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‘From The Ashes’ Fire Recovery Project Wins State Award www.picsearch.com he Latrobe City Emergency Recovery Team’s digital story telling project ‘From the ashes’ has won a state award in the 2007 Australian Safer Communities Awards presented in Melbourne last week. By Latrobe City - 25th September 2007 - Back to News The award ceremony was hosted by the Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner and presented by Hon Bob Cameron, Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Latrobe City is now the Victorian nomination for the national award to be presented later this year in Canberra. The national award will be hosted by Emergency Management Australia which is part of the Attorney General's Department.
Latrobe City mayor, Councillor Tony Zimora, said that the commitment to the project had been outstanding.
"I congratulate the Emergency Recovery Team for their efforts; in particular I would like to recognise Steve Tong, manager community support and development, for his personal involvement in developing this project from conception to completion.
"Latrobe City in partnership with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) facilitated a three day workshop where ten participants from across the Gippsland region each produced short stories of their experiences in the recent bushfires.
"The idea behind the story telling project was to allow the 2006/2007 Gippsland bushfire victims to share their very personal experiences in a contemporary way. The project proved to be an essential resource for decision makers, emergency managers and recovery workers to understand the unique nature of human reaction to the same event," Cr Zimora explained.
Latrobe’s manager community support and development, Steve Tong said that the stories produced were a resource for communities to assist them in the recovery process.
"When people in our community view the stories, they may relate to the insights and perspectives relayed in the stories and consider their own experience and the uniqueness of them. Alternatively, they may reject the storyteller’s view. Either response forces the viewer to consider their reaction and progress their emotional recovery," Mr Tong said.
"The DVD has been shown at recovery closure celebrations across the region and is used as a tool to educate communities and organisations. It demonstrates the diversity of responses and the common threads in the lives of those who have experienced trauma.
"The storytellers benefited personally from enhanced assisted mutual support and networking, which has facilitated their journey to personal recovery," Mr Tong concluded.
Copies of the DVD ‘From the ashes’ are available for hire from Latrobe City libraries.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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