STIR MAIL August 2005 Edition

Get your September Stirmail... always Stirred never shaken

Hi there! Here's your September STIRMAIL Keeping you in-the-loop with the latest important global issues and ideas on how you can personally stir it up.

Victorian Stirrers at GLC

In this issue:

What Stirs You?
Congratulations Famine Fighters!
I can Stir a Pollie to Make Poverty History... True or False?
Stir your Desktop Wallpapers
Meet Eammon - Vision Generation Queensland

Many Stirrers have been telling us what's frustrating, saddening, angering or stirring them at the moment. They show how deeply passionate for change young Aussies are, so we thought we'd share some of them every month. Here goes:

"The fact that so many people don't even have the basic human needs like running water and something proper to sleep on, while we sit at home and complain of nothing to do. There is always something to do! So get out there and start standing up for what you believe in... before it's too late." -

"Free trade is a big issue for me. Once we get that going these less fortunate countries might have a chance." -

"How Paris Hilton has NEVER worn the same thing twice, yet 800 million people are starving in
Africa." -

Isabel Lucas from Home and Away crazy about 40 Hour Famine

You’ve gone for hours and hours without food, technology or something you thought you couldn't live without. By doing this you've gotten a taste for what it must be like for millions of people who go for days and weeks without the right food or the basics for life.

Now for the most important part, do something real for hungry kids by:

- Collecting donations
- Returning the money to your group leader

Low quality (wmv: 976 KB)

High quality (wmv: 3.8 MB)

We need to send a clear message to our Government that we expect Australia to be doing its fair share to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY.

That means more and better aid, fairer trade and debt relief. The Prime Minister John Howard has already made this promise at the Millennium Development Summit in 2000. We think that halving world poverty by 2015 is a promise worth keeping.

Test Your Stir Power

I feel passionate about making poverty history.	TRUE	FALSE
I can help lobby the Government to keep this promise.	TRUE	FALSE
I believe we should increasing Australia's Aid to 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI), drop unpayable debts and make trade fairer.	TRUE	FALSE
Politicians should represent us in Parliament on issues that are of concern to their electorate.	TRUE	FALSE
My local Federal Pollie can be a powerful voice in Canberra.	TRUE	FALSE
I know which electorate I live in.	TRUE	FALSE
If I wasn't sure, I could easily find out at the Australian Electoral Commission website by typing in my postcode.	TRUE	FALSE
I know my current Pollie's name, political party, office location, email, etc.	TRUE	FALSE
I could probably find this out at the Australian Parliament House website because I know my electorate's name.	TRUE	FALSE
I could ring, email or write to my Pollie (at their electoral office) and politely ask for an appointment before September 10 to discuss a very important Federal issue: Making sure the Australian Government keeps its promise and does its fair share to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY.	TRUE	FALSE
I'm not the kind of person that takes 'no' for an answer.	TRUE	FALSE
This Guide for Visiting Parliamentarians (pdf) is very handy!	TRUE	FALSE
Buying a few $2 MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY wristbands to give to my Pollie and his/her staff to wear on September 10 won't break the bank. For extra points I could put together a MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY gift basket for them.	TRUE	FALSE
Getting a few hundred signatures on petitions from school students in my Pollie's electorate shouldn't be too hard.	TRUE	FALSE
I can Stir locally by organising a 'Live Aid Concert' and getting help from local media to publicise it.	TRUE	FALSE
For extra points I could ring my Pollie's office on September 9 and make sure he/she will represent me on the Global White Band Day September 10 - which is very very important to me.	TRUE	FALSE
Nelson Mandela would be proud of me.	TRUE	FALSE

Watch Nelson Mandela speech video

This is the first in a series of Stir wallpapers.

Show your commitment to fighting the "War on Poverty" now by downloading this War on Poverty wallpaper / poster.

Whack it on your desktop

Print it out stick it around school or uni where heaps of people will see it

Email it to all your contacts

Click here to download War on Poverty desktop wallpaper.

5.Meet Eammon - Vision Generation Queensland

It all started this time three years ago... I rocked up to a Global Leadership Convention (GLC) in Brisbane and wanted to get involved. I kept showing up and before you know it I ended up as chair of Vision Generation (VGen) QLD. I've been doing a whole bunch of crazy stuff since!!

Take this year - it started with helping out at the Brisbane GLCs and organising the VGen Sunset Festival for the first Make Poverty History day. Next: I rocked up to the Australasian Mock United Nations Conference in Sydney with some other VGenners from around Oz.

Eammon in Tanzania

Then down to Melbourne to help out at their GLCs. In Melbourne I did some work experience at WV's National Office in the Youth Team with Ads on STIR and VGen. Next... back to Brisbane to meet my fellow QLD VGenners to organise our first Advocacy in Action night!

Being involved in WV has taken me to Tanzania on a study tour, and to meet with Alexander Downer and representatives of AusAID (the Goverment's aid agency). This time three years ago I never dreamed that these things could happen. There are a huge number of doors that open simply by being involved in World Vision. So get out there and open them!

	Speak to you in the Blender...

Go to STIR

Go to 40 Hour Famine

Go to Make Poverty History

Help promote Stir by sending this to a friend.

See ya next month!
Ads & The STIR team

If you've got a suggestion or feedback about STIR come tell us in the Blender forum.

You have received this email because you subscribed to the STIR mailing list. The email address you provided was #EmailAddr# To unsubscribe click here. To update your email address click here.