Kiss FM UNDER COVER is the new Black!

This week I was a guest on 87.8 Kiss FM ‘The Morning After Brekky Show’ – Australia’s DJ elite playing the latest in contemporary music culture. It was awesome… so awesome in fact that despite being 8am in the morning and my body saying, ‘Stephen it’s waaaaaay too early to be having this much fun!’ – I was in there mixing it up with the infamous Al Black and co-host Ben Acott!

Amidst wicked beats and ‘Out There Al’s’ borderline certifiable news flash – I was invited onto the show to talk about UNDER COVER – an online groundswell movement which raises awareness of the global malaria endemic and funds for purchase and distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

Here’s a few pics of my time in the studio and the audio stream split into two parts…

Kiss FM ‘Morning After Brekky Show’ Interview Part 1
Kiss FM ‘Morning After Brekky Show’ Interview Part 2

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Arrival in the Solomon Islands

Yesterday I arrived in Honiara, the capital of Quadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. This remote destination in the Pacific has a fascinating history with over 990 islands that form the Solomon’s archipelago. Sounds like a dream doesn’t it? It is kind of.

A myriad of ship wrecks lie dormant along the coast, only metres from the beach and dating back to World War II conflict between Japan and Alliance forces. I’d heard about this before I arrived as the Solomon’s are a renowned divers paradise, however nothing quite prepares you for the surreal sense and awe they create.

I am in the Solomon Islands on behalf of UNICEF New Zealand, who invited me to travel here with a small group of United Nations ambassadors to see emergency relief aid and community development projects here. Many of these inspiring projects are part of UNICEF’s ‘Build Back Better’ scheme, implemented following the 2007 earthquake tsunami which devastated many islands in the Pacific, including the Solomon’s. I’d heard about the tsunami and seen its effects via mainstream news at the time it happened, but like many of us living in urban cities I remained emotionally detached from the reality of life here.

With no ability to comprehend the scale of the disaster or effort involved to rebuild peoples lives and communities in the wake of such an event, we just go back to ‘life as usual’ after a few months. I’m not saying this to make anyone feel bad, it’s just how it is, but I’ll be providing coverage of UNICEF’s work here on my blog in the hope of connecting you to what’s really happening.

I’m also here to scope how we can use social media to create awareness and help with the rebuilding process. Whilst connectivity may be a problem over the next few days given some of the remote places I’ll be travelling to, I’ll attempt to publish a daily account of the trip so please share this with all of your friends and stop by each day for updates. And for all my foodie friends, the picture below is what I had for dinner