Dava Sobel, the bestselling author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, offers a new biography, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. The book chronicles the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the young women who trained in her laboratory.

Marie Curie née Skłodowska is still the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Her ingenuity extended far beyond the laboratory walls; grieving the death of her husband, Pierre, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne, devotedly raised two daughters, drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I; befriended Albert Einstein and inspired generations of young women to pursue science as a way of life. Many of these women including her daughter Irene, became Nobel Prize winners in their own right.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.
My strength is not mine alone, it comes from the collective.

Kia ora e hoa mā – greetings to all friends and colleagues working together within NCWNZ for the greater good.

Maybe that sounds idealist, but let’s face it, that’s who we are as an organisation. “Practical dreamers” who have a vision for the future and then look at the detail of how we can make it happen. The “we” is very important, because our strength is from our collective action, from belonging to the organisation. (Shameless plug here – have you renewed your membership for this year?)

NCW Southland recently has been privileged to hear speakers from two local agencies.

At the Annual General Meeting in May, Donagh Booth from Age Concern spoke of her role in Elder Abuse Response. Her work in Invercargill has been an eye opener for her. She did not realise the spread of elder abuse within her home town. Examples she gave listed sons who have never left home, sons with issues who returned home, mothers who have become isolated because friends and other family members would not visit while the son was present.

Behaviour of such sons included not assisting with the household chores like mowing lawns or cleaning out spouting; expecting his laundry to be done, his meals to be cooked, not contributing to the household costs. Donagh’s role, when she becomes aware of such issues is to be a listening ear, offering suggestions of mitigating actions. Sometimes such help was not acted upon but in extreme cases, trespassing the son has been initiated.

Media scams are also a growing concern. And not confined to women. Single elderly are targeted by predatory persons, introducing a friendly element then possibly a romantic one leading to the real intention, asking for money. And thousands of dollars have been and are being scammed in this way. Police are not involved because the perpetrator threatens the victim with blackmail.

NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch created NEW (Network of Elected Women), a group that we invite to Kate Sheppard House every year for a get together and we collaborate with on various other events. We asked one of the NEW members to write about being a Community Board member, to encourage women to stand for local government roles. Jackie has five terms under her belt on her community board in North Canterbury, two of them as chair, and is likely to stand for a sixth term. She offers her story to help persuade more women to become elected members.

Why did you join your community board?

It’s a question I am often asked by friends and acquaintances who either know nothing about our local government system (and that is a large number) or cannot understand why I would put myself through countless meetings for very little reward.

I guess there has to be a particular personality type that is attracted to reading copious documents, wading through the sludge of bureaucracy and paperwork that slows everything down. For me, it’s about the bigger picture. It’s about society, history, geography and the desire to make your place and the future better.

I was involved in my home town on a number of committees before I went on the community board and I guess I was shoulder tapped by someone who was running for Mayor because of hat involvement. My first realisation that there was such a thing as a community board came when I wanted to put up some artwork and had to liaise with them. The board of elderly men I encountered certainly wasn’t something I would have considered joining on first sight.

But with retirement from teaching looming, I wanted something to do -- and working for the community seemed an obvious choice. A community I knew I would be known in and so had the potential to get votes. A community I was already involved with in many ways.

I’ve always liked change and unpredictability and the nervous excitement of standing for election sort of appealed to my wild side. It was also incredibly scary and is the worst part of the whole business. But being part of decision making in your own patch certainly appealed to me, as well as working as part of a team and it still does after all this time.

This is the fourth of a series of articles focusing on the NCWNZ Past Presidents Oral History Project with interviews by Carol Dawber in 2016. See the introductory article in The Circular at "NCWNZ Past Presidents oral history interviews from 2016" (August 2024).

This month, we honour Christine Low, who served as NCWNZ President from 2004 to 2008. Christine led with warmth, wisdom, and a strong work ethic—balancing a full-time career while championing pay equity, practical advocacy, and international engagement. Her quiet yet purposeful leadership helped the organisation navigate a fast-changing world, with a lasting emphasis on enabling others to lead.

188 people received honours in the King’s Birthday list. Again, as with the 2024 King's Birthday list, men received more awards than women: this year, 53% (100) compared with 47% (88). Women received more awards than men in two categories: Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) and King's Service Medal (KSM). There were more awards for arts related activities 17% (34) than sports related ones 13% (25). See the full list at https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/kings-birthday-honours-list-2025.

Kia ora koutou, Bonjour à toutes,

Well… here I am, writing this message on my very last day as an intern at the National Council of Women of New Zealand.

I arrived in New Zealand in mid-January, and I’m now heading to New York for a new internship in the field of peacekeeping operations. Thank you all so much for welcoming me here. This internship has been an extraordinary learning experience.

NCWNZ Interns (l-r) Mathilde Jaulin and Amandine Chabrier

English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher aides belong to the cohort of social services employees whose applications for pay claims have been curtailed by the recent Equal Pay Act. As most teacher-aides are women, they have little comparison with men to gauge their work status. They are often on contract pay, dependent on income from ESL student funding, and within school hierarchies have tenuous job security.

However, teacher aides (TAs) carry out significant functions in schools. Within classrooms, they support migrants, refugees and international students, by rewording teacher instructions and content to avoid student misalignment. With TA help, student academic results can be encouraged and boosted, as in a North Island study when an international student became Dux Litteratum (McCarthy, 2020). Multilingual TAs can transfer information into students’ first language as well as their second, facilitating content and linguistic transfer (Siilata & Barkuizen, 2004). TAs also provide invaluable social, emotional and cross-cultural support for the students they are allocated to, particularly when newcomers. They can give invaluable advice to students in navigating educational structures and social networks, whether it is to approach a teacher, counsellor or administrator. Their work is a fine balance between listening and guiding and encouraging student resilience.

Palmerston North city and regional councillors shared their experiences and wisdom in a session hosted by NCWNZ Manawatu (Palmerston North) branch on May 27th at the Palmerston North City Council Library. The councillors were Deputy Mayor Debi Marshall-Lobb, Lorna Johnson and Karen Naylor from the Palmerston North City Council, with Rachel Keedwell and Fiona Gordon from the regional council, Horizons. The session aimed to reflect on the insights of women councillors, providing valuable guidance for future aspiring women in these roles. The discussion revealed perspectives on gender roles, challenges, and the evolving landscape of women in leadership. Dr. Fatima Junaid moderated the meeting.