To be heard

Everyone has some variation of sound; whether it is just their voice or the way they move, there is something about them that sounds unique. I can tell my mother by the sound of her bangles, my grandmother by hers and I have grown up envious of their sounds.

Women of my family have always been vocal, outspoken women. From those taken as children and forced or tricked onto boats or the strong women of my father's family, speaking in actions or making noise with their feet as they dance, women make noises all of their own.

I grew up throwing tantrums, making my sound that way. Sometimes muffled by the seat of an armchair I would hide my head in, bum in the air, yelling and screaming to get my way as an odd child. As an adult, I have developed a fascination with bells. At the turn of 2014, I had plans to find brass bells and string them on a cotton belt – something dark or muted to wear on my hips so I would be heard without saying a word. I couldn't find a single bell.

In this last trip around Viti Levu, we stopped in Ba to pay homage to a cluttered, fascinating shop, as we usually do, and my mother bought me a pair of anklets. Silver, plain, with two three-somes of bells. While it may seem like the most trivial of things, I was ecstatic. The sound of these six tiny bells would be my sound.

Sure, tiny in comparison to the global chorus of silver that adorns my mother's wrist; nowhere near as regal as my grandmother's odd pair of gold and silver plated wood. My bells are mine and when I hear my feet make music, my heart swells with a strange tingling, a sense of pride that I have found my sound.

The West...I guess?

Going west after about 6 months has been an interesting experience. While only a 2 day trip, I feel the changes in my brain, making gears turn and my skin break out into itchy heatrash. Okay, so while my body completely disagrees with the notion of leaving the house, I'm glad I was brought out for work. With one interview in the bag as we head home tomorrow, I know that I've gotten a whole lot more from the trip.

dahhhh - mountaaaains!

First, I am glad I am freely able to access information or at least have people on hand if I need it. So many women have been raising their concern and confusion over the upcoming elections - unsure about protocol, how they're going to make it to one-day voting, how they get to pick someone to vote for or even where their vote goes.

Secondly, I am grateful, as always, that I get to do what I do. Sure, I dont fully support myself but hey, I get paid pretty damn good for a volunteer while doing work I love. I learned that people over the age of 70 do get social assistance but $30 a month... that's barely a dollar a day. It makes me worry about the quality of living for so many on the wayside.

Thirdly, I learned that I am lucky enough to be able to access private healthcare. While still relatively frustrating and useless, it basically means that I get prescribed more than just paracetamol and actually get a medical professional that listens to me when I relay symptoms and concerns. I also only have to spend a few hours at most before getting seen as opposed to losing a day at the hospital in the hopes of getting seen. That said, I have had a significant number of times in the waiting areas of the public hospital but I decided I didnt want to pick up more diseases waiting to get my initial one treated.

Lastly, there is hope. Women, especially women that we've been engaging with, are affirming their need to be heard, voicing their concerns to political parties while they come around to campaign, demanding real words and not empty promises. It's the kind of critical I like to hear about. One convener heard a woman recount a recent campaign visit where she stood up, challenging the political party's candidate's words. The convener then asked if the woman that shared her story of standing up and speaking if she was against the party. "No," she said. "I wanted the candidate to know that we won't stand for false promises." It made me smile to hear.

So. For additional reflections, there's a video about all of this! yay! face!

Women in Pacific Media

So, as a woman (or female, because I don't think I've quite really entered into "official" womanhood) in the media, I get the occasional grump from seeing a lot of guys around me. Hey, sure, they're all fine and good, but I guess I get sad double guessing myself because I don't have a penis to help me set up my camera at stuff. Anyway, sobbing and eye-rolling aside, I had the opportunity to get on a plane, freeze my butt off and officially learn how to camera and edit good.

Being sunny doesn't mean warmer.

PACMAS emailed me after I sent in an application saying "hey, come on over to Melbourne!" And so I did. It was amazing. The ABC is shiny and I love Melbourne. Having been there twice before, I had some idea what to expect and was, to be honest, very much excited about the food.

Delicious. All of it. That aside, I did vlog a little bit (and write) while I was there.

I’m Sian Rolls and I’m currently a community radio producer and broadcaster, team leader at FemLINK Pacific’s Suva station and host of the weekday morning show on FemTALK 89FM. I also produce a weekly YouTube show known as FemVids. Halfway through this intense one week training at the ABC in Melbourne, I can say it’s been amazing. While a trained journalist, being taught about how cameras really work as well as ideas behind editing and visual techniques is something pretty foreign to me. Being given this type of information will prove infinitely useful as time progresses and as a producer and videographer I get to access equipment more sophisticated than my typical handycam. I am also glad to have this kind of knowledge to give back to those I work with back at home - (original found here)

And after all of this stuff, I'm finally back home. And when it came to deciding what I was going to take away from the whole experience (apart from the obvious - skills to do things that may one day help me pay bills), it was the need to talk more about women in technical positions. Sure, a lot more women are having to pick up cameras as TV Journalists, but I wonder how many lose out because technical work is not a "girl thing". Anyway, I discuss it properly in this week's FemVid and have a couple of grabs from the other women that were at the training with me.

So thanks for hanging around. I leave you with positive vibes and all my hopes and dreams. Oh, and a picture of me making a face because I was cold.