kateedgertrust

FUNDED BY THE ENTERPRISE OF

Menu

Author: admin

Congratulations to all our Entrants

September 16, 2018

Many thanks to the young women from Auckland and Northland who entered our Suffrage 125 Competition.

All the entries were of impressive quality and spoke from the heart. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the Suffrage Movement with us. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to hear about your lives, your families and your dreams.

Congratulations to our top selected entries. All these entries will receive a minimum prize of $100. View the top selected works in our online showcase The top 3 winning entries will be announced here on 28 November 2018, to mark the 125th anniversary of the day New Zealand women first voted. All prize winners will b犀利士
e officially announced at this time.

Nina Tomaszyk
General Manager, Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust

Hannah Sieberhagen – Northcote College

The Suffrage movement means that I’m the latest in a long line of women that were unafraid to say no. They yelled so much that they lost their voices, so that today, I don’t have to yell to have my own voice heard.

One hundred and twenty-five years.

What that means is that we’ve come such a long way, but we have such a long way to go.

 

The Gratitude:

When I turn eighteen, I can vote.

Hell, I can even vote for another female .

I can run a country and be a mother.

I can marry the love of my life without my father’s permission, and I won’t be their property, I’ll be their equal.

 

The Gripe:

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”

There are women in the world who won’t turn eighteen.

The Handmaid’s Tale is still relevant.

Your body? Not your choice in 134 countries.

I can ‘ask for it’ without opening my mouth.

I’m only worth 90.8% what a man is worth, per hour.            In 2018.

Sure, I can leave the house, but I’m still leaving the house to march, god dammit.

Hannah Sieberhagen
Northcote College

Zoe Vincent – Eden Christian Academy

It is a matter of voice, that had to be claimed,

A matter of culture that had to be changed,

A matter of history that created a fight,

A generation that turned wrong into right.

 

It is a matter of family and a matter of pride,

For my great-grandmothers on every side,

That left a legacy for my sisters and I to see,

Creating a better world for you and me.

 

It is a matter of strength; they gave us a voice,

Taking up arms on the issue of choice,

To prove we have the right to be heard,

Battles fought with knowledge and word.

 

It is a matter of hope; that changed what would be,

Giving a promise to the future of equality,

Changing society through culture and law,

Creating a time where we can be more.

 

Now it is only fair that we fight too,

To fulfil the legacy of women who fought for me and you,

To give strength to our sisters for generations to come,

We must never forget the battles hard won.

Zoe Vincent
Eden Christian Academy

Kyla Sherbanowski – Bay of Islands College

I was wanting to create notice of the Maaori wahine that fought for the rights of not only our wahine but our nation. Carving a passage for us to follow, creating opportunities for us to strive for, to create the people we are today.

Kyla Sherbanowski
Bay of Islands College

Jesslyn Woo – Epsom Girls Grammar School

My family migrated to New Zealand 13 years ago. I wrote this short song based on what I would remind myself of in the future- the opportunities my family have here in New Zealand and how it’s been shaped by powerful people and events like the womens suffrage.

Jesslyn Woo
Epsom Girls Grammar School

Jynia Wilde – Manurewa High School

The Suffrage Movement means love, beauty, and empathy.

It means women coming together and empowering one another.

To me, the Suffrage Movement is more than just something that happened 125 years ago,

To me, it is being a young woman in New Zealand

knowing my voice can be heard

That my gender does not make me inferior

That what may or may not be in between my legs will not interfere with what I believe in.

It is knowing I am loved and worth fighting for.

Jynia Wilde
Manurewa High School

Katriana Taufalele – McAuley High School

Before she speaks

She will straighten her spine.

Realign the constellations on her back and dust,

Stardust from her palms

From finally catching all of her shooting stars,

Her dream fingertips away.

 

They will try to shoot her down,

With soft words of loneliness and disappointment,

With threats of comfort and security,

With the promise of settling,

But she will not settle.

 

When she raises her fists in protest,

Know that these hands are weapons, not cutlery.

When she raises her fists to the air,

She is holding the world in her hands begging for God to take it back.

She’s got the heavens in her heart and the world in her,

womb all bloodied and bruised,

From the silent wars fought over her body.

Her silence is a worn out gift from birth, while her brothers got toy trucks.

Her silence is both a safe haven and prison,

But the chains are rusted and the walls rotten

 

The stars in her eyes are may be dead,

But her dream is still burning bright.

For when, she finally speaks

They will listen

As she says

No. Katriana Taufalele
McAuley High School

Lauren Parker – Northcote College

I may stand In dedication to my great-great-great aunt Ellen Melville ( 13 May 1882 – 27 July 1946) .
The first woman in New Zealand to be elected to a municipal authority (1913 – 1946).

1913
Miss Ellen Melville is elected to the Auckland City Council.

Ellen steps up to the lectern
And she faces

down prejudice.

Our heroine stares fiercely into the face of ignorance and resistance.

She begins to speak.

Ellen is ‘not one whit disconcerted by interjectors.’
She is ready to move mountains.

2018
Miss Lauren Parker speaks at the regional debating competition.

I step up to the lectern
And I stand

in my place.

I stare fiercely into the face of a good argument.
Not at prejudice.

I begin, and no one interrupts me.

I may stand here and speak

because she stood and spoke.

I may stand up for what I believe in

because she stood and believed.

I can be who I want.
I can do what I want.
I can go where I want.
So long as I work and fight as hard as she did.

And I know that I may stand here today

because she took a stand

New Zealand’s women stand together in a field of white camellias.
Now we can see the sunshine, but we still have some growing to do

Lauren Parker
Northcote College