Monday, December 3, 2007

NOTICE-BOARD


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dalew said...
Absolutely wonderful memories from (all) Nambassas' WOW What an incredible experience I had as part of Nambassa, Mahana and the Nambassa Road Show. In this Nambassa Road Show with the Nambassa tour (Magic Magic Magic) There was a spiritual side of me that was nurtured during this time. but now at this time 2007 I turn my eyes back to the Coromandel and dreams of doing good and exciting things with and for the people.

In my latter years Spiritualism etc has been so hard in this area where I live and where capitalism gains are rated so high. I'm not saying that this has been all bad as we should never through out the baby with the bathwater.

Hello again:
As an original member of the Band Mahana and also an original share holder of Mahana the land, Port Charles, Colville Rd, Coromandel, having lived there for (my purpose) a human survival system (my dream), which at the time, I feel was usurped by state benefits which personally I had survived without, even as a part time solo mother (the childrens good father contributing by having the children half of the time at Mahana until it was appropriate for me to move there full time)I have always believed that all children should have both parents even if the parents split up ("this was prior to moving to Mahana")*HEY LONG STORY* this is the parents problem and should never be made the childrens, (as they are the innocents and should always be loved unconditionally and reasonably and mad to feel positive about themselves)the children should always believe that they are not the problem, until they truely are and then they should be made to realise that this is their responsibily.:::

Another word is that I believe that mahana is a carbon footprint, the 500 acres that we procurred (lots of us) is now approximately 80 year old regenerating native bush having been saved from being logged at 48 years old is still standing thanks to all the people that have lived on Mahana. if this continues to exist this would be wonderful.

Thanks for letting me air
Dale



NAMBASSA (Is Very Special)

December 3, 2007 8:19 PM

Anonymous said...

Hi just came across tthe Nambassa website. We went to the Nambassa festivals all those years ago and even took our bright yellow bus up queen street to advertise the first one. Can you tell me what is happening now, am always interested to help out for peace on our planet,
love and light,
Loretta and Ross Dixon

NAMBASSA said...

Hi Guys

I have read the Nambassa groups messages with some interest (from the arts
calender forum from September).

A friend gave me a dusty copy of "Nambassa a new direction" found in a
Wellington 2nd hand bookstore this year. I was blown away (I was also only a
young lad at the time).

It evoked some serious questions for me about N.Z. What happened to the new
direction? It seems the holistic way of life espoused at the festival sank
underground.

The apathy in N.Z has always grated with me. This book and festival proved
to me that a different approach did recently exist in N.Z. Was it simply
squelched by the onslaught of social demands?

The kernal of light Nambassa shone on a murky landscape can still be more
than good memories. Big raps to all those involved; you have shown me that
if those possibilities existed then, they exist now.

Peter, is that your cafe Eutopia project at Kaiwaka?

Slainte chugat,
Tim

Anonymous said...

I realised immediately after sending the e-mail that I miss typed the timing on my six months in NZ. It was Nov 77 to May 78. Which of course puts these pics in Jan 78 and later in the summer, maybe March (housetrucker ones).

That was such a magical time. Maybe because I was young, single,
travelling around the world and met up with so many kindred spirits. I had just come off of working as one of the coordinators for a food co-op and organising a non-profit community development housing trust. I had been travelling (bumming rides on sailboats) through the South Pacific for almost a year. So, to find Nambassa was like coming home.

I am still trying to do things that help impower people, but by getting paid to do it. I work on a variety of different development aid projects as a training and evaluation consultant. I tend to try and mix it up, working on some projects that directly involve community groups and others that try to help reform or improve government bureaucracies that have missions that work to empower (my words) others. Last year I was working in PNG designing an education census for the department of education so they could determine if they were meeting their goals and objectives. I have another project in PNG where I am designing a
project to develop and train an independent judicial system in the
Autonomous Region of Bougainville that uses both customary law and
international human rights standards. Right now, I am in Pakistan monitoring and evaluating the training of polling officials for the upcoming elections.

I came down to NZ in 1997 to work with the forerunner of NZAID to advise the MFATs Asia Development Assistance Facility. That program grants money to businesses, NGOs, and crown research institutes to do development projects in Asia. That was a good gig, but the guy we were working with within MFAT was a bit of a jerk and my colleagues and I decided life was too short to work with jerks. So, since then I have worked on my own hiring myself out as a consultant on individual projects. It still meets my goal of assisting others to empower citizens, but it does mean I am out of country about half the year.

Still, I have no complaints. I live in Nelson, which you know is
beautiful. We thankfully bought a place right in town along the Maitai before prices got too silly. We love the opportunities for recreation and entertainment that abound in the top of the South. I have done a few things in Nelson, mainly spearheading a citizen group that tried to ban logging trucks from the city streets (we failed) and protect a park along the Maitai from hoons (we succeeded). My three kids have all done well with my youngest just moving out after finishing high school. My
wife, who is also originally from the US, but whom I fell in love with during that magical year of Namabassa when she came down to NZ to see what I was writing home about, works with beads and mosaics and loves growing vegies and flowers. As a result, she feels totally at home in Nelson.

We are fortunate that most of our siblings and parents come down to
visit. A lot of our summers are spent entertaining family members or old friends who come down to see what life is like on the other side of the World. The internet is a wonderful invention in that it makes the World feel a little smaller and you can more easily keep (or renew) connections.

That is a bit of a long winded reply to your question, but I am glad to have renewed this connection. The picture Nambassa105was of me and another guy. I am the one on the right (30 years younger). Unfortunately, I dont remember the name of the guy who is standing there laughing with me. I remember we did hang out together and had a nice bond. I would love to make that connection again. I spent a number of weeks at the festival site generally helping set things up and tear
things down. We were going to change the World.

If there is any disappointment in my life, it is that, while certainly we have changed and affected some things, we still have a World that exploits others, treats the Earth with contempt, and generally rewards behaviour and values antithetical to making the World a better place. I
guess I was naive to expect those in power, or aspiring to power, to see the inherent logic in putting aside selfish interests for the betterment of others.

Still, I take heart in realising that this is a struggle that people have been engaged in for millennia. In my Jewish tradition, we talk about Tikkun Olam, which translates into "repairing the World." The guys who wrote those books said it was imperative that, to be a good Jew, you had to work for Tikkun Olam. They realised 2,200 years ago that this was something we have to work at and continually work at. I can tell that you are still working at it, as am I. That's pretty damn inspiring.

Cheers,

Steven

Anonymous said...

From the article in the Waihi paper- When living in Hamilton I went to the one day event, memorable for one of our group, a tall brunette, who was gloriously, proudly, nakedly 8 months pregnant, and for the Legion of Frontiersmen, the like of which we hadn't come across before! Sorry, cant remember the music. I have amazingly still got the black and white negs from that day and will post them to you tomorrow, and whether or not they are any use, I don't need them back.

From Auckland where we were involved in Friends of the Earth, we went to the 2 Nambassas at Golden Valley and recently attended a (pakeha) wedding on Mataura Beach, which is only accessible with permission from the Maori owners now so realised how lucky we were to be able to swim down there from the festival. Just recently to give some strangers an idea of where friends were in Landlyst Rd, I asked if anyone had been to Nambassa, a guy said "yes", I said "sorry, didn't recognise you with your clothes on", so 30 years on it is still in our consciousnesses.
Thankyou for making it all happen and hope the negs are some use,
Gay Martyn

Anonymous said...

Hi just came across tthe Nambassa website. We went to the Nambassa festivals all those years ago and even took our bright yellow bus up queen street to advertise the first one. Can you tell me what is happening now, am always interested to help out for peace on our planet,
love and light,
Loretta and Ross Dixon

NAMBASSA said...

Hi peter, this is phil gerbault, maybe you not remember, well there was
a lot of people, I help build and dismantle the last festival, I was in
a house truck,.. anyways i was talking to peter soloman just the other
day in tauranga and mentioned the website... so checking it out..
I often think about doing another nambassa type festival, over the
years i have done a few music festivals, thou not on that scale, but
maybe nz is over due for another, hippy fashion is coming back in ....
if you have thoughts of doing another please let me know, im sure i can
bring some stuff to the table,
well look forward to hearing from you
until then
Phil

Anonymous said...

Kia Ora

I was reading the articles on the Nambassa website and it brought back some great memories as my wife and I were participants at the 1981 festival.

Living for four months in a tent and working for free was an experience where the memories have lasted all my life.

It was wonderful to dropout and 'escape" the pressures of modern day sociery albeit for a short time.

Nambassa changed peoples lives as the human energy vibrations were raised and impact of ones ego was reduced.

It is hard to get this same buzz going today as this was in a period of huge social change that has not been repeated since.

The world today seems so materialistic , venal, shallow and greedy where the great god MONEY rules them all -- but it leaves you feeling so empty inside as it never brings the inner peace & tranquility that comes with "service to others" , as opposed to "service to self".

Brotherly love is where it is at.

A Light Worker

Kia Kaha Namabassa