Wanigili Centre – Alotau, Milne Bay Province
“Ewwwaaa Wanigili!!” is what you might call out as you were paddling past a Milne Bay village where a diverse group of people were gathered, doing something that looked interesting. It describes our place, because at different times young & old, professional & grass roots, local & international can be seen together, participating in a variety of activities that contribute to positive developments within the province.
Welcome to Wanigili Centre, in Alotau, the capital of the beautiful province of Milne Bay - Papua New Guinea. Managed and operated by locally owned company Education Milne Bay Ltd, Wanigili is a unique and spacious eco-style facility providing development services to the community and nation at large.
It is here that a small group of eight very talented local men and women have been meeting for the past two months to form the “Wanigili Theatre Group”(WTG). The majority of the group are unemployed and with the exception of one or two, have had no formal training or professional experience in drama and theatre.
With the aid of funding from The Media for Development Initiative (MDI) Community Grant Scheme, the group’s mission is to develop their drama skills and then to produce 6 x 30 minute radio drama plays within 6 months. Titled “ The Bay Today”, the series will be set in Milne Bay Province but will examine the lives and issues of contemporary Melanesian communities in the 21st Century. These radio plays will be aired on the local radio station “Radio Milne Bay” by March 2007 and hopefully, the rest of the country. Key themes to be addressed are HIV/AIDS, Domestic Violence & Good Governance.
While we may not have all the answers or solutions to the above issues and many others that affect the Pacific family today, our main objective for this project is to inform, entertain, educate, empower and encourage open discussion and debate within our communities. Through the use of radio, we hope to reach as many remote rural and island communities as we can.
How do we intend to achieve all this in the short amount of time we have? With a lot of hard work and the assistance of Australian volunteer worker Jane McKenzie and her counterpart Maxine Nadile. Jane is a drama specialist from Sydney-Australia and has been with EMB for the past 7 months working as Community Arts Development Officer. She will be with EMB for a year. Maxine, who has been with the company for almost 2 years, is the Operations Manager with a background in Radio Communications.
To learn more about the Wanigili Theatre Group, who they are, where they’re from and what they’re learning, planning and doing this week as their deadline approaches.......READ ON!
“Ewwwaaa Wanigili!!” is what you might call out as you were paddling past a Milne Bay village where a diverse group of people were gathered, doing something that looked interesting. It describes our place, because at different times young & old, professional & grass roots, local & international can be seen together, participating in a variety of activities that contribute to positive developments within the province.
Welcome to Wanigili Centre, in Alotau, the capital of the beautiful province of Milne Bay - Papua New Guinea. Managed and operated by locally owned company Education Milne Bay Ltd, Wanigili is a unique and spacious eco-style facility providing development services to the community and nation at large.
It is here that a small group of eight very talented local men and women have been meeting for the past two months to form the “Wanigili Theatre Group”(WTG). The majority of the group are unemployed and with the exception of one or two, have had no formal training or professional experience in drama and theatre.
With the aid of funding from The Media for Development Initiative (MDI) Community Grant Scheme, the group’s mission is to develop their drama skills and then to produce 6 x 30 minute radio drama plays within 6 months. Titled “ The Bay Today”, the series will be set in Milne Bay Province but will examine the lives and issues of contemporary Melanesian communities in the 21st Century. These radio plays will be aired on the local radio station “Radio Milne Bay” by March 2007 and hopefully, the rest of the country. Key themes to be addressed are HIV/AIDS, Domestic Violence & Good Governance.
While we may not have all the answers or solutions to the above issues and many others that affect the Pacific family today, our main objective for this project is to inform, entertain, educate, empower and encourage open discussion and debate within our communities. Through the use of radio, we hope to reach as many remote rural and island communities as we can.
How do we intend to achieve all this in the short amount of time we have? With a lot of hard work and the assistance of Australian volunteer worker Jane McKenzie and her counterpart Maxine Nadile. Jane is a drama specialist from Sydney-Australia and has been with EMB for the past 7 months working as Community Arts Development Officer. She will be with EMB for a year. Maxine, who has been with the company for almost 2 years, is the Operations Manager with a background in Radio Communications.
To learn more about the Wanigili Theatre Group, who they are, where they’re from and what they’re learning, planning and doing this week as their deadline approaches.......READ ON!
posted by Jane & Cam at 4:59 PM
3 Comments:
that article was more than awesome! great stuff team! you guys seriously rock!
i miss alotau and the camps we used to have with the kids i took there.
keep it up and keep our png culture and message for aids alive.
fabulous job max! you are the bomb girl!
sis ans
AWESOME blog, my mum is from Topura village in Milne bay. I miss my mum cos i have not seen her for over 10 years.I hope to go back one day and see my mum and the people of Milne bay.
Top one.
i've read a couple of stuff on EMB and i must say 'maxine and the crew, well done!'. keep them coming.
marj
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