The Closing Curtain

Today is the conclusion on what has been an action packed term in the Leadership and Communication class! Unfortunately this is my last blog posting today but I’ve certainly enjoyed my Friday’s at school and filling in what we’ve being doing!
As I mentioned this is the last day of our class and it’s fair to say that everyone in our class has thoroughly enjoyed our journey of the past ten weeks.
While we have been on our own conservational expedition and discovered that caring for the environment is not just for hippies! Such issues like global warming have brought the conservational message into the mainstream and we’ve taken it upon ourselves to do our own bit in our own backyard.
Cleaning up the Hautapu River has been both a challenge but a great satisfaction at the same time. So perhaps we were a bit naive in the beginning believing we would clean it up in no time, yet through our hard work and campaigning we have raised the awareness in the community on the issue and if one person took notice of us and what we’re doing then as far as we are concerned our work is done! If for any reason there are developments concerning the river I will eagerly write to tell you all!
There have been a few changes in our group too. With the introduction of new options a few class members (including myself) are trying to get accepted into our school ski academy. If we do we will not be continuing with the Leadership and Communication class next term. While we are sad to be finishing we are looking forward to be part of the ski academy!
So to close it has been a fantastic term and one of the greatest parts of this class was not only becoming more environmentally aware and our endeavouring to clean up the Hautapu River we’ve made friendships with other people in our year group whom we would not usually associate with. These people have been great and us being together has made the class even better! But I must admit I was so elated when I would look at my blog and see new comments from other conservational warriors around the world! Places that I haven’t even heard from. (I am certainly not dumb just oblivious to some of the names of places!) This class has extended and challenged me and made me look at the bigger picture and I’m really stoked about that!!!
Well to everyone who has commented me, left ideas and suggestions for our project I greatly appreciate your support!

Movie Time!

It has been a while since I last updated my blog but we have all been very busy working on the task at hand!
Today is the second to last day for our Leadership and Communication class, next Friday is the last day of term before our holidays!
We have been busily fundraising for our up coming excursion to Wellington and hope to travel there in the early part of next term. Many a sausage-sizzle will be held between now and then to help with the cost of the camp.
Onto today we have been in the local township filming a short movie to be viewed at our ‘celebration assembly’ at the culmination of the school term so our fellow peers can see what we’ve been up to over the past few weeks. Whilst at times a few of our ‘actors’ have been a bit embarrassed to display their acting talents in the middle of the main street of Taihape while passers-by wonder what on earth we’re doing, it was a very good piece of cinematography! We all had our jobs and despite the rather unsavoury weather conditions (New Zealand is embattled with a bitterly-cold winter at the moment, not like our northern-hemisphere cousins) we completed our movie and anxiously wait to view the finished product.
Until next week…

An Inconvenient Truth, a reality that we live with

Today our class watched the Academy Award winning documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth. Compared to our ‘river clean-up’ the issues on global warming discussed were simply astronomical.
We sat there, awe-inspired, confused, scared and disgusted by what we witnessed. Every now and then there were gasps and muttering of words.
A movie like this a few decades ago would have been considered not in the public interest or pure fiction. But now those who have spent so many years campaigning about this matter are bringing it into the mainstream and opening the eyes of people on all four corners of the globe.
At the end of the film it was fair to say we were a bunch of ‘stunned mullets’. It made us think about global warming and its affects on both man and the environment. Shivers were sent down our spines as we saw the overwhelming statistics and images of places of former beauty being demoralised to virtual ruin.
Our heads are now abuzz with facts and figures sourced from the film that our parents will surely be inundated with after school!
We all took a lot out of the movie, however as the title reflects this is a truth that we do not want to face, but the reality is that we are stuck with it. However, there is an upside to this… we can change this situation and our contribution to society but doing our bit is a step forward in our fight against global warming.

Pollution Search

Yesterday (Friday 1 June, 2007) our class went on an excursion and visited two local businesses to see the type of practices they used concerning waste water and if they deposited any into the Hautapu River. First we visited Byfords Readi-Mix (a concreting firm) which is owned by the grandfather of two of our class members (Ariana and Teri) We were directed around the site and were pleased to find they had an effective recycling regime and didn’t pollute the river in any capacity.
Then up the road we travelled to Hautapu Pine (a small timber mill). They too expressed that to their knowledge they didn’t pollute the river. Also they indicated that some recycling systems operate on site.
Yet we felt that perhaps some pieces of the puzzle were missing so this has spurred the class on to find any information relevant to our investigation to catch people out about their pollution, but to also educate them about the issue so that their business may become more environmentally friendly.
I also received an email telling me about some of the processes that companies have to go through if they want to release any waste into waterways…
An application is made to the District Council for Water Discharge Consent as per the Resource Management Act. We then have to go around to all the neighbours and get them to sign off that they are agree with it all. We also consult with the local iwi (tribe) and have hui (meetings) at different marae (Maori meeting house). It is a long process. The public have a certain time to file submissions against the application before it is approved or disapproved. Measurements are taken on chemical levels, water flow and a licence is only given to discharge a certain volume at two points. This is monitored by the local council.
Once we left Hautapu Pine we ventured further to the little village of Mataroa, approximately 10 minutes north-west of Taihape. When we got to Mataroa we went on a mini-trek into the Paengaroa Scenic Reserve.
We were greeted with an awe-inspiring picture of the lush native bush. Also we noticed that at the particular site the Hautapu River was cleaner and better looking than behind our school.
We discussed earlier in the day was that we effectively had five days of work left so we really needed a big push before the end of the term. Goals were reassessed to make them more attainable. Looking back at the start of the term we envisaged that we would single-handedly clean up the river. This was an ambitious, but unrealistic goal. On the good side all our work has had a positive impact and raised the awareness in the local community. We hope that someone or group will continue our work to truly accomplish the major objective.
Talks have also began on a possible class trip to the capital of New Zealand, Wellington. Mrs. Hansen has said we could go to Parliament and visit a MP (Member of Parliament) who is a friend from her school days. It seems pretty exciting, will just have to wait and see…

River Exploration

Unfortunately I was unable to update my blog last Friday but today I am brimming with lots of informative news.
So last week (18 May, 2007) was another big day. Jessica and I took the floor and managed our first Leadership and Communication class meeting. We assigned different jobs to people, i.e. contacting ‘Horizons’ (the regional council), writing newspaper articles, sourcing our own water testing kit, etc, etc. We got a load of work done and enthusiastically awaiting to spread the word about pollution in the Hautapu River to the community and beyond!
Oh we also received a very encouraging email from the local Member of Parliament, Simon Power applauding our efforts in conservation and our work with the Hautapu River.
Fast forward to today and we have just scaled down the back of our school to the Hautapu River. It was extremely treacherous terrain and a few times there we thought a few classmates may tumble down the side of the hill!
What we were doing was with the Water Testing kit we got from Horizons, we examined the river for clarity, habitat, algae and the flora and fauna. What we found wasn’t very promising but also reiterated why we chose this project and what we will be endeavouring to achieve in the remaining weeks.
Ariana, Cody, Teri and I were testing for the clarity of the water among other things. We tested the water clarity which was a meager 1.65m (5.4 feet) In the book we obtained from Horizons their data told us that the clarity was just better than poor. Other analysis included the scent of the river. We decided it had a distinct muddy smell to it! An algae test showed that most of the vegetation was also in a bad condition.
Jessica, Joshua, Marika and Rebecca went in search for any living species in the river. Again what they exposed was a sight for sore eyes. Most of what they found – according to our information from Horizons was an indicator of how badly polluted it actually is.
Finally Cassandra went ‘Fungi Testing’ this too was a bad mark for the Hautapu.
We are all frantically updating our blogs however we don’t have much good news. Anyway it is a good excuse to soldier and keep up the work in eradicating the pollution from the Hautapu!

Pollution Meeting

Today was a milestone day in our fight against pollution in the Hautapu River. We had our first proper meeting in class discussing how far we’ve come and what we wish to achieve in the coming weeks. During our meeting it was decided that I (Michael) would be the ‘facilitator’ and Jessica was elected as the ‘note taker’. The job of regularly updating the class ‘Wiki’ has been assigned to Cassandra, Joshua, Marika and Teri. Unfortunately class members Cody and Rebecca and our teacher Ms. Hansen were unable to attend the meeting.
We talked about our accomplishments in establishing our blogs on the internet and creating associations with other environmental fighters around the world. It was great to hear about the many heartening comments received by my fellow classmates. We will continue to keep our friends updated with our progress throughout the term.
Class goals and an action plan were also talked about in our own mini-conference. Jessica and myself were also chosen to contact ‘Horizons’ the local environmental/regional council in relation to the pollution levels in the Hautapu River. While we did ring several times they were unavailable for comment so we left a brief message to get in touch with us.
It was another great day and the time is certainly passing quickly! Well will keep you all posted!
P.S. In a previous posting I wrote about finding the remains of possibly an old water treatment plant/swimming baths. Another suggestion that has arisen from many a local was that it could have previously been a brewery!

Thanks for your Comments!

It has been so encouraging to receive comments from people all over the world who are so hard-working in their fight against environmental issues detrimental to their community.
So many of you were keen to offer advice to me and my peers on how to combat pollution in the Hautapu.
While I have been endeavouring to write back to those who have written to me, some people’s blogs have been unattainable to access. It would be awesome if I could so I would be able to view your pages and see how your own projects are going.
Keep writing as I get a real buzz when I see I’ve got new messages full of your helpful ideas and suggestions. I’ll keep you all updated!!!