Macbeth – the Pasifikan version

Some people think the only place you’ll see women at a racetrack is dressed in bikinis, waving start flags and spraying champagne on the winners. You won’t find Jodie Donovan doing any of that. She’s been drifting for more than a decade and is one of the best female drifters in the world. Jodie rode…

It’s mental health month in Aotearoa and I’m thinking about mental strength as I read the children’s book, “The White Mouse”, with my daughter. It’s the story of Kiwi nurse, reporter and spy, Nancy Wake. In our first reading we learned that Nancy’s husband was forced to join the French army to defend France from…

We’re nearly halfway through term one of the school year and it’s a good time to remind the young people we live and work with, and ourselves, that being successful isn’t about talent or gifts. It’s about learning, working with the right people and hard work. Kemba Walker is a basketball player. Kemba led his…

The New Zealand government announced earlier this year that it will soon be compulsory to teach New Zealand history in our schools. Every child in Germany learns about the Holocaust – the terrible atrocities which Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jewish people. “We teach every chapter of German history,” a German friend of…

It’s Cook Islands Language Week and we’re celebrating by sharing a little about some of the inspirational people featured in my book Cook Islands Heroes. The aim of this book is to inspire Kuki Airani young people and anyone else who loves reading stories of people who overcame great challenges to achieve their goals in life. Today’s…