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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
January 5, 2006
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| December 6 2005 |
Positive action to strengthen communities – the work of Peni Moore and Women’s Action for Change |
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| Representative from Women’s Action for Change (WAC), Fijian Peni Moore |
Peni Moore believes that the most effective way to create positive change is to make action - not conversation. She is the co-founder and creative director of Women’s Action for Change (WAC), which is a women’s civil society organization based in Suva, Fiji. |
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| Peni gives a lecture onboard Peace Boat about Suva-based non-government organization, WAC |
Established in 1993, WAC is founded on the principal that all people should be treated equally, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, ability or sexual orientation.
One of the ways in which WAC helps communities to strengthen themselves is theatre. The15 actors of WAC, who have been trained in scripted theater, produce plays that cover many controversial themes, such as gender issues, child abuse and racism. They perform in rural and urban schools and communities all over Fiji. |
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| Playing introduction games in a workshop |
Using theatre as a means to communicate important issues is an effective means of getting people to think seriously about issues that they typically find difficult to talk about, says Peni. “For example, we are currently running a rape awareness campaign. Rape is a big problem in Fiji, but it’s hard to talk of such subjects in society. We find theater is a good way to get people to open up, and also for men to join [in thinking about the issue],” she said.
WAC also works with men who have come out of prison. “Men who come out of prison are discriminated against and find it hard to find work. They often take their oppression out on their families. We believe that if men feel better about themselves they won’t need to turn their sense of oppression onto women. We are there to help them,” said Peni. |
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| Participants of Peni’s dramatic expression workshop convey their opinions through human sculptures |
WAC is the only organization in Fiji that deals with the issue of sexual orientation. Believing that sexual orientation is a human right, WAC supports Article 38 of the Fijian constitution that states people cannot be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. However, this equality clause is currently under threat, says Peni. “At the moment the constitutional provision is very much at risk of being removed. The major church in Fiji is the Methodist church, and it has been putting massive pressure on the government to condemn homosexuality and remove the clause,” she said. WAC is currently lobbying the government to keep the article in the constitution.
WAC works to strengthen communities so that their opinions can be heard. “At the heart of any change is the need to increase the voice in the home, schools, workplaces and wider community. We believe that unless people participate in decision-making or education, nothing changes,” said Peni.
Onboard Peace Boat, Peni held a series of popular workshops which encouraged participants to express their feelings through drama.
The workshops, which focused on a range of issues, represented one of WAC’s philosophies – education through dramatic expression. “As an organization we don’t just talk about it, we try and find a means of finding a way to make change – we make action!” she said. |
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