| 1. International Women's Day 1.1 Saturday 1 March 'BYO' (Bring your own) Film Launch at ACMI, Fed Sq, $0 incl lunch |
BYO (Bring Your Own)  International Women's Day 8 March 2008 www.internationalwomensday.com | Watch the very first public screening of the film 'Bring your own' (BYO) - a video documentary of, by and for women Between Friday 25 January and Sunday 27 January 2008, 11 women of diverse cultural backgrounds participated in a three day workshop in Seymour, regional Victoria. They cooked their favourite recipes, brought their own ingredients and cooking pots, told stories of love, harmony, conflict and family around food, and came up with 'recipes' to solve some of the ‘conflicts’ they experience as women. They sang songs about food, community, life, struggles and country, they reflected on what they missed and the longings they have within them despite the busy lives they live in Australia. Come and join in more conversations with these women this Saturday and enjoy lunch and a graduation ceremony at the Queen Victoria Women's Centre afterwards. Let us celebrate being WOMEN, the gender that gives and facilitates life! The documentary will be shown at Cinema 2 at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) at Federation Square, Flinders Street Melbourne. Please arrive by 9:30am. You must tell us you are coming before the event (reply to this email) as we only have 170 seats available. This is a free event and donations are welcome. For more details |
| 1.2 Thursday 6 March Promote your enterprise at QV at the VIRWC Stand
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Women's Mini Expo | There will be a Women’s Mini-Expo from 12.30pm - 2.00pm on Thursday 6 March in QV Square just behind the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre. There will be entertainment and stalls providing practical information about the range of services available for women in the City of Melbourne. If you would like to sell your products (particularly handicrafts) on the VIRWC table, please reply to this email. http://www.wire.org.au/site/events.php |
| 2. Advocacy 2.1 VIRWC Women's Voice on SBS World View Radio this week
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 Women's Voice SBS World View Radio www.sbs.com.au/worldview | Caroline Davey interviewed Melba Marginson (Founder & Executive Officer of the Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women's Coalition), Zehra Yalcin (External Liaison officer of the Kurdish Women's League) and Theresa Sengaaga Ssali (Senior Social Worker & Team Leader with the African Holistic Settlement Service) on the issues of Australian Citizenship and the program will be going to air this week on 1224 AM or 93.1 FM at either 6am or 5pm. For more details |
| 2.2 NIRWA to be featured at WomenSpeak in Canberra 17-18 March 2008
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 WomenSpeak in Canberra www.ywca.org.auprojects/womenspeak | WomenSpeak Network will host a session on immigrant and refugee women's issues facilitated by the newly-formed Network of Immigrant and Refugee Women of Australia (NIRWA) in Canberra on 17 - 18 March 2008. FECCA Chair, Voula Messemeri-Kianidis will provide an overview speech and representatives of each member state and territory of NIRWA will speak on their priority issues. Victorian representative Melba Marginson will focus on social inclusion issues touching on skills training pathways, safety, leadership and participation, and language/access to information in at her presentation in this forum. If you have any further issues you would like raised, please contact Melba Marginson eo@ virwc.org.au or            0418 389 135 |
| 3. Training 3.1 Get Skilled Training - opportunities closing soon
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 Get Skilled | We are currently accepting registrations for people without Australian qualifications in various Certificate II courses. This training is available free of charge. Please contact Julia Bilecki at training@ virwc.org.au or 9654 1243. |
| 3.2 Dates for your diary for 2008
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 Events in 2008 | VIRWC is hosting a variety of events this year: 01/03/08 Recipe for Community Harmony Film Launch on International Women's Day 30/05/08 Women's Power Forum - Women in the Arts - 12-2pm 20/07/08 Dinner for volunteers of the VIRWC 18/07/08 Women's Power Forum - Women in the Media - 12-2pm 06/08/08 VIRWC Members Only Lunch with VIRWC Patrons 26/09/08 Women's Power Forum - Women in the Law - 12-2pm 18/10/08 VIRWC Fundraising Event 26/11/08 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and 10 year celebration event |
4. Projects 4.1 Active Citizenship from the Centenary of Women's Suffrage |
 Victorian Women Vote www.women.vic.gov.au/CA256EA E0012F311/Womens%20Policy/ Women+as+leadersCentenary +of+Suffrage | In this year's Centenary of Women's Suffrage grants round, the VIRWC has been successful in receiving a grant to produce a book based on interviews with at least 10 immigrant and refugee women who have actively been involved in Victoria's civic and political life in the last 40 years. The interviewees will be selected on the basis of their consistent engagement and the impact they have had in their communities and the Victorian civic and political life, including the voluntary nature of their work. An announcement seeking nominations for women who will be featured in the book will be released soon. If you already have someone in mind, please contact Melba Marginson eo@ virwc.org.au or            0418 389 135 |
| 4.2 Women's Group Survey Report now online
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 Women's Group Survey Report | The Women's Group Survey Report produced by Barbara Furgal identifying the needs of immigrant and refugee women's groups. For more details
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5. Volunteers 5.1 New volunteer and call for more |
 Call for volunteers | We are pleased to welcome Karin Butterfield as our Volunteers Coordinator and we are also looking for four more people for our office and some women who would like to directly support immigrant and refugee women's groups in Victoria. Contact Karin volunteers@ virwc.org.au or 9654 1243 on Tuesdays or Thursdays. For more details |
| | This edition of the VIRWC email newsletter has been produced by our Executive Officer Melba Marginson and our Communications Officer Sue Ellson. If you would like to subscribe, please send an email to virwc@ virwc.org.au. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. |