Fiji Association of Women Graduates

Four FAWG members have confirmed attendance for the ATUW conference and PGWNet Council meeting planned for 18 & 19 September 2008 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.  The FAWG Council has agreed to sponsor travel/registration costs for one Young Member to attend and we are pleased that the Young Members have decided that their Convenor (Ronna) should attend. The other members going will be meeting their own travel and accommodation costs. The theme of the conference is "Maximising Opportunities and Overcoming Challenges for Women and Girls."
 
The FAWG members attending are:
Winifereti Nainoca, President (PGWNet rep)
Lily Vesikula, CIR (PGWNet rep)
Ronna Pastorizo, Young Members' Convenor
Annabel Wilson, Young Member

FAWG luncheons will now be held on the fourth Thursday of every month.  The next luncheon is scheduled for Thursday 25 September 2008.  The organising committee will confirm details for the September luncheon in the next few days and inform you all.

Please contact Emily (emilyh@spc.int) or Seni (vukikomoala_s@usp.ac.fj) if you wish to be part of this group.

The Young Members organized a screening of the movie Iron Jawed Angels at the FIT lecture theatre on 28 August 2008. The event was sponsored by the American Embassy.

It was a great success with a good turnout. Here is a message from Young Members Convenor, Maria Ronna Pastorizo:

Thank you very much to all of you who've worked hard, supported and helped us for our FAWG free film night. It turned out very good last night,and we hope to have other film nights like that so we can keep motivating members of our community by sharing inspirational stories like the one showed last night. Senimili, thank you for all your hard work, you spearheaded this project and it was a success!

Marama and the others who took photos, please send me the photos so I can upload them on our facebook event page and our website, and perhaps send them to the Fiji Times. To everyone who attended the film night and helped in our refreshments and membership table, and to those who were there to support the event, thank you so much. Much appreciated! We hope to have more film nights, once a month would be ideal, so if you have any suggestions for other sponsors, please let us know. We want to keep it free so it is accessible for everyone.

In retrospect to the film we viewed last night, I can't help but recall Michelle Obama saying the words below in her speech at the democratic national convention centre before mentioning that we are in fact celebrating the 88th year of American women finally winning the right to vote this week, she said that: 'It's the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls, and high school gyms. People who stood up and marched and risked everything they had, refusing to settle, determined to mold our future to the shape of our ideals.' It is because of the will and determination of these people that we enjoy so many of the privileges we have today. Just a dash of inspiration for those of us who give so much without expecting anything in return to give a voice to those who cannot speak up for themselves otherwise, and to give hope to our other brothers and sisters who would have had given up long before. Let us continue.

Thanks and blessings, Ronna

This was launched at the July luncheon at Tiri Restaurant.   The Young Members must be congratulated on the hard work put into the website. You are welcome to visit it on www.fawg.org.fj.

This was held on Friday 13 June 2008 at the Noble House.  The event was an exciting and fun-filled evening and raised over $1300 for the Scholarship Fund.

Click here to view the photos of the event.

The Scholarship Committee has met and approved scholarships for the following recipients at the Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT) for Semester 2, 2008:
 
1. Doreen Prasad - she has completed a Diploma in Civil Engineering and will continue to the Advanced Diploma in Civil Engineering.
 
2. Makareta Vuicakau - Trade Certificate in Vehicle Electrical and Electronics (stage 5)
 
3. Dilaite Tusonu - Trade Certificate in Electrical Engineering (stage 2)
 
4. Alumita Rokobati Kulavere - Trade Certificate in Electrical Engineering (stage 3)
 
5. Vinita Sunandini Naidu - Diploma in Agricultural Engineering

Alani Vuatalevu from FIT is our new Vice-President – taking over from Susie Aziz who has resigned due to work commitments.

Senimili Vukikomoala is our new Membership Convenor. She is of course Acting Secretary until end of October when Fulori Sarai will resume her post.

We welcome new member: Arati Sudhakar, USP.  Arati holds a Bachelor of Arts in Tourism and Information Systems and will be graduating with a MA in Tourism Studies at the USP September graduation.

The FAWG Council has agreed to meet every 2 months in 2008 and to make more use of electronic communication (email) in between meetings.  Meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month. The last meeting was held on 14 August.  We were delighted to welcome former FAWG and PGWNet executive, Vanessa Charters who was back in Fiji for a brief visit and who was able to lend her expertise to the Advocacy Group.