shock to see

woah there, thats a shock to see! i have often sat in that church and love seeng the light through those blue window frames. i remember recently thinking how clever our ancestors are to have built such a fantastic structure...and now the windows are just piled up outside?? its so sad..im sure that it would have taken a bit of work to get them back up to scratch (if they were indeed 'rotten'), but now you say they are waiting for a match! lets hope they same care that created that building goes into the new window spaces, and we aren't left staring out of sad and ugly replacements. too depressing. And why is there a puddle inside...i thought they were FIXING the roof?

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Posted by Anonymous to avaiki at 4/12/2005 04:20:29 AM

wood idolatory

I still can't get over it! that timber must still be ok, and like you say, worth alot of money to those in the know, as well as its spiritual value to those who have loved them as part of God's house. do you know what timber it is? why is it that Cook Islanders are bent on destruction...what do we have against wood? is it a throw back to the burning frenzy the missionaries introduced to end idol worship? Trees are just as important as we are (if not more in my books), we breathe what they give us and vice versa...they have provided us with this shelter - a holy house that inspires people every week for years of praise and worship -and yet we are so easy to disregard its true value. I mean apart from the odd falling coconut, a tree wouldn't dream of hurting US - intentionally! Those who love this church had better keep an eye on the Cross on the wall, it might be next, i mean for heaven's sake its wood! someone might suggest "hey, its so dated...just burn it!! and then we can put a nice plastic one up instead". my suggestion is, that those bright sparks who's call it is to renovate by force, had better watch out for falling coconuts!

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Posted by Anonymous to avaiki at 4/12/2005 04:47:02 AM

good old norm !

Good Old Norman George!

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Posted by Anonymous to avaiki at 4/18/2005 12:23:58 PM

keep spreading the word

The media industry has to remain truthful and unswayed by power in order to inform the public about what is truly happening daily in politics.

People who choose to report on our world need to know that this is the important job of telling like it is, and pointing to all movements where we succeed and fail, so that we see our situation, and move ahead from the here and now, together, better than we have before.

I would love to see these media groups drop their selfishness and puppetry, and put their efforts to work for the betterment of our people. Make a change today for the good. The truth hurts, but at least we can believe it.

Keep spreading the good word avaiki nius.

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Posted by Anonymous to avaiki at 4/20/2005 01:14:46 AM

letter: atiu power supply

// LETTER
Kia Orana Editor,
I know politics is extremely important but surely it is not as important as the needs of the people they are supposed to represent. 
We suffer on Atiu uncomplaining (until now) waiting for reliable power. 
Ever since Cyclone Meena Atiu's power has been successively - rationed (because of no fuel), non-existent for weeks (because power lines were down),  destructive of appliances (when it was restored with phase and neutral switched), rotated around the villages (because of insufficient generating capacity), erratic (because the remaining generators could not be synchronised so power went off 5 or more times a day as capacity was juggled), weak (with low voltage) and constantly tripping on overload. 
This we put up with, as these faults were the consequence of not being prepared for the cyclones and the consequent difficult recovery.
What we can't put up with is the fact that parts to repair our power supply have been sitting on Atiu since the boat of the 7th of April and nothing is happening.
Our businesses are suffering.  Faxes are stuffed with power failure reports.  Faxes go missing.  Meals are fragmented, dark and limited in scope.  Computers grunt and spit garbage.  Electronics burn.  A TV program is a jigsaw of scenes and half events.  Miserable are we.
And why do we blame politics?  We see our electrician, our officer in charge, island secretary and mayor in Rarotonga for conferences and rumoured important decisions on who should be the next PM.
How can the needs of the people of Atiu compete with that?
Powerless Atiuan.