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19 NOVEMBER, 2024
16 days of activism The Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association (AVWA) will commemorate the 16 Days of Activism with a special event, on Friday, November 29. The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is a global campaign led annually by UN Women. The campaign runs every year from November 25 (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) until December 10 (Human Rights Day). At the Bowery Theatre in St Albans, the opening event will commence at 10am, with a host of speeches and performances. It will conclude at noon and guests are invited to stay on until 2pm and attend stalls and activities around the St Albans Community Centre and outside on Errington Reserve, including a Walk Against Family Violence. This event will feature activities and entertainment and gift bags. Lunch and refreshments provided. AVWA chief executive Nicky Chung said the event is set to be a big success after a big turnout last year. “Safety is a human right we should all experience, and it starts with the way we show respect to each other,” she said. Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association chief executive Nicky Chung, project officer Kim Thien Truong, operations mananger Huy Luu and office manager Dung Huynh. (Damjan Janevski) 442559_01
For more turn to page 17.
Rodent road rescue relief By Gerald Lynch When Kealba resident Mariana Pacheco was driving down Biggs Street, St Albans, and looked out her window to see a cardboard box labelled ‘free guinea pigs’ she thought someone was playing a prank. But when she looked inside the box that was left a quarter open to let air in, Ms Pacheco was met by two small, scared guinea pigs. “I actually thought it was a prank when I saw the box on the side of the road but I had to check it out just in case,” she said. “The poor things were terrified, I couldn’t just leave them there.”
She posted online in community groups trying to find their owner, conceding that although abandoning them was a poor thing to do, she understands owning a pet can be challenging. “Sadly, I think there isn’t enough education on where you can surrender pets if you can no longer provide a home for them and people get desperate and just dump them for fear of being treated negatively at the time of surrender,” she said. “Also, I think people see a little pet and think they don’t take much work. Guinea pigs can require a lot of work to look after and people get tired of it. That’s not an excuse to dump them but it’s possibly a better option
than having them be mistreated or neglected and eventually die.” Ms Pacheco decided to adopt the orphans, naming them Cookies and Cream, and has built a pen for them in her front yard. She said they will be available for the whole community to enjoy, giving them a good life and allowing neighbours without pets to join in looking after them. “They’re both doing well after a stressful start for them,” she said. “Cookies is very confident and Cream is quite shy. But they love their carrots and greens, mainly the dandelion weeds.” For no-judgement surrender advice, contact the RSPCA team on 9224 222.
Mariana with Cookies and Cream. (Supplied)
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