QUESTION: How has your life changed during COVID-19?

Regional women are being urged to submit responses via new campaign.

FRIENDLY FACES: Some of the women from around the South Burnett region. Photo: Contributed

AS COMMUNITIES across Australia are feeling the effects of coronavirus, an organisation is hoping to unite women in isolation through a new project.

The National Rural Women’s Coalition has launched a campaign called ‘Voices from the Bush’ with the intentions of sharing women’s varying experiences from regional, rural and remote locations.

NRWC chief executive Keli McDonald said the idea behind the campaign reminded her of when she first entered motherhood.

“When my kids were younger, I used to take them to playgroup,” Mrs McDonald said.

“I had limited experience, so I was able to learn a lot from the other mothers and bounce off their ideas.

“Sometimes it was even the simplest thing like taking a change of clothes for my baby with me when I went into tow in case of an emergency.

“With this new campaign, I like to think of it in a similar way.

“We are all navigating through a new world.

“We are all trying to manage what our life looks like.”

She said she encouraged all women to enter a submission because there were no right or wrong answers on how they were adapting during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We want all voices to be heard,” she said,

“Life for women living in regional Australia will be different to those in rural or remote places.

“For example, women who live kilometres out of town and only do their shopping once a week will be impacted by the restrictions at the grocery stories.

“Women living with a disability are in hard positions for they are concerned for their carers and their own health and might not be able to access services.

“Some women might not be making many changes and that’s okay too,” she said.

“There really is an endless amount of stories to be shared.

“We have so much to learn from other people’s experiences.”

Mrs McDonald said she hoped to start sharing the stories as early as next week.

“We will be collating the responses and sharing them daily on our website and social media pages.

“From what I can see, people are uniting through COVID-19 and it is definitely bringing out the best in humanity.

“We want to capture that and share it with our auidences.”

To enter a submission, send NRWC either a MP4 of approximately one to two minutes maximum or a written piece up to 250 plus a photo.

NRWC said submissions needed to include your name and where you are from in the email, to be sent to [e-mail].

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