Dr Sharon?

It might be because I have gone completely mad but I have finally made my decision. I am resigning my job, uprooting my family and putting my life on hold for 3 years. I am going to do the PhD.
In the end it was a simple enough decision. My Catracho needs to finish his degree and the best way to do that is to re-enrol as an internal student (extramural/ distance study was too difficult with his health problems). The doors are open to me at the same university, which is also where I did my Masters. And I have decided that as much as I like my current workplace, I don’t see myself being in nursing forever- I don’t quite kmow why but a career in teaching, writing and consulting is far more appealing to me. So a PhD it is, probably starting in January next year.

Dr. Sharon. I like it! I’m off to write some scholarship applications- wish me luck!

Filed under: dreams, life, nursing, study , phd, university

Starfish

I keep coming across various versions of the starfish story- you know the one where the young girl asks the old man why he keeps tossing starfish back into the sea- “because it matters for this one“.  It is suposed to be inspirational- and the first time I heard it it was, but it has started to really bother me (and only partly because it is so cheesy).

Maybe it’s just me but although I know that individual actions do matter to individuals, I wish someone would stand back and look at the big picture.  Why are so many starfish stranded in the first place?  Is there anything that can be done to stop them from washing up on the beach?  Surely it would be a more effective and efficient to prevent them becoming stranded than to be constantly throwing them back?  Now I’m sure some of them land there as the result of storms- natural events that dislodge them from their habitat, and for that reason there will always need to be someone there to throw them back.  But the basis of this story is the sheer number of starfish on the beach, and that sounds like more than just a natural occurance.  And if it is not a natural occurance than there is clearly a need for someone to stand back and look at the bigger picture, to find some answers that might prevent the tragic death of so many starfish.

These kinds of thoughts are why despite what I wrote in a very recent post, I am actually seriously thinking about more study.  I might be completely mad but I am considering doing a PhD.  Probably in Development Studies.  I am insatiably curious about the world and why it is the way it is.  I might have lost my youthful enthusiasm about saving the world but I do still want to make a difference.  Research, teaching, writing… these are the ways I think I can best contribute towards the bigger picture, and a PhD would be a big step towards being able to do that.

Oh, and one more thing.  Just throwing them into the waves seems to me to be a very random and possibly ineffective method of saving starfish.  Just how far or how hard do they need to be thrown to be safe?

Now just don’t get me started on the “teach a man to fish story”…

Filed under: Thoughts, development, dreams, life, poverty, social justice

Mother’s Day Proclamation

It’s Mothers Day here. My wonderful husband got up to look after Chichi so I could have a sleep in, cooked me breakfast and gave me chocolates and a lovely new chef’s knife.

After all that I was sitting here at the computer feeling quietly content when I came upon a post about mothers day that made me sit up and think (The history is a little US-centric but it’s an idea worth pursuing so I’ll forgive them that!). The post was about Julia Ward Howe and her Mother’s Day proclamation. While Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia is credited with bringing about the official observance of ‘Mother’s Day’, she was clearly influenced by Julia Ward Howe who suggested the idea of Mother’s Day in 1872. Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, saw Mother’s Day as being dedicated to peace.

This is Julia Ward Howe’s Proclamation:

Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace…
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Filed under: Thoughts, dreams, life, politics, social justice

5 things

La Gringa has tagged me with a meme- 5 things you don’t know about me.
I have put off replying to this for a while for a couple of reasons. Firstly even though I’ve only been blogging for a couple of months I can’t really think of anything much I want to add to what I’ve already shared about myself. And secondly because I am new to blogging I don’t have a network of bloggers I am comfortable to tag (and I don’t think it would be good netiquette to bounce it straight back to La Gringa now would it!).
But since it is probably a good way of letting people get to know me a bit better I am going to do it. But I won’t be tagging anyone. I hope thats ok, it’s just something I don’t feel comfortable with right now. Of course if you are reading this, have a blog and want to take up the challenge go for it. I’d love to know who you are so leave me a link in the comments section!

So here are 5 completely random and unrelated things you never knew about me until now:

1. I’m short… just 156cm or 5″1. Which may help to explain why I like the internet (I could have been 6″ for all you knew!) and Central America, where I really do just fit right in… and where I can buy clothes that fit!

2. I was runner up to the dux at high school (for Americans, that means I graduated second in my class). That probably officially makes me a nerd, but actually it was completely unexpected. I think I did so well because I was clever in choosing my classes (smaller classes and subjects I was really interested in) rather than actually being particularly bright. Early in the year I dropped Chemistry in favour of History. I came 1st in Classical Studies, 2nd in English, 2nd in History and 3rd in Biology. I didn’t even get 50% in Maths (Statistics).

3. I found out I was pregnant with my daughter (now 20 months) 3 weeks before I was due to travel to Honduras for a three month research trip (for my Master’s thesis). With a scholarship and 2 research grants in my hand (okay, yes I am a nerd), tickets paid and research planned there was no way I was letting that stop me. I had my first bout of morning sickness somewhere in the sky over Texas, and my last nearly three months later in a hotel restaurant bathroom in Tegucigalpa. I whole heartedly do not recommend traveling in developing nations with morning sickness, let alone trying to do research- but I wouldn’t change what I did. It was worth it.

4. As a teenager I really wanted to be a journalist. A high school journalism class quickly cured me of that, and anyway, I am way to quiet and shy to be a hard nosed news journalist. But I would still love to write someday. I still occasionally dream of being a features or travel writer. I don’t think I’m alone in this, I’m sure half the blogosphere are frustrated authors!

5. My sister is getting married in two months and I am going to be a bridesmaid. OK that probably isn’t very interesting to most people, but it is a major part of my life right now. Somehow I have made it into my 30’s and have never been a bridesmaid (I’ve always been out of the country when friends have married). I have three sisters who have all been bridesmaids numerous times- and until now they were all single. The saying “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” used to be the fear in our family but I guess it’s being proved wrong now.

So that’s me. As I said, I’m not going to tag anyone… although if el Catracho want to respond as a way of introducing himself on his new blog, he’s more than welcome!

Filed under: Honduras, Latin America, blogging, dreams, life, study

A kiwi in catracho-landia

I’m still not completely sure how blogs and blog stats work but for some reason my recent post about a catracho in kiwi-land resulted in a huge spike in views. Maybe it was the way I tagged it, maybe it was the human interest aspect but whatever the reason it is kind of ironic considering what I’d really like to be blogging about is being a kiwi in Honduras.
The catracho and I have spent much of this evening looking at Honduran real estate websites and dreaming. Of course, all of the places we actually liked were well beyond our budget (or our budget-to-be) but then again, he reckons it’ll be much cheaper if he buys property that isn’t being marketed to gringos! Time will tell, it will be at least a year or more before we get there… and probably quite a bit longer than that before we will be buying a house, should we even decide to stay long term.
I guess this blog is about both New Zealand and Honduras. Where we live now, and where we’re planning to go. It’s a journey and I’m looking forward to “blogging” the ride right here.

Filed under: Honduras, Latin America, New Zealand, Thoughts, dreams, life

New Year, New Blog

A new blog for a new year. I guess it’s not a terribly original idea but I thought it would be good time to start (again…). For my first post here I thought I would outline some of my goals and the things I want to do in 2007. They are not resolutions- I don’t do new years resolutions- but I am posting these ideas here as motivation for myself and as steps in the journey towards making my ‘castles in the clouds’ into something real.

At the moment the clearest goal my husband and myself have is to return to Latin America. This has been our goal since we married five years ago, but detours to studentland and parenthood have delayed us. We now have more debt than I’d really like to acknowledge, and DH has still to complete his degree (he had to take a break for health reasons) but this year I would love to make some concrete progress towards actually getting there.

To do that I need to give DH the time and space to complete those last few papers, and we need to make and keep a budget… get some debt paid and start saving. So there’s my first “non-resolutions”.

I also have some longer term ideas about what I’d like to do personally and professionally. I’d love to write/ teach/ consult in the areas of health and development. I have already made some progress with this, completing a Masters degree and I have recently started a great job in an organisation whose philosophy fits well with me and who can offer me potentially invaluable experience and training (perhaps I’ll blog more about that at a later date). In the longer term I’d like to get more overseas expereince (here’s where the Latin America idea comes in again!), and I am actually thinking about doing a PhD.

But thats longer term. In 2007 I need to make the most of all the professional development opportunities that I can, read more and perhaps try to write a couple more articles.

I also want to be more community minded and more ethically and environmentally conscious in the way I live. To link in with a community, to live less isolated. To buy ethically and carefully only what I need. To waste less. I’m really not sure how to achieve some of this but at least I need to be more conscious about what I am doing.
My other “non-resolutions” for 2007 are fairly run of the mill. Live healthier, try to eat better and to be more active. Not being resolutions, I have no plans to diet, or start a major exercise program, but I do need to work on this. I don’t think I’ll have much luck with the bigger goals if I can’t do the smaller things.

This blog will hopefully chronicle my progress towards these goals (and any detours, roadblocks and u-turns). It should also provide a forum for me to record other thoughts, ideas and interesting tidbits I come across. Maybe someone will read it. Maybe it will just be my record. Whatever happens I’m looking forward to the journey.

Filed under: 2007 resolutions, Latin America, development, dreams, ethical living, study