Officer, Too

Fiji May Need A Men's Interest Officer, Too

From Dorothea Baxter, in Suva “Will the men be able to keej; up?” . . . One wonders, wher. observing the rapid emergence oo women in Fiji in the last tw*\ years.

AT this rate, it is obvious that, um less some unforeseen obstacll: arises, many of the Colony’s womeis will soon be seeking wider fields the cooking and sewing which haw been their main preoccupations so fas in the 500-odd clubs that have sprunn up throughout the Colony.

Already Fiji’s women are corn ference-conscious, and apart from be' ing represented by individuals s overseas gatherings, they have sen; two large contingents abroad, one tt Canberra to the Pan-Pacific and SoutHj East Asia conference in Januarn 1961, and the other to the 10th triennial conference of the Countrri women of the World held in Mea bourne in October.

Reports written by some of thl observers (Fiji, not being affiliate with ACWW could not send del«I gates but was invited to send oik servers) have been described by Mn Graham Spry, chairman of tH; ACWW executive committee, as “classic example” of such an exerchi and she has requested extra copid of the report for use “in other place when people ask what conferences aifi for”.

New Training Centre In the next few months it is hopec two more Fijian women will undel take a study tour of New Zealam under the auspices of the Women; Division of the Federated Farmeia and in July, it is expected that tit new centre for the training of wom*n “area organisers” for the whole the South Pacific will open in Suu (PIM, Dec., 1962).

“Where is it all leading?” am again, “Will the men be able to kes up?” one asks, particularly in tit historic year when Fiji’s women wv cast a vote for the Legislate Council for the first time.

Women’s Interests Officer (Ml* Ruth Robertson) who was the fifi to be appointed to that position r Fiji has grave reservations partioi; lady after a tour of South-East A/ recently.

Although officially on leave, Miss Robertson took the opportunity to * observe as much as possible of what is being done in other territories in the field of women’s work.

Sarawak, where a community de velopment programme is being under taken by the Agricultural Depart ment, was one of the places to im press her most.

“They run a training course for extension workers and they have an equal number of boys and girls doing this course—the boys learn to cook, they learn the nutritional value of foods just like the girls, and the girls learn how to care for the animals and that sort of thing, just as the boys do,” Miss Robertson says.

At the end of the 18 months’ course—l 2 months’ theory and six months’ practice—Miss Robertson said the boys and girls go out to the different areas in pairs, and while the girl is there to instruct the women the boy is there to instruct the men.

At times, they combine in their in structions.

Unity Needed

In Malaya, Miss Robertson found a very realistic attitude to community development generally.

“The women’s programme there, too, is an integral part of the overall scheme, not an entity on its own as it is in Fiji,” she said.

“In Malaya there is a wonderful unity to be seen everywhere. For example, if there is some job to be done, the Government supplies the materials, the village the labour and jf necessary the services hop in too— it’s quite usual to see the soldiers, in cluding European officers, doing labouring work on some project in their time off.”

This unity of feeling was inter racial, Miss Robertson added, with each group showing a very real con cern for the welfare of others.

Miss Robertson said the Women’s Institute in Malaya, which received grants from the Malayan Govern ment, is represented on the Ministry of Rural Development and is often asked to express its opinion.

Again, in the Philippines, Miss Robertson found that women’s work is an integral part of the community development programme. Although the training of field workers is con ducted very differently from that in Sarawak, once trained, the result is the same with a boy and a girl com bining to spread their knowledge in a given area.

By concentrating on a separate scheme for women, with no corres ponding scheme for men, Fiji may well be creating difficulties for the future, Miss Robertson fears.

“I feel, Fiji, like these other places would benefit by concentrating on a community programme in which the women’s programme would be inte grated,” she said.

And no doubt she is right.

With Fiji’s women, particularly the Fijians, hungry for all that the Women’s Interests Officer has to offer (it is not unusual for them to walk many miles and stay up all night dur ing training courses), with talk of a co-ordinating committee so that the various women’s organisations will have a common voice, with women having the right to vote for the Government of the Colony, with women becoming increasingly aware

through conferences and study tours, of what is being done in other countries . . . well.

“Will the men be able to keep up?”

Suva Beats its Average Suva, Fiji, clocked up 135 inches of rain in 1962 —11 more than average. Last January, February and June were exceptionally wet but all other months were well below average rainfalls. In all there were 1,809 hours of bright Suva sunshine in 1962. The highest temperature was 93.6 degrees and the lowest 60.6 degrees.