A journey of change for duo

By KRITIKA RUKMANI

A BIG part of journalism is creating a platform for storytelling. And for Hele Ikimotu, this platform can be used to highlight issues that a lot of people choose not to talk about – like climate change for instance.

Ikimotu and fellow postgraduate student, Blessen Tom, from the Pacific Media Centre were in Fiji recently to document the devastating effects of climate change in the Pacific as part of their work with the Bearing Witness climate change project.

Their two-week journey took them to parts of Fiji adversely affected by climate change, including Rabi Island, where Hele has maternal links.

“On Rabi, I was so surprised to see the sea and houses were just like a few centimeters apart – that really opened my eyes. When we think about climate change, we always know that climate change is real but because we don’t have the effects as much as in the Pacific, we really ignore it,” said Ikimotu, who visited the island for the first time.

“I want to use my privilege as a journalist to tell the stories of those affected by climate change and because of my connection to the Pacific, I feel I need to give back to my community.

“When I saw this project come up, I was really interested in taking it up because I am passionate about Pacific issues. Coming from a Kiribati background, and seeing as Kiribati is one of the island nations heavily affected by climate change, I have a personal connection to the issues affecting this community because it is my family that’s being affected.”

Tom, who is originally from India, said the experience was one he would not forget. Being a screen production student meant he was able to bring to the forefront first-hand accounts of how climate change was affecting vulnerable families and communities in the Pacific, particularly Fiji, through the videos he produced alongside Ikimotu.

“I was happy and nervous coming to Fiji for the Bearing Witness project. I was being sent to a place I had never been to before and it was my first time producing an independent film for news but I saw this as a huge opportunity to contribute to the fight against climate change,” said Tom, who has a masters degree in literature.

Using the University of the South Pacific as a base, the two students worked closely with the USP Journalism Programme’s student training newspaper, Wansolwara, as well as the University’s Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) to report on climate change stories and issues.

“One thing I have noticed is that the media here care more about climate change than other international media and it’s amazing to see the work the University does to tackle the issue of climate change. It’s really amazing to see them go out to grassroots level and make an effort to help these communities, to really try and change lives,” Ikimotu said.

According to the Pacific Media Centre, Ikimotu said Bearing Witness was a great opportunity for journalists to be at the forefront of climate change and to witness what these communities were going through, and hopefully spark a discussion around what needs to be done to tackle the issue.

“It also emphasises the need for journalists to be reporting on climate change.”

PMC director Professor David Robie, who initiated the project in 2015, praised the support from the partners, USP Journalism, PaCE-SD and AUT’s Te Ara Motuhenga documentary collective.

“They have helped make this experiential journalism and doco-making project possible and we hope it will grow in future years.

“Last year, our Bearing Witness team students won the Dart Journalism Award for trauma journalism, so it is a tremendous creative and learning opportunity facing one of the world’s most urgent challenges.”

* Kritika Rukmani is a final-year journalism student at The University of the South Pacific.