WUNRN
femLINKPACIFIC
PACIFIC - YOUNG WOMEN'S MEDIA
SKILLS PROGRAM - CONNECTS COMMUNITIES ON GRASSROOTS DIALOGUE - POLICY
ADVOCACY +
16
February 2011
Suva, Fiji Islands
"Stories that travel from one community to the next. Women connecting on
the airwaves despite geographical or infrastructure divides.
Technology that enables a diverse group of young women to connect on common
issues through the production of radio programmes.
That's all part of the process of learning for FemLINKPACIFIC's Annual Young
Women's Media Skills and Advocacy Training currently underway in Suva,"
says FemLINKPACIFIC's Executive Director, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls.
According to 26 years old Ashika Gosai Femlinkpacific's rural focal point based
at the Ba Senior Citizens Centre the training is going to assist her learn ways
to conduct interviews and produce radio programmes with the members of the
Centre:
“What I want to take back from the workshop is the skills on how to conduct
good interviews and recording so that I could make a good recording about the
issues that affect women in my community so that they can be helped and their
voices could be heard,” she said.
Jimaima Luvunakoro, of the Generation Next Suva team for the past two years is
keen to improve the quality of her research techniques while 20 year old
Lucille Chute, who has been a member of Generation Next Labasa is looking
forward to learn more about community radio programming:
“.....so that I have something to take back with me and improve the way I do my
programme production," she said.
Connecting the issues with community radio programmes is all part of the
sharing and learning at the training and already Ashika and Jimaima have
connected with the issue of water:
“In Ba, the women are facing problems, in washing, cooking and planting
vegetables due to lack of water supply and at times the women have to work far
from their homes to get water for their activities, either from a well or the
river. Some of the families in Ba are very poor and cannot afford water tanks
in their homes so they use whatever is available to them for water storage,”
related Ashika..
"We are always facing frequent water cuts and in my street each household
has a water tank. I have a 10 month old baby and clean water is essential for a
baby’s daily life, the ongoing water cuts is a course of frustration for me
personally," shared Jimaima.
Meanwhile 19 year old Eleni Nabalarua of Generation Next Suva said for her a
big concern is safety:
“My issue is personal security as there have been too many robberies in my
community. Before only houses used to be robbed but now in my neighbourhood
families are being violated and attacked at night with the children still in
the house,” she said.
Meanwhile, for Lucille, the remoteness of her village community is a cause for
concern:
“In my village which is Tawake village which is 120km from Labasa town, the
nurses do not want to stay there as it is very far from town.”
The young women today produced a series of short radio programmes discussing
their issues and ideas which will air this weekend on FemTALK 89.2FM.
FemLINKPACIFIC’s Annual Young Women’s Media Skills and Advocacy training which
started 15 February, has brought together 21 young women from Labasa, Nadi,
Suva, Ba, Bougainville, Tonga and Solomon Islands as well as members of the
Rainbow Women’s Network to enhance their roles as core producers and
broadcasters for community radio and using it as a means to discuss issues that
affect them as young women in their various communities.
During the 2 week skills training from the 15th to the 25th of February, the
young women will get the opportunity to build their capacity to be core
producers of media content to support the rural networks in Labasa/Savusavu,
Nadi/Ba and Suva/Nausori as well as provide coverage and deepen their
understanding of key policy related activities linked to femLINKPACIFIC's own
priorities.