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We are all amateurs

25/03/2014

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Steven Skitmore

I've been pondering recently why it was I first got involved with Friends of the Earth. It was early 2008, and I was working with two other major social justice organisations that had a global reach, was an active part of their community education units and felt like I was doing my bit. But there was something still missing, a depth of analysis perhaps, a lack of holistic thinking by professional educators who seemed like they were happy to 'sign off' at 5pm and head home at night to a comfy house. I didn't begrudge them this as such, but there was something there that I couldn't quite put my finger on. 

The idea of Friends of the Earth Brisbane appealed to me originally because of its non-hierarchical structure, which spoke to my desire to work with an organisation that practiced what it preached and did not sacrifice the means in order to reach the ends more quickly. I had an eye-opening moment in a previous organisation where I was volunteering to do school education sessions on Fairtrade goods, only to come back to the main office (several stories up in a skyscraper, filled with suited middle-management types who had dropped out of their corporate careers for a more fulfilling role in a charity) and find that it was Necafe or the highway in the kitchenette. Coming to the FoEB house was a breath of fresh air. There was a deep sense that those working in the organisation were genuine to the core, and lived their values. It was the way FoEB made decisions could not be compromised, and that we were happy to work through tricky and at some times decidedly painful processes that comprised the utopia of our visions. 

There was also a wonderful lack of professionalism in the organisation. Not in the sense that we didn't do things well, but that there was not a priority to be paid for the work that was done. It was done out of a sense of love perhaps, for the world, the people around us. The opposite of professional is of course amateur, and, in my understanding, 'amateur' is French for 'lover of'. It was this that I've finally been able to put my finger on and go, 'yes, that was what attracted me to this organisation'. It is a collection of amateurs, of those doing what they do for the love of it, with deep analyses and an uncompromising attitude on their principles and values. This, backed up by a DIY culture which doesn't ask 'why don't the politicians do this?' or 'why doesn't someone do this?', but that encourages an empowering thought process of 'what can I do to change this myself, in my own community, and in my own time?'

Unfortunately, this mentality also has a manifestation in perpetuating a cycle of volunteerism that could well be addressed in order to assist FoE's activists to be able to live their lives in (or on the margins of) the cash economy whilst focusing on their campaign work. It's almost like we shy away from getting paid and chasing after money. Money is most closely associated with the parts of the world we seek to change, and so we try and persuade ourselves we can live without it, should be able to live without it if we are true enough to our beliefs. But in reality, this just means that we marginalise our paid work, persuade ourselves that we are happy working shitty, dead-end jobs in order to support of work of the heart. 

I've had more than my share of time focusing on having to gain work in order to support my passions here in FoE. In my mind, we need to start envisioning as the new generation of FoE activists how we will build the financial structures that will support us in our work. In the past, these have been the development of social enterprises such as Reverse Garbage and Bicycle Revolution which started off in my understanding as co-operatives where FoE activists could work and gain meaningful employment whilst continuing their activist work. Unfortunately, we appear to be stuck in believing that ongoing donations by a small to medium group of regular donors will solve these issues, but I feel that we are lacking the creativity of previous generations in this regard and are falling into the mainstream model that other environmental organisations operate off. 

Let's harness our amateurism and our drive for building the world we want to see in our own work, and think more creatively. Is it time for another social enterprise that stems from the Burke Street house? A cafe downstairs perhaps? Or a divestment consultancy collective? What about a radical academic co-op working on alternative EIS / SIA processes? The ideas are there. The capacity is not at the moment.
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You can help us build links with Torres Strait Islanders facing impacts of climate change

07/03/2013

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[Donate here!] 

- From Wendy Flannery at the Climate Frontlines Collective.

On Thursday 14 February the FoEB Climate Frontlines collective hosted a public information evening with 3 Pacific Island women in Australia for a program focusing on micro-finance for climate-change-related sustainability projects, organised by Sisters 4 Sustainability.   After participating in the Canberra conference of the International Society for Human Ecology and Sustainability, they completed the rest of the initial stage of the program in Brisbane.  The Frontlines information evening was an opportunity for them to share with a wider audience both the challenges their communities are facing and the creative responses they are involved in developing. 

Olivia Aripa (pictured above with Maureen Jane (4EB) and Lolia), a great grandmother, nurse, midwife and a respected elder from the Popondetta area in Papua New Guinea, described how extreme rainfall events have destroyed many crops, as well as plants used for producing handcrafts for daily use and income generation, making it very difficult for the women to provide for their children.  The impact on local infrastructure has meant that some basic services, such as access to school for small children, are no longer available.  Olivia has initiated a number of programmes to help the local women and children adapt to these changing circumstances and is seeking help to expand a small flower marketing business to support the programmes financially.

“It’s war”, said Senolita Vakata, describing the struggle against the impacts of climate change on Ha’apai , a low-lying group of islands in the Kingdom of Tonga.  Traditionally, people have settled in coastal areas, for ease of access to the sea.  However, their houses are now flooded with sea water on a regular basis and their coconut palms dying with their exposed roots – due to coastal erosion – being burnt by the sun.  Senolita has been able to access resources to help the people build new houses away from the coast, but this will depend on the allocation of land under the government-controlled land holding system.  In any case if they do move inland, they can only hope to eventually meet the encroaching sea on the other side of the island.

http://www.givenow.com.au/foeclimatejustice 

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Rockhampton Mayor says 'nuclear over my dead body'

01/11/2012

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Rockhampton Regional Council mayor Margaret Strelow is the first in what will probably be a long line of regional council mayors who don’t want nuclear plants in their region.

Strelow told the Morning Bulletin, “It’s not even a discussion I want to have,”

“I’m a Mum and a grandma.”


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The Myth of the 'Professional Protestor'

06/06/2012

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Shani Tager - Six Degrees Collective

The headline screamed "Professional protestors" and the article concluded with "well practiced fringe activists engaging in fear mongering." Even though I wasn’t surprised, I couldn't help but groan.


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Day 26 -- A Pot Roast Cooked in a Camp Oven Over Coals!

09/03/2012

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At last a rest day, Sunday was a long hot day and I was feeling very weary.   Our hosts John and Robyn have welcomed us to stay as long as we like!!!! John did say we would be charged rent after the 1st week.
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During the morning Potts, Rita and myself  were invited to join the CWA meeting here in Calliope.  After listening to Potts and myself talk about the walk we enjoyed a delicious morning tea. We said goodbye to Rita this afternoon, so sad to see people leave who have shared their lives, food and love with us in close community. Rita had brought a wonderful lamb roast with all the trimmings potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and peas to be cooked by Potts in his special camp oven. A great big thanks to Rita, we all thoroughly enjoyed it, especially John with the shank . Also thanks to Kim for preparing the veggies and a wonderful pavlova for afters.  Thanks also to Kim, Liz and Piet for painting our banners, they really look great.  I was early to bed (again) this time in a BED complete with air conditioning.

For more photos of our walk click here.

For videos of our walk click here.

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Day 25 -- A Perfect Day with Perfect Organization and Beautiful People

08/03/2012

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Day 24 -- A Creek Swim and Lots of New Walkers

07/03/2012

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No Stars this morning, the sky was overcast but that meant we had cloud cover for a lot of the morning and that makes walking much more pleasant. Last night was Sheree’s first experience of camping out and she was very excited to be walking. I was pleasantly surprised at the pace we were able to walk. Adele had earned a few blisters on her feet the day before but with the help of band-aids she soldiered on with no complaints.  After about 12 klms Sheree was feeling exhausted, then Adele spotted a beautiful running creek.  We left the trolley beside the road to let the guys know where we were, then struggled through the long grass, stripped off and soaked in the wonderful cool running water. The guys stopped and waved to us from the bridge then continued on to set up camp. This revived us all and Sheree was able to continue on till the next break. After food and a good rest, Potts and Bindi joined us in the last 5 klms  That night we were joined by my friend Di and her husband Bill from Brisbane , Kim and Rita from Brisbane,  Peit from Kin Kin and once again Liz, she just cant stay away.  Di quickly set up (on the esky) a pre dinner snack, cheeses, dips, dried tomatoes, fetta and olives.  While we were enjoying that Di then put a huge pot of beef and veg stew to heat, along with garlic bread. All this as we sat, some in chairs, others on mats and cushions in this beautiful country side, and watched the sun set in the west. After dinner with now three guitars, we all enjoyed a singsong, the first being the song Liz wrote for us about the walk. A few of us then retired to listen to the music as we fell asleep.

For more photos of our walk click here.

For videos of our walk click here.

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Day 22 -- Breakfast with the Ladies of Biloela and Banana.

06/03/2012

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This morning’s walk was so beautiful. There was a mist in the valley and as the sun rose, the glistening dew on the still tall grass was amazing.  Patches of spider webs were highlighted with drops of dew and flickering sunlight through the trees. It was another morning where I felt so privileged to be walking through this special great land.


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Day 21 - The Best and Worst of Banana

05/03/2012

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Leaving Banana late (5.30) after a thick shake at the truckstop for breakfast, we experienced our worst day ever for traffic.  There was virtually no verge on the road and the cars and trucks were continuous. Bright lights and most not slowing down when approaching us made it a scary hour of walking.  They were all heading to the coal mine at Moura. Other than that the 22klms walk was pretty uneventful, Potts, Bindi and I made good time and Liz bought the backpack to our campsite and stayed the night with us.

For more photos of our walk click here.

For videos of our walk click here.

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Day 20 - Love and Generosity of the People of Banana

04/03/2012

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Today I began walking at 3.30am as I had earlier calculated a 35klms walk to Banana. The night before Jim had said it was only 28Klms but I had already set the alarm and was so glad I did.  I had been walking for over an hour when I saw a sign 30klm to Banana which meant it was 35klm in total.  I powered on thinking if I had to I would stop at 11am till 5pm, if I was late for the 5.30 gathering so be it.  As it happened, it was overcast all day, with showers of rain, not enough to be a bother, and I soon dried off.  I received lots of support from passing motorists, rested every few hours and arrived at the roadhouse at 11.30am. What a walk, I felt really happy with myself.


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