ANZAC Day in rural New Zealand

April 25, 2024

So many names...

So many sons who would never return, so many young men from rural backgrounds, so many Kiwi boys who left their homes seeking adventure only to find misery in the carnage of war. On Anzac day we remember the courage and sacrifice of New Zealand soldiers who have served their country in times of war. 


Anzac day marks one of the bloodiest days in New Zealand history, the anniversary of Australian and New Zealand Army Corp (ANZACs) landing at Gallipoli. From from the Dardanelles to the Western front the Kiwi death toll in World War One was staggering. Of the more than 100 thousand New Zealanders who served an estimated 18 thousand were killed and another 41 thousand injured.


The memorial outside Winchester school in South Canterbury is no different from hundreds of others found in prominent positions in small towns and rural communities scattered through out Aotearoa New Zealand. Etched in stone, the names of the fallen, calling us back to a deep communal scar that has shaped this country's story. With gratitude we remember those who died so that we might live in peace.


Farid Ahmed tours Nelson to speak to schools and community groups about compassion and forgiveness.

Wheelchair tour of Nelson

By John Sellwood • October 8, 2026
Farid makes a whistle stop tour of Nelson to speak with schools and community groups about Compassion and forgiveness. A survivor of the massacres at two Christchurch mosques in 2019, Farid is campaigning for March the 15th to be recognised as a day of compassion. He wants those who died to remembered for their love and not the hate visited upon their community by a lone gunman. In this video Farid speaks to: 

Māori Rock Art

By John Sellwood • June 7, 2026
For generations, the ancestral rock art of the Arowhenua people has been owned by others, with the land and limestone caves held in private ownership as part of a Gould family farm. Now after more than 170 years, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua has purchased back the land and full access and ownership of their ancient taonga.