Peace Researcher 29 – June
2004
Briar
Maaroufi (as she was known to us) was a member of the Anti-Bases Campaign for a
couple of years prior to her death and had attended Waihopai spybase protests. We
only found out about her death several months after the event and knew next to
nothing about her life. We are indebted to Anne FitzSimon, of the Nelson Peace
Group, for this obituary. Ed.
A campaigner for peace and justice, Briar Margaret Campbell-Maaroufi died in September 2003, from cancer, on her 60th birthday. Several Nelson community groups benefited from her drive and organisational skills, including the Nelson Multi Ethnic Council, Women in Nelson, the Angel Loan Trust, the Nelson Aged Trust, the Association of Non-Government Organisations of Aotearoa (ANGOA) and the Nelson Community Whanau, as well as the Nelson Peace Group. National and international groups also benefited from Briar’s energy and she highlighted the current injustices in Palestine. The Kiwi Enuresis and Encopresis Association (a support group for children with bedwetting problems. Ed.) called on her ability to organise, lobby and to help them link with international organisations. A tenacious campaigner, Ms Campbell-Maaroufi had the ability to recognise a community need, such as in her support to establish a programme for the unemployed to learn to drive. Despite failing health she was a force behind the proposed Victory Community Health Centre to improve access to health services for low income people, and in February 2000 organised a public meeting to raise support for the centre. “It was sort of the start of the community starting to feel good about itself”, said fellow coordinator Leanne Curtis. Although frustrated at the centre’s lack of progress Ms Campbell-Maaroufi was still leading and advising even from her hospital bed. “She never lost the energy for it”.
Born in Te Kopuru, near Dargaville, in 1943 her family moved to Stoke, in Nelson, and she became a foundation pupil at Waimea College. The friendships forged there lasted a lifetime. A dedicated teacher by profession, Briar loved children and books and was known in education circles for her commitment to improving libraries and providing the literacy skills needed by young people. Although she started her teacher training in Christchurch she graduated from Auckland Teachers’ College and her first teaching appointment was in Lumsden, Southland. She later taught in Mt Maunganui and at Otautau, in Southland, and recalled the anguish of seeing a carefully established library swept away in a flash flood. In later years she was a teacher at Broadgreen Intermediate, Nelson.
International travel brought her into contact with Amnesty International and the peace movement, and worked for the aims of those organisations all her life. “She was interested in overcoming instances of injustice and unfairness and she was willing to work the political system in order to achieve results,” said her sister Helen Campbell. Briar’s energy, enthusiasm and encouragement will be sorely missed by the members of Nelson Peace Group. She organised the production of a Peace Mural with Golden Bay artist, Chris Findlayson and local schools, which is now located on Tahunanui Drive, Tahunanui, Nelson as a constant reminder of our nuclear free status in New Zealand.
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