Reporting…Reprt-*freezes*

I’ve been quite busy with my journalist adventures this past 2 weeks.  I wrote a piece on the Halloween bash of the playgroup I volunteer with that actually drew the attention of the local Observer, the parent paper of the Advocate in which my articles are published.  As a result my article was heavily paraphrased by a senior journalist and published in the Observer on the 6th of Nov.  I should be a little annoyed that I was not quoted as a source, but it was paraphrase so well I couldn’t feel it; I was also elated that my story had got that much attention.  It was great for the charity, WIN, and for the Multicultural Playgroup.  Even better, they still ran my article in the advocate on the 9th.

On Friday the 30th the Multicultural Playgroup opened it’s doors to a horde of monsters for their Halloween bash. The happy assortment of creatures took a break from their normal routine with a costume party. The days activities included a craft session with copious amounts of glitter, and a witches cauldron full of eyes, insects and goop. There was also slimy spaghetti worms to be squished, and small haunted house for the little ones. A few children even added to their costumes with face paint. Not even family members could resist joining in the gooey fun. This Halloween celebration arranged by Marie Daix, WIN’s Project officer, and Debbie Flaherty, of Playgroup QLD, went down just as well as the tasty featured treat – banana-ghosts that were quickly fashioned (and eaten) by little hands.

Of course, the popular celebration is not just a favourite with kids and families in Australia. Halloween is now one of the more widespread celebrations globally; celebrated not just in the western cultures, but in various Asian, European, and middle-eastern areas. It is know under a variety of different titles, such as ‘the hungry ghost festival’ in China and Singapore, ‘All souls day’ in Italy and ‘Noć vještica’ in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Though each celebration contains it’s own unique style, each is celebrated for the similar purpose at the same time of year. This makes Halloween a frighteningly fun way to break down cultural barriers by engaging in a little harmless horror.

It is a great feeling to have some of my writing published outside my own blog. 🙂  It has also brought more attention to a local charity I think the community really needs. After the Halloween articles the Observer did a further two pieces about other projects WIN has created.  It actually feels like I made a difference.

However, I aware more then ever how important a continued media presence so I’m trying to do two articles a week for the next few weeks because I will be starting my Master’s soon and will likely have to reduce my frequency of publication.

Skills re-claimed

There is nothing worse for the writing process the a sense of lethargy and a  teen.  I wasn’t sure I was going to make deadline for this weeks article because I’ve been woefully out of it because of tiring myself out volunteering for the Multicultural playgroup (the subject of my last article) and for the RSPCA adoption day.  Better yet, this afternoon when I attempted to start the new article proper, my teenage sister was left with me and insisted on interruptions every minute (not an exaggeration!) Blew my patience, and my ability to concentrate right out the window.  So I gave up and took her (and the dogs) for a walk before I blew my stack.  I’m actually surprised I finished writing this one tonight…

Local unemployment has risen 1.4% since last September, reaching a high of 5.1% not seen since 2013. The pressure for job-seekers is on. Yet local employment agencies are not fully equipped to deal with our communities diverse migrant labour force, whose needs cannot fully be met purely through translation services. WIN Inc. steps in to bridge the gap with employment workshops run by multilingual specialists with expert knowledge of the Gladstone labour market. Their 5 hour workshop is aimed at educating workers about the Australian employment system while giving much needed advice about anything from resumes to interview expectations.

Australian culture has a firm belief that migrants ‘earn their keep’. This pressure to find employment mean migrants often settle for jobs below their skill level at at time when we need skilled labourers. This is often the result of a lack of sufficient knowledge to cross-over their existing skill sets and experience into Australian terminology. It is here that WIN Inc.’s workshops show their true benefits, assisting migrants to re-frame their capabilities to suit the Gladstone labour market.

WIN Inc. host their next workshop on the 5^th of November at their office Tank st. Interested parties are urged to contact the office on 0487 422 142/ 07 4903 1931 or admin@win-australia.org.au to secure a place.

I’m not entirely happy with this one; I wish I could have come up with a better entrance line. However it is entirely representative of the local state of affairs and leads to a logical comment on the article focus sooo… I should be pleased it links nicely and leave it as it is.