Bougainville

Voice in the Wilderness

Women leaders and the effects of Covid 19 restrictions in Arawa, Bougainville Island. The corona virus has not (at the time of filming) reached the shores of Bougainville Island, which is the furthest eastern Island of Papua New Guinea, however authorities on the ground have placed strict laws for the people to abide by. However, the women are the ones being affected by these rules and especially those who are in the informal sector. 

The film follows two women leaders who are going out of their way to help women and especially mothers sell their market products to earn a little bit of money. They have put their own lives at risk by going up against the law enforcers to see that women have the freedom to sell their market produce. As one woman said;

‘Around the world, people are dying of Corona Virus, but for us here on Bougainville; we will die of hunger because our Government has restricted us to do everything and even do our marketing, and yet they do not provide us with rations to support us to feed our children.’