7
January 2002. The Hon Sela Molisa, Minister for Finance launched
two books in the Chiefs nakamal at Wunpuko Village North West Santo
on Saturday 4 January 2003, the first anniversary of his wife, Grace
Mera Molisa's death.
"This
is a historic occasion, because it is the first time that the first
launch of two books has been held outside one of the main town centres
in Vanuatu", the Minister said. "In
our ni-Vanuatu culture we have always recognised the importance of
history through our oral traditions. However, now we are in a modern
society we must start to write our history down.'' "Grace
valued history and was always writing, sometimes getting up early
in the morning to write. It is thus fitting that we launch these books
at the occasion of the first anniversary of her death", he said.
More
than 250 people attended the ceremony, which took place prior to the
dedication of the grave of Grace and her father in law, Mandei Rongtuhun,
who died shortly after her on 31 January 2002 in Port Vila. The two
graves lie side by side behind Sela Molisa's house at Wunpuko. The
crowd included all community leaders, chiefs and church leaders from
every village around North West Santo - from the two Presbyterian
sessions: Rua, Session around the cape into Big Bay, Malavuko to Molpoi,
and Potunpei Session, from Olboi to Petowat. Representatives of the
Trinity and the Praise and Worship congregations also attended.
The
first book to be launched was a collection of Grace's work on Women
and Governance that she had been writing for some years. It had been
stored on Rene Clemenseau's computer, now a staff member of Sun Productions.
Dr Shirley Randell edited and updated some of the statistics and the
Minister and Viran Molisa proofread the material. The booklet includes
examples of good governance practices, both traditional and modern,
a plan for good governance, and short statements on democracy, gender,
citizenship, and civil society.
The
booklet also includes sections on the Vanuatu Women in Politics organisation
and suggests strategies for closing the gender gap in representative
institutions and for bringing more women into public and political
life. Statistics on women in governments in the Pacific and on decision
making groups and institutional boards indicate how much more needs
to be done before women take their proper place alongside men in Vanuatu
society.
The
second book, edited by Dr Randell, "Pacific Creative Writing
in Memory of Grace Mera Molisa", was a collection of writing
in honour of Grace. The first section of the book includes poetry
and prose that was written following Grace's death, paying tribute
to her life and her amazing contribution to Vanuatu and the Pacific.
This section includes works by ni-Vanuatu writers, like Hilda Taleo,
Mildred Sope, John Laan, and Nadine Alatoa, and Pacific writers like
Lily Vesikula from Fiji, Albert Wendt from Samoa, Briar Wood from
New Zealand and Margaret Jolly from Australia.
The
second section is a collection of works on issues that were of concern
to Grace and includes pieces by Jacques Gedeon, Emma Krus Va'ai from
Samoa, Jean Takura Mason from the Cook Islands, and father and daughter,
Len and Alcina Garae. The third section contains tributes to Grace
in obituaries and internet messages from all over the world that were
received by the Molisa family during the early months of 2002, and
her curriculum vitae as a consultant with SR International and Associates.
The
book is well illustrated with contributions from Viran and Vatu Molisa
and photos of Grace as a young woman, mother, wife and women's leader.
The publication was assisted by a Vanuatu Association of Women Graduates
project funded by the International Federation of University Women's
Virginia Guildersleeve Foundation grant for creative writing. Minister
Solisa presented copies of the books to chiefs, elders and women leaders
from every village on North West Santo. He also presented some copies
of Ni-Vanuatu Role Models: Successful women in their own right, which
includes stories by Sela, Grace and Viran Molisa.
The
two books will shortly be available in Port Vila, other places in
Vanuatu and overseas, following a launch being organised by the Vanuatu
Creative Writers Association, many of whom had works published in
the collection on Creative Writing. Minister Molisa thanked Dr Randell
and Sonia Tavoa who had traveled to Wunpuko for the occasion. Dr Randell
presented a workshop on domestic violence protection court orders
to the women of the communities.
The
Wunpuko community discussed architectural drawings for a new church
that had been prepared by Steven Molisa. The plans had been drawn
up based on a drawing Grace had made two days prior to her death on
4 January 2002. Wunpuko people will shortly commence work on the new
church, which will be able to seat 4-500 people and will cost about
VT5 million.
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