New words, old sentiment

There are times in everybody’s life where you ‘mop up’ encouragement wherever you can find it.  This week I have been drawn into a conversation with a man at the other end of the world through a shared passion to support hospice care. He has picked up the Littlest Star torch, and is carrying it to places in the Southern Hemisphere where its journey may continue.  Both of us have personal motivation to support a cause such as this.  Just as I was heading for bed last night, he sent me a lunchtime greeting from New Zealand: “Kia kaha”.  This two word Maori phrase means ‘be strong’, and is deeply embedded within New Zealand’s culture.

At the time of the second Christchurch earthquake, numerous New Zealanders living around the world  made videos of the greeting and sent it back home. Below is a video that was actually made  in Christchurch, in a garden shed, just a few days after the earthquake. Those who made the video describe it like this: ‘it’s a bit rough around the edges – but so are we.‘ Isn’t that great? When we are looking for encouragement we rarely seek sophistication or eloquence – just warmth, hope and goodness. You will find them in abundance in the ‘rough’ little video below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59XnwoVH6Qg?rel=0&w=560&h=315]