September has been a quiet yet rejuvenating month for the Sista team. This month was an opportunity for the team to take a breather and bond over shared skills, experiences and achievements.
The highlights for this month was welcoming Sista’s Executive Director, who safely returned from her leave, and our new Communications and Advocacy Coordinator. We also farewell Katherine Bowden, who has been an absolute gem in our office. She has been very inclusive in assisting and working closely with the Sista team. We will miss you Katherine, and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
With only 3 months before 2022 ends, we are looking forward to carry out several exciting projects – The Pacific Feminist Forum, Women in Media, Balance of Power Booklets and of course, 16 Days of Activism.
Projects
Jessica Macreveth – Sista Gat Style, Vanuatu Daily Post
This month we welcome and celebrate Jessica who originates from Santo – Vanuatu’s largest Island and currently resides at Mele Village with her parents. A mother of a two-year-old daughter who is independent, confident and mentally strong, Jessica feels blessed to be a woman and encourages other women to embrace the beauty and power of womanhood.
Jessica has her own sewing business that she operates from her house which generates income for her and her little family. She started taking orders from her clients when she was 18 years old. Her sewing business is already a testimony of her living her dreams but she continues to manifest her vision further with the hope of one day setting up her own clothing boutique shop.
Jessica designs all her stylish outfits, if you want to wear one of her designs, check out all her designs on her Facebook page Sew Soul and/or contact her on 7719481/5406392 to place your orders.
Young Women’s Leadership Program Dinner Night, CARE
On the 12th of September, Sista’s Program and Finance Manager and Communications Officer attended the Young Women’s Leadership Program (YWLP) Dinner which was held at Moorings Hotel.
The highlight of the event were the speeches from each alumni cycle representative. Eliza Mondou, who was once a YWLP participant but is now an alumni, spoke about her journey from joining the program to discovering her potential to support those who struggle with mental health. Another special highlight of the evening was paying tribute to one of the YWLP’s late sista’s, Selena Jimmy. Each girl had the chance to stand up and share a message or a fond memory they had of Selena.
Sista is very grateful to be working with CARE in this initiative which is seen as a movement of empowering women to become successful in their future careers. Sending well wishes to past and future YWLP participants!
Coming Soon
Oceanic Pacific Women in Media Research Baseline Research 2022, PACMAS
This month, Sista’s Project Officer has been preparing for the Oceanic Pacific Women in Media Research Baseline Research 2022. This project is seeking to understand the issues and needs that women in the media face and how we can find opportunities in the future to address them. Our Project Officer will be doing desk reviews, identifying contacts of women in media, contextualizing the methodology and questionnaire and planning on how to carry out the entire study.
The Sista Project team is excited to carry out the study in the following weeks and acknowledge the support from PACMAS.
Yu laekem blong storian?
Sista is currently on the search for another member to join the team as the host for The Round Table podcast. An exciting opportunity for young women to lead the conversation and speak on issues affecting young people in Vanuatu. Go to our Facebook and Instagram page to find out more.
Other News
Participation in surveys and research
The Executive Director participated in two surveys including a project led by Fiji Women’s Rights called Feminists for a People’s Vaccine Campaign – a global online advocacy action led by DAWN and Third World Network (TWN) for equitable, accessible and affordable COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and equipment. She also participated in a research piece by Save the Children programme ‘Bildimap Bren blong Pikinini’, that is looking at the impact of children’s exposure to violence.
Human Resources Consultancy, CARE Vanuatu
Sista has been working closely with a Human Resources (HR) consultant to support us in establishing and strengthening appropriate human resources, administrative and support systems to enable us to manage a growing donor grant funding portfolio. Our HR manual and policies are almost finalized, and we are looking forward to streamlining our HR, finance and admin so we have a strong foundation to work from.
Self Care for team, FRIDA FUND Newsletter Template/ SOP
We have been blessed to receive an organizational strengthening grant from FRIDA that offers flexibility to its grantees to support our work. To thank the team for their hard work and leadership while the Executive Director was away, the squad were given massage vouchers for some well deserved relaxation time.
Communications Manual, FRIDA and We Rise Coalition
The past few months, we’ve been lucky to have Katherine Bowden providing support to the communications team and she has led the development of a communications manual to support the communications and advocacy department of Sista. We farewell Katherine at the end of this month and thank her for her service and solidarity.
Feature in VPride video for launch of Fashion Show
The Executive Director featured in the introductory video that will be launched at VPride Fashion’s Show as an act of solidarity to support the SOGIE movement. Congratulations to VPride on another successful sold out show!
Review of partnership documents, CARE Vanuatu and We Rise Coalition
We have been reviewing partnership documents for our new funding order with two of our key partners – CARE Vanuatu and the We Rise Coalition. These two partners have been critical for the success of Sista and we are grateful for the opportunity to work together again in the year to come!
Supporting the recruitment of Sista Communication Coordinator
Sista’s Program & Finance Manager (PFM) helped support the recruitment process for Sista’s Communication Coordinator position. The recruitment process was led by the team’s Communication Consultant, Katherine Bowden. Overall there was a good representative of shortlisted candidates. A lot of lessons were learned throughout the process in itself, one being to ensure that the interview dates are scheduled properly.
We Rise Funding 2021 – Sept 2022 Acquittal Report
Sista Finance Department has worked closely with IWDA Finance Team to finalize the acquittals and supporting documents of the IWDA & Sista funding cycle commencing July 2021 – Sept 2022. It has been an ongoing challenge with aligning and redesigning the finance systems so essentially they are compatible with Donor finance systems, however one of the highlights guaranteed is that there is a lot of growth, capacity, and relationship building throughout the process.
Women In Media (PACMAS) and National Feminist Forum (We Rise) Costed Work Plan are finalized
Sista has two exciting upcoming projects to roll out in September and October, there is the Women in Media and the National Feminist Forum. The PFM has managed to submit the cost work plan to the Executive Director and the donors so that we can proceed in receiving the first Grant and Sub Grant installment payments within that time frame.
