Stuff We Like

This is not a new book, but it is a gripping and important one. As Mothers of the Land tells the story of women affected by the brutal conflict in Bougainville, a matrilineal society where nevertheless, women's voices and views were not always respected or heeded. The book charts how this changed, as women became organized and contributed to the peace process. It is a deeply affecting account.

Co-editor Josephine Sirivi opens by talking about her life as a "mother on the run" in the poem A Song For The People. Her stories and those of other contributors such as Marcelline Tumin intertwine universal domestic experiences with brutal detail about death, rape and fear.

Sirivi's co-editor is Marilyn Tavini, who is married to Bougainvillean leader Moses Havini and has represented Bougainville in many international conferences and forums.

The book works as a chronology, beginning with the blockade, occupation, the mobilization of women, the birth of the Bougainville Women For Peace and Freedom Movement and the peace process.

The format of As Mothers Of The Land means you can dip in and out of it. However it is so compelling that once you start on the journey with Havini, Sirivi and their sisters, you will find it hard to put down. Its messages resonate as Bougainville prepares for the election of an autonomous government this year, as a reminder of what has gone before and a prayer that it never happens again

Speaking Marshallese {cd}

If you want to learn the Marshallese language or to speak it better than you do now, a two-CD package produced recently by a Kwajalein Atoll resident should be on your shopping list. "It is certainly difficult to learn a foreign language unless you can also hear it and perhaps practice in the sanctity of your own home without being chuckled at ruthlessly," says Alan Taylor on the jacket of the CDs he has produced.

Several years ago, Alice Buck, the well-known Micronesian area Bible translator, who died last year, was asked if she had plans to update her collection of Marshallese language cassette tapes produced some 25 years ago. At the time, she was busy translating the Bible into Kosraean language. Taylor says at a later point, he bumped into Buck and she asked him to take on the update project. "So a year later, I did," he says.

The result: A two-CD pack that includes 13 audio lessons and 17 data tracks. The audio lessons include a pronunciation guide, basic words and phrases, basic emotions, expressions and questions, pleasantries, workplace Marshallese and much more. The data CD includes a printed version of the audio lessons (so people can read while listening). In addition, there's an English/Marshallese dictionary, as well as historical and cultural overviews.

The CDs are PC, but not Mac, compatible. The cost is $28.85, which includes priority mailing costs for U.S. mail zones. It's available at stores.ebay.com.Marshallese-Language-CD, or email Taylor at growpapayas@hotmail.com.

Oceania Flash {web}

The prolific Patrick Decloitre has launched a new streamlined Oceania Flash Website which compiles regular news from French Polynesia, New Caledonia and items dealing with France's relations with other Pacific Island nations, taken from his own sources and regional publications.

The site is bilingual, and designed for those people interested in news from this part of the region. Being text heavy rather than full of images and animation, it's suitable for people with dialup of slow Internet connections.

The news index is helpfully divided into logical categories including politics, agriculture, aviation and finance. If your server can support it, you can also listen to interviews and audio.
http://newspad-pacific.info/