What would world peace look like?
The question of how we might work together towards achieving a world without war is the subject of Starfishing for Peace, a new programme and podcast on OAR FM hosted by Dunedin woman Kirsteen McLay.
The programme’s title is shared with a local group that meets monthly in the Matheson Room at Knox Church to discuss promotion of peace through projects and activities.
Ms McLay is also a co-founder of The Starfish Collective, a registered charity established in 2021 with the aim to help refugees under the Government’s community organisation refugee sponsorship (CORS) pilot.
The Collective is hoping to welcome two Syrian families to Dunedin under the scheme later this year.
Ms McLay said that teaching and humanitarian work in Japan and Vietnam had sown the seeds for her Dunedin-based charitable work.
“Vietnam, especially, opened my eyes to war and the long-term effects of conflicts on the culture and psyche of the people, as well as the terrible long-term environmental damage chemical warfare can cause.
“It also opened me up to thinking and seeing outside of the box of my own cultural and geographical background.”
The radio show would encourage listeners to “feel they can do something active” in the face of conflict at a local, national or international level.