Melanesia Workshop Program

State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Workshop
Australian National University

Women, Christians, Citizens: Being Female in Melanesia Today
11-13 November 1998

Program

From left: Kenya Kala, Theresia Hopkos
Photo courtesy of Radio Australia

Wednesday, 11 November 1998

1.30-3pm:

Registration at Whitehall Guest House, 231 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento

3.00-4.00pm:

Afternoon tea, organiser's introduction.

Welcome by Kathryn Briggs to Bunnerong country

Welcome by Julie Andrews, Aboriginal Liaison Officer, La Trobe University

Jean Tarisesei
Photo courtesy of Radio Australia

4.00-6.00pm: Session 1: Women, Custom and Christianity

Tamara Wete, Kanaky/Fiji Lecturer in Women's Program, Pacific Theological College, Suva	" Christian Marriage in Kanak Society with Special Reference to 'Iai' Island"
Alice Aruheeta Pollard, Solomon Islands Chief Women's Development Officer, Ministry of Youth, Women, Sports and Recreation, SI	"Christianity and Bride Price"
Jean Tarisesei, Vanuatu, Coordinator, Women's Cultural Project, Vanuatu Cultural Centre	"Today is not the same as Yesterday and Tomorrow it will be Different Again: Kastom on Ambae, Vanuatu"
Lissant Bolton, Australia, Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, ANU	"Praying for the Revival of Kastom: Women and Christianity in the Vanuatu Cultural Centre"

6.00-7.30pm: Dinner

7.45-9.45pm: Session 2: Women, Crisis and Christianity

Ruth Saovana-Spriggs, Bougainville/ Australia, PhD student, ANU	"Women, the Church and the Peace Process in Bougainville"
Martha Toarats, Bougainville, Tsunpets,Bougainville, PNG	"The Women's Inter-Church Movement and Conflict Resolution on Bougainville"
Gloria Biia, Bougainville, Sister-in-Charge, Tekesu Health Centre Teop, NE Bougainville, PNG	"The Church, Women and Health: Being a Nurse in the Bougainville War"

10.00pm: Supper

Enikelen Netine
Photo courtesy of Radio Australia

Thursday, 12 November 1998

7.30-8.15am: Breakfast

8.30-10.30am: Session 3: Women and Christianity I

Rona Nadile, PhD student, ANU	"Prayer as Practical Action"
Pauline Boseto, Solomon Islands, Chief Nutritionist, Ministry of Health and Medical Services, SI	"Melanesian Women: Mothers of Christian Democracy"
Will Parks, Australia Tropical Health Program, University of Queensland	"Blessed Maternity and Maternal Blame: the Paradox of Motherhood in Marovo, Solomon Islands"
Jolene Stritecky, USA/Solomon Islands PhD student, University of Iowa	"Research? Collaboration? Constructing Knowledge about Women and Christianity in Solomon Islands"

10.30-11.00am: Morning tea

11.00-1.00pm: Session 4: Women and Modernity

Patricia Goa, Kanaky, Coordinator of Youth Affairs, Mission locale d'insertion des jeunes de la Province Nord, New Caledonia	"Women facing Modernity in Kanaky"
Theresia Hopkos, PNG, President, Ambunti District Council of Women, East Sepik Province, PNG	"The Ambunti District Women's Council: Problems and Successes"
Angela Mandie-Filer, PNG/Australia, PhD student, ANU	"The Influence of Church-State Partnership in Education on the Education and Development of Women in PNG: an Overview"

1.00-2.00pm: Lunch

2.00-4.00pm: Session 5: Women and Christianity II

Jully Makini, Solomon Islands Poet; works on women's affairs and conservation issues	Poems
Helen Hill, Australia, Department of Social Inquiry and Community Studies, VUT	"European Christian Missions in Melanesia and the Work of Women: the Impact of Christian Community Work on Attitudes Towards Women's Productive Labour"
Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka, Solomon Is./Australia, PhD student, ANU	"Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb: Christianity and Women on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands"
Jean Mitchell, Canada/Vanuatu, PhD student, York University, Ontario, Canada	"'A Woman Has Never Seen Jon Frum': Lisbeth Nampas and the Jon Frum Movement"

4.00-4.30pm: Afternoon Tea

4.30-6.00pm: Free

6.00-7.30pm: Dinner

7.45-9.45pm: Session 6: Videos: Transformed Isle (Solomon Islands, c. 1922);
The Fantastic Invasion (Vanuatu, c. 1990)

10.00pm: Supper

Theresia Hopkos
Photo courtesy of Radio Australia

Friday, 13 November 1998

7.30-8.15am: Breakfast

8.30-10.30am: Session 7: Women, Change and Empowerment

Josephine Barnes, Australia/Solomon Is. Facilitator, Catholic Women's Program, Auki, Malaita, Solomon Islands	"'Out of the Valley of Tears': the Catholic Women's Program, Auki, Malaita - a Catalyst for Change"
Enikelen Netine, Vanuatu, World Vision literacy program, Vanuatu	"The Women's Literacy Program in Vanuatu"
Martha Macintyre, Centre for the Study of Health and Society, University of Melbourne	"Women's Organisations as a Means of Adjusting to Rapid Social Change: a Case Study from Lihir" (read in place of Jacklynne Membup, Community Relations Department, Lihir Gold, Lihir, PNG)

10.30-11.00am: Morning tea

11.00-12.00am: Round-up and Conclusion

Overseas Service Bureau Meeting Room
88 Kerr Street
Fitzroy

6.00-7.30pm	Briefing session with representatives of AusAID and church and non-church NGOs. Thanks to OSB for providing their meeting room.
8.00pm on	Dinner prepared by members of the Solomon Islands Victoria Association.