Aro-Mind

Prosperity is not just about maintaining income levels. The conventional view is that income at a certain level enables one to live a certain life style. For many New Zealanders life style is not just about the ability to secure a house, a car, clothes but also holidays, experiences with family and our natural environment and more. Prosperity is also about the ability to enjoy enriching experiences and to do so regularly. There is such a thing as the rich man who is poor in life experiences. This is a spiritually and emotionally impoverished person. Prosperity exists also when people enjoy meaningful experiences, share in the warmth of human community, experience wonder at the grandeur and detail of the natural world and the universe. Prosperity exists when people are able to realise their potential, to dream of possibilities for themselves and circumstances exist (including economic circumstances) whereby those possibilities, that potential may be realised. This might be called ...

'Indigenous Development' is a field of endeavour that is growing considerably in our world today. It builds upon efforts of the past century or more designed to achieve social justice and cultural revitalisation for 'indigenous peoples' throughout the world. These are peoples who have been colonised, usually, by European populations and exist often as a minority in their own country and in marginalised positions. Significant issues, needs and problems confront these peoples such as health disparities, educational underachievement, imprisonment rates, poverty, and much more. Hence, in the first instance, 'indigenous development' is concerned with overcoming these negative experiences of marginalised 'indigenous peoples'. A second and equally important theme of 'indigenous development' is the rediscovery and a reawakening of the creative and active heart and being of an indigenous people. As indigenous peoples advance cultural revitalisation - repa...