Pro-life internship trains 16 young people

by CHRISTINE GOUNDER
PARAPARAUMU — Voice for Life has run another successful Stayin’ Alive Pro-Life Internship programme at Kapiti in Wellington.
Sixteen interns, the maximum number the programme can take, gathered for six days to discuss pro-life issues.
Organiser Brendan Malone said more than 20 people applied for a place in this year’s internship, but the number had to be cut because the idea is to have a manageable group so “they can have the space to be able to ask the questions they want to ask”.
“Our hope is to try to take people who already have a basic grasp of the issue or are passionate and have a sense of the need for action and want to take it to that next level,” he said.
“We focus a lot on the issue of abortion, but we focus on it in the context of building the culture of life. This is not about being anti-abortion, it’s about being a builder of a new culture — the culture of life.”

Voice for Life is New Zealand’s largest and oldest pro-life advocacy group.
Its Wellington programme gives formation in pro-life ethics, philosophy and apologetics, as well as teaching interns skills in leadership training, project management and giving media training.
Mr Malone said the internship is for anyone aged between 18 and 35 years, and afterwards the interns usually help out with Voice for Life projects around the country.
“We try to encourage our interns to be leaders in pro-life issues, no matter what it is they end up doing, from simple things to those who may one day end up in politics.”
However, he emphasised that politics is not the focus of the internship but rather “in whatever way you are called to be a voice”.
The workshops have been held in Wellington for the past three years, but Mr Malone said that, as demand increases, they would have to one day have two internships one the North Island and one in the South Island.