 2pm which was just after our interview and debrief. 

- Parents forced me to go to the Floriade here in Canberra, and although it was a nice walk around I was impeccably tired that I couldn’t fully comprehend the beauty of the tulips.

- Finished the flower show at 5pm just to get home to figure out we had a 6pm dinner, which I had to get ready for. Also this is where my migraine started to hurt, really bad.

- Took the absolute quickest shower of my life. Got ready for the dinner and went.

- Had an absolute awesome time at the dinner and went home at 8pm.

- 9pm, I am now rewriting my Tumblr post because on my first try I forgot that my iPhone stopped tethering internet to my laptop (tethering means to stream the internet to my laptop so I could use the internet on my laptop) which meant as soon as I pressed the ‘post’ button, it said ‘You are not Connected to the Internet’.

- 9:02pm, Really annoyed through my reflection on how my first post failed, especially since my brain is throbbing with paint!!!!

So yeah, overall my day has been awesome. Many awesome, crap and ok things happened, and at this point I think i’m just glad i’m still alive. 

GOOD NIGHT!! :)

Well Day 3 of my trip here for Voices for Justice and already I am seeing changes, both in my political and poverty knowledge. It has been such an exciting day that I fell asleep early yesterday from extreme exhaustion, so pardon the lateness of my post.

Yesterday there were things that we’re exposed to that was very exciting and new! So without further ado, here are the dot points.

- I Cooked with POO and I liked it! Yes, you read right. I had the opportunity to see the famous Khun Poo, a brilliant Thai chef, cooking her favorite dish in front of everyone at the event! I even tasted it and it was delicious!

- Toilets are important, more important than water! Believe it or not, the casualties which happens in developing countries are mostly from contamination of food and water from feces!

- We finally did our pre-briefing on how we are going to harass the politicians today, not really harass but you get the point :) and also I’m writing Day 3 on Day 4.

- We also spoke a lot about the current MDG’s and it’s progress.

Overall, Day 3 has been such a success! I managed to slowly grasp the ideas of talking to a parliamentarian, identify the importance of WaSH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) especially to fighting global child and maternal casualties!

Oh and did I mention how Awesome toilets are?? :)

Stay tuned for more information on my Canberra trip either by following me here on Tumblr or Twitter @MathanMaglaya

It’s currently 12:59-it won’t be after I finish this post-and the atmosphere is absolutely extravagant. Everyone seems incredibly focused on the issue at hand and they’re all friendly.

At this current time, I have found myself asking about how much I already know about poverty in the world, and frankly I have realized I do not know much at all.

Some statistics to keep you interested.
2.6 Billion people are without access to sanitation and 884 million without access to safe drinking water.
8.1 million child deaths can be avoided by sanitation intervention alone.

It has come to my attention that we all need to bind together to eradicate the problems of world poverty.

We are the ones who must step up to make a difference.