Editor’s letter
When Michelle Obama sat with Oprah in her final one-on-one interview as First Lady, she could have focused on the problems facing her country and the world; instead, she chose to deliver an important message.
During the latest election campaign, in response to the verbal attacks coming from the Trump camp, the First Lady said, “When they go low, we go high,” and on Oprah’s couch in December, Michelle once again took the high ground and spoke about the concept of hope.
“What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope? Our children respond to crises the way they see us respond. It’s like the toddler that bumps his head on the table and looks up at you to figure out if it hurts… and you go, ‘It’s okay babe.’
“I feel Barack has been that to the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate. Having a grown-up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil, ‘Hey, it’s gonna be okay, let’s remember the good things we have, let’s look at the future, let’s look at all the things that we are building’ – all of this is important for our kids, to stay focused and to feel like their work isn’t in vain, that their lives aren’t in vain. What do we do if we don’t have hope Oprah?”
As we head into 2016, that is the message I will be taking with me, and it is one this issue reflects. In the office we have dubbed this the “kindness issue” because of the many women gracing its pages who give their time to help others and provide hope.
On page 44 we meet three ordinary but remarkable women who worked tirelessly to provide support and hope in the wake of the Kaikoura earthquake. When the 7.8 magnitude quake hit Kaikoura in November, the obstacles facing that little community of about 3500 residents were huge – but, as we saw in Christchurch, the people there showed enormous resilience, banding together to begin rebuilding their lives. Most importantly for those who couldn’t help themselves during that time, others stepped up to do so.
We also meet three women working in perhaps one of the most difficult industries to find hope – our prisons. Suzanne McFadden writes about how their vision and hard work are turning a place of punishment into a place of “corrections” – encouraging rehabilitation and education to change futures for the better. You can find her story on page 32.
And on our cover is the lovely Judy Bailey, who has on many occasions beamed into New Zealanders’ living rooms from behind the television newsdesk to provide a voice of authority and steadiness during a crisis. It’s more than a decade since she assumed that role, but Judy is still providing hope in the community through her work with the Brainwave Trust and Women’s Refuge.
It would be easy to look back on 2016 and focus on what a tough year it has been on a global scale – but my New Year’s resolution is to take Michelle’s message, follow the lead of the incredible people of Kaikoura and Judy Bailey and focus on hope and kindness.
As Judy tells us in her story (page 10), one person can help a child simply by smiling at them on the way to school. If those small acts of kindness can make a difference, imagine what we can do if we really try.
From all of us here, have a great New Year!
Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept… What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope? ” Michelle Obama