Tom Mawi

A photo shoot with legendary Fijian guitarist, Tom Mawi, upstairs, at the Golden Dragon, where he started his career, Suva.

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Most Wanted - School Library Book Drive

Two boys play with a wheel barrow, Soa village, Viti Levu, Fiji.

Soa was decimated by Cyclone Winston in 2016, Fiji’s biggest ever cyclonic event. Since then, the remote village of 500 has been gradually recovering.

Today, the local school accommodates Years 1 to 8. Although the school has several computers, they often lie idle as the village’s diesel generator is unreliable and prone to power fluctuations which threaten the computer hardware.

The school library is also under-resourced and is need of reading material for its students.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting several photographs from Soa village and asking people with used children’s books (suitable for Years 1 to 8) to donate them to the school.

Please contact me if you have any unwanted books for donation. Shipping has been generously arranged.

Imagine, a school with no Internet and only books!

*click on image for full screen view.

Boy At Desk

Boy at Desk, Soa Village, Viti Levu, Fiji.

Soa was decimated by Cyclone Winston in 2016, Fiji’s biggest ever cyclonic event. Since then, the remote village of 500 has been gradually recovering. Today, the local school accommodates Years 1 to 8. Although the school has several computers, they often lie idle as the village’s diesel generator is unreliable and prone to power fluctuations which threaten the computer hardware.

The school library is also under-resourced and is need of reading material for its students.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting several photographs from Soa village and asking people with used children’s books (suitable for Years 1 to 8) to donate them to the school.

Please contact me if you have any unwanted books for donation. Shipping has been generously arranged.

Imagine, a school with no Internet and only books!

*click on image for full screen view.

Cagi

Cangi, at the family home, Suva, Fiji.

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Soa Village

Images from a recent trip to Soa village, Viti Levu, Fiji

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School Girl Through Louvred Window

A school girl peers through a louvred window of her classroom in Soa village, Fiji.

Soa was decimated by Cyclone Winston in 2016, Fiji’s biggest ever cyclonic event. Since then, the remote village of 500 has been gradually recovering. Today, the local school accommodates Years 1 to 8. Although the school has several computers, they often lie idle as the village’s diesel generator is unreliable and prone to power fluctuations which threaten the computer hardware.

The school library is also under-resourced and is need of reading material for its students.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting several photographs from Soa village and asking people with used children’s books (suitable for Years 1 to 8) to donate them to the school.

Please contact me if you have any unwanted books for donation. Shipping has been generously arranged.

Imagine, a school with no Internet and only books!

*click on image for full screen view.

Irinieta

Irinieta, Soa Village, Viti Levu, Fiji.

Soa, a small village of around 500 people in eastern Viti Levu, is still recovering from the devastating effects of Cyclone Winston in 2016, which virtually flattened much of the island nation and destroyed many houses in its path. It was the most powerful cyclone ever to hit Fiji. Three years later, village life in Soa is slowly returning to some sense of normality, in part due to the burgeoning trade in locally produced yaqona (kava), a plant that takes three years to grow and harvest.

Irinieta shares a small, recently renovated house with her mother, blind father and one-year old son, Kusitino.

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Day Old Leis

Still life of day old salusalus (leis), Soa village, Fiji.

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Message Stick Walker

Alwyn Doolan, The Message Stick Walker, arrived yesterday morning on Gadigal country, Warrang, Sydney.

He symbolically walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge with supporters in tow, before heading to Redfern and then on to Invasion Day events, where he campaigned for Sovereignty.

Alwyn has travelled over 5,000 kms by foot from Bamaga in far north Queensland. His epic journey will end at Uluru, via Canberra. His aim is to bring more attention to the injustices perpetrated against Aboriginal peoples across Australia.

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Yabun Sunset Ceremony, La Perouse

This year’s Yabun - a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait culture and survival held every year on Invasion Day - was launched on the 25th of January at La Perouse with a sunset ceremony.

A sacred fire was created by traditional methods on Yarra Bay and rowed out to Timbery Reserve in a handmade canoe. There, on the point, dances and speeches ensued.

Along with the sacred fire, a wreath commemorating the devastating impact caused by colonisation was then set out to sea on the Tribal Warrior, to be taken through Sydney Heads and used to light a fire the following day in Victoria Park, the current site of Yabun.

From the organisers:

“Yabun has its origins in La Perouse in the 1990s before it relocated to Waverly Park, then to Redfern Park and now Victoria Park in Camperdown. The Sunset Ceremony is a chance for us to come together to honour and reflect on the sacrifices and struggle that has come before us. Performances by Chifley Public School and the Waradah Dance Group.'“

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Invasion Day, 2019, Gadigal Country, Sydney

Up to 50,000 people marched on Gadigal country, Sydney to mark 230 years of British colonialism in Australia.

Mainstream media outlets quoted attendance levels anywhere from just 1,000 to only 3,000 people. Clearly the numbers were overwhelmingly in excess of these figures, as the images prove. Others sources quoted numbers beyond 50,000. An estimated 80,000 people marched in Melbourne, while rallies in other centres and regional areas across the country were also held. Public sentiment is slowly swinging towards a more critical understanding of Australia Day as protest numbers have dramatically increased each year in recent times.

Many Aboriginal people see the 26th of January, otherwise known as ‘Australia Day,’ as the start of centuries of genocide, dispossession and ongoing discrimination.

The rally marched from Hyde Park South in the CBD to Yabun in Victoria Park, Glebe. The protest was organised by FIRE (Fighting In Resistance Equally) with support from hundreds of other community groups and thousands of individuals.

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Invasion Day 2019, Gadigal

Up to 50,000 people marched on Invasion Day in Sydney, Gadigal country, to demand justice for Aboriginal people across the nation.

This image shows the crowds stretching kilometres from Victoria Park in Glebe, down Broadway to at least Harris Street in Ultimo.

More pics to come.

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Yabun Sunset Ceremony

A plane sets for landing over La Perouse as members of the Waradah Dance Group sing a wreath of flowers and a sacred fire out to sea, to be transported into Sydney Harbour for tomorrow’s commemoration of Invasion Day, more broadly known as ‘Australia Day’..

More pics from the Yabun Sunset Ceremony to come…

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