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Gippsland › Latest news › Department of Sustainability and Environment69 Days Of Bushfire - A Community PerspectiveDo you have a story, photo or poem about the recent fires in Gippsland? Are you interested in contributing to a book that records peoples’experiences of these fires? By Department of Sustainability and Environment - 6th June 2007 - Back to News The Women Who Mean Business, Latrobe Valley Inc. is a local volunteer group working with the support of a number of agencies across Gippsland to compile and publish a book that details the recent bushfires, focusing on personal experiences of the event.
Project Officer, Michelle Tisdale said she hopes the result of this project will be a product that is locally owned and valued by the whole community.
"We want to give people the opportunity to tell their stories, poems and show their pictures to others, reflecting and sharing their experiences, " Ms Tisdale said.
"We hope it could be a way to help heal the pain and the loss and to move on, as well as providing some better understanding about the impact of bushfire on our communities."
Ms Tisdale said the Women Who Mean Business group is hoping that the project will celebrate community resilience and local heroes and provide an opportunity to share personal experiences.
"We’d like to create a whole of community story that includes residents, volunteers, firefighters and other emergency workers, forming a historical account of the summer of 06/07,"she said.
"It should remind us that although fire is a natural part of the environment, Gippsland is a unique place to live where communities support each other and can survive bushfires."
The following are some ideas for the types of material the group is looking for:
Personal experiences: the landowner, the firefighter, school children, local businesses and agencies supporting the effort.
What happened in other communities: some communities were very focussed on their own circumstances but are interested in reading about what was happening elsewhere.
What was it like in places not directly affected by flames, but affected by smoke or family members away volunteering?
Continues…
International firefighter stories- what it was like to come to Australia, help out a community in need, how they were welcomed and supported by the community, an opportunity to express their thanks to communities and vice versa.
Personal preparedness: what worked on properties, what will people do differently next time or to prepare better for the next fire season.
How is the community recovering? What have we learnt, what are our hopes for the future?
Photographs and poems are welcome too!
There are some conditions for contributions to the book:
Stories and poems must be no more than 1000 words.
Submissions are open to and encouraged from the whole community including volunteer and paid emergency workers.
Women Who Mean Business, Latrobe Valley Inc. will own the copyright to the book. However, contributors will only be required to lease the copyright of their material to the group for the purpose of the book and retain ownership of their material for future use.
Women Who Mean Business, Latrobe Valley Inc. retain editorial control of the book and selection of material for inclusion.
To ensure the book reflects and is relevant to the whole of Gippsland, contributions for the final book will be selected from every locality with a balanced allocation dependant upon the number of final contributions.
Contributions must be received by July 31 2007. Contributors are encouraged to make contact with the Women Who Mean Business group on ph: 5134 3223 or via email: michelle.tisdale@gmail.com to discuss the requirements for inclusion to the book in more detail.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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