1990 — a positive vision for the future

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 10

1990 — a positive vision for the future

Next year — 1990 — should be a year to remember with pleasure, a year today’s children will look back on as a milestone when they are old. The year should be commemorated in a way which is living and ongoing, not in bricks and mortar, according to the Christchurch City Council’s specially appointed 1990 co-ordinator, Mrs Vivienne Allan.

“To say it will be a confluence where waters will meet and move forward is realistic, not idealistic,” she declares. The focus of the celebrations will be on the significance of the Treaty of Waitangi.

“My role is partly educational — to create an environment for people to look back with knowledge at what has happened in the past and toward the future with knowledge. “We can’t undo the pain and anguish of the past overnight, but we can acknowledge what has happened and strive to make sure it doesn’t recur in the future. We can redress the balance. The future is where our strength lies."

Vivienne Allan describes herself as a “positive activist.” “I’m an activist in the sense that I’m working positively for change.

“That’s a label I’m happy to have hung on my head,” she says. As 1990 co-ordinator, she is directing her energies towards making 1990 a positive year for Christchurch people. The year will be as important for New Zealanders as the Australian bicentennial was for Australians. Those who choose to ignore the significance of 1990 will be the losers, she believes. Vivienne Allan is involved at community level.

“I see everyone being part of something. There will be activities for all — not elitist events people cannot afford to attend.”

Her role is to promote the city, elaborate on “Going For Goals,” and spend considerable time with community groups finding out how they would like to mark the year. Planning in partneship is her aim.

The role is partly that of catalyst. She will find out what activities groups

are planning and, where relevant, invite them to link up with other similar events. Groups planning celebrations apart from the 1990 celebrations will be encouraged to make their celebrations even larger. So far more than 100 events have been planned. Secondary schools have entered a logo designing competition and the winner will be announced soon.

The celebrations will highlight the country’s biculturalism and its multiculturalism. The many races who have chosen to make New Zealand their home have enriched our lives and we should thank them, says Vivienne Allan. Vivienne Allan draws on a wealth of skills and knowledge for her job, which is a two-year appointment. For many years she has been a journalist. Journalism is a “wonderful” background to her new position. • “Journalism gives you a multiplicity of skills. You learn to listen, hear what is being said, analyse it, make impartial judgments and write about it. You need good ‘people skills’.” “As a journalist I

looked with discernment at what was happening around me and reported impartially on it.” For 20 years Vivienne, her husband, John, and family, farmed in Southland, but decided it was time to exchange' gumboots for city life. Vivienne was deeply involved in community life there, especially during the last five years when the rural downturn made such an impact. She was part of a rural network which helped women relearn or develop skills and cope with offfarm jobs to augment the family income. In 1985 she was involved in a survey which showed that 25 per cent of rural women were in the workforce. Now the figure has risen to 50 per. cent. She was instrumental in setting up a women’s refuge in Gore. This took tremendous energy as it was seen as a threat, not a community service, she recalls. She was also instrumental in having a rural community healthworker appointed. “For me, my new position is an interesting change.”