Women in Horowhenua are being urged to share their voice and support a unique project showcasing real people and real stories.
The project was titled Horowhenua - Our Voices and is the brainchild of Manakau woman Kristy McGregor. It's a unique opportunity for the women of Horowhenua to be heard and to provide an historic snapshot in time.
"Our Voices is a storytelling project that would see twenty women in the Horowhenua sharing their stories through portraiture, the written word, and audio, to be exhibited locally and published nationally," she said.
It mirrors a successful project she did seven years ago as a young woman living in the outback of Australia, giving voice to people from a tiny rural town called Yaraka, to widespread acclaim.
McGregor was urging people to spread the word and become involved as it really needed the support and buy-in of the community.
She hoped the final 20 women chosen following an upcoming muster was a true cross-section and representation of women of Horowhenua.
"We'll be selecting the 20 participants following the storytelling workshop, so coming along doesn't mean you need to make a commitment to the full project," she said.
Kristy McGregor.
McGregor's journey from a childhood in remote Queensland to now living on a farm in rural Horowhenua is a remarkable story in itself, but her latest venture is to document and share the stories of real women living in our community.
"If I hadn't moved to New Zealand I would have done it again in another region in Australia," she said.
She stressed it was open to all women living in Horowhenua. The main questions to ask were: What is your connection to the Horowhenua? How did you end up here, and what does this place mean to you?
"For me, the project is about trying to capture stories from a diverse range of women," she said.
So that meant making sure it involved a broad range of women of all ages and from all backgrounds and nationalities that have contributed to the history of Horowhenua, especially tangata whenua.
"One thing I do know is that I am an Australian and there are things I don't know, but I do know we can't do this project and not have all these voices in it," she said.
The Voices of Horowhenua Project received $7150 of Creative New Zealand funding administered through Horowhenua District Council.
Other recipients through the latest round of funding were the Pasifika Youth Jandal Jam ($1000) and a mural for the Te Whare Mahana Community Hub in Levin ($7000).
The workshop will be led by writer Carly Thomas and photographer Helen Lea Walle and held at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō in Levin on Wednesday, September 16, between 7pm-9pm, but people should get there at 6.45pm for a cuppa and dessert.
"Join us for a storytelling workshop where we will explore the sharing of stories through our connections to the Horowhenua," she said.
