VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - Cakaudrove Women's Resource Centre
Cakaudrove Women’s Resouce Centre, Fiji is looking for volunteers to complete the following tasks:
Video editing and design
An edited version of DV taken at recent meetings in Savusavu will be a useful presentation tool to help promote the project.
Editing and design of recipe book - This position has been filled
This book is to be used in fundraising for the project. The recipes are traditional Fijian dishes and the cover is to be made of tapa (mulberry bark) and hand printed by the women. There will be both an English and Fijian version of the book.
Water tanks donations research
On Fiji's remotest islands the shortage of potable water continues to be a problem. Recently there have been requests for water tanks in the remotest village on Vanua Levu. We need help to scope the best option for this area and how these might be funded.
Please email for more information and/or send us your expression of interest along with a current CV.
JUNE 2010 UPDATE - Cakaudrove Women's Resource Centre
Team members Emma Healy and Lucia Wellington are currently in Fiji presenting the sketch design to the Client. They will also be seeking approval from the paramount Chief and the Local Government on the design.
The project team has met with Adrian Soffield, an expat Australian architect, in Fiji who has offered to document the project from his office in Nadi. This will be completed with the project team (Loata Ho, Emma Healy and Lucia Wellington) in January 2011.
Construction is intended to commenced in June 2011. A position for a paid site foreman will become available at this time. The majority of labour will come from volunteers in the community. At the moment the project team is seeking materials donations to supplement what can we sourced in the local villages.
The team is also looking for an Australian engineer to help with advice on civil and structural advice.
Cakaudrove Women's Resource Centre - Savusavu, Fiji
Summary
This project consists of the design and construction of a Women’s Resource Centre in the town of Savusavu in Cakaudrove province. AWF provides support and assists in the funding application process. AWF also advises the project leaders in securing of consultants and consultation process with the local community. The local indigenous community of Cakaudrove province will provide land, some materials and some labour, and also support, accommodation and food for the project team when they visit. It is assumed that all consultants will be locally sourced and contacted through the Women’s Organisation. The Initial building estimate will be completed by Keith Williams of Gray Robinson Cottrell Quantity Surveyors, Brisbane. Keith Williams is a Fijian living and working in Australia and is able to provide extensive knowledge and expertise in rural Fijian construction costs and processes.
Client
Women’s Organisation - Soqosoqo Vakamarama i Cakaudrove Adi Unaisi MitiMiti (President) Adi Salaseini Kavu Fong (Treasurer) Roko Tui (Provincial Council of Cakaudrove)
Fijian indigenous society is highly communal, with great importance attached to the church (lotu), the land (vanua), the village and the family unit. The culture is very active; living with tradition and ceremony having remained intact for millennia. At present there is a real need to preserve traditional culture and skill for future generations, which will be lost if action is not undertaken. The elderly in villages are currently the main guardians of traditional culture and skills in Fiji. Losing them would mean a big loss for future generations, who do not adequately value their traditional heritage. Each province has different districts and the culture and skills are unique within each district. It is the indigenous women of Cakaudrove province who have formed an association (Soqosoqo Vakamarama i Cakaudrove) including all rural indigenous women and children from all the 15 districts of Cakaudrove. Their current role is to create awareness on the uniqueness of their traditional skills and handicrafts of each district, fundraising for scholarships for their children and to generate income for their families. There is currently no facility which can showcase their handicrafts unique only to Cakaudrove and also they have no meeting place. It is their dream to have their handicrafts and skills preserved, acknowledged and appreciated eventually to generate active interest from the younger generation of Cakaudrove today and in the future. The proposed Women’s Centre is expected to provide a space where indigenous women can exhibit their cultural skills, and work and generate an income, facilitate in empowerment and upgrading the standard of living for local women through self-employment and provide training facilities for younger indigenous rural women. It will benefit the whole community through strengthening cultural traditions and serve as a community building for all members (both women and men). The centre may eventually upgrade the standard of living in the villages surrounding the centre by benefiting livelihoods and contribute to sustaining traditional indigenous skills for future generations. Such a centre would have the potential to encourage other provinces to invest in similar resource centres for their communities.
Status
During April to July 2008 contacts have been established with potential consultants in Fiji and meetings held with the quantity surveyor to get pricing for the project based on drawings as completed by Loata Ho for her final architecture design project at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Expert advice has been sought from people who have experience in cross-cultural design projects. After preparations during August and September 2008, the project team travelled to Fiji in October 2008 to hold a design workshop (using physical models, 3D presentations and sketches) with the local people of Cakaudrove. The project team worked voluntarily to present the community with the sketch design component of the project. The project team also spent time observing the way rural indigenous women work and live in various communities in Fiji to better understand the needs of the clients and the brief for the project. This trip forms the Schematic Design phase of the project. During November and December 2008 applications for funds will be continued, and a program and fee structure will be established when funds are secured for the continuation of the project. As funds become secure, the project team will work in conjunction with AWF and Kevin O’Brien Architects, Brisbane to establish the direction of the project after the sketch design phase. If funds permit the project to move into the construction documentation phase and additional documentation staff is required, the project team will collaborate with AWF to find suitable staff for these positions. It is envisaged that the project team will be physically involved in the construction process in collaboration with local builders and trades people. The project team will investigate organising a construction studio in partnership with the School of Design, QUT and the Fijian Technical School or the University of the South Pacific. This could run as an elective subject in both institutions, teaching hands-on construction to local and international students, whilst increasing the amount of labour available to the project. There is also a high level of informal interest surrounding the project and the project team assumes a small percentage of this interest has an intention to commit to the long term goal of the project.
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