MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
THE GUARDIAN
A sample of some of the stories I have had published by The Guardian. They include travel around PNG, meeting with locals, conducting interviews and collecting stories, taking photographs, producing video as well as capturing audio for podcasts.
‘Shark calling’, a Papua New Guinea tradition of singing to sharks then catching them by hand, could vanish – and locals blame deep-sea disturbances
Shark Calling
Kalolaine Fainu reports from Papua New Guinea on how deep-sea mining could threaten daily life in coastal communities, and Pacific editor Kate Lyons explores the race to protect the deep sea.
The race to protect the deep sea
In the second part of this podcast series, we travel across the Pacific to islands in Papua New Guinea where people are being forced to leave due to rising sea levels
An Impossible Choice
‘New normal’ under Covid-19 restrictions has seen a resurgence in traditional farming practices, bartering and the use of tabu.
The return of shell money
GUARDIANS OF THE PACIFIC
The Pacific Community (SPC) has been supporting sustainable development in the Pacific, through science, knowledge and innovation since 1947.
The Pacific Community has collaborated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to celebrate the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022). The celebration is also an opportunity to enhance dialogue between different actors, and not least to strengthen small-scale producers to partner up with one another and make their voices heard so they can influence the decisions and policies that shape their everyday lives – all the way from local community level to international and global fora.
"After we took part in the management program, the bigger fish were coming closer to our areas” – Jane Orongasi, fisher from Papua New Guinea.
Jane
Martha and Billy work to collect and fatten mud crabs in the outer islands of New Ireland Province and take them to the sell at the main market in Kavieng town.
Martha & Billy
William collects sea cucumbers from around his picture perfect island of Banatang. The community practice sustainable fishing practices.
William
Iguar free dives to spear fish to consume and to sell. He says fishing is essential to their everyday living and that 'the sea is our garden'.
Iguar
Browse through some additional links to stories about Kalo and her personal journey across the Pacific to connect with the land, people and spirits of her ancestors, as well as links to some of her other professional and creative works.
PNG AIR MAGAZINE
2021 contributor
A number of my stories have featured in the in flight magazine for PNG Air, from stories of my ancestors to launching the Pasifika Film festival in Papua New Guinea.
Click here to see some samples.
THE GUARDIAN: THE RETURN OF SHELL MONEY
21 Aug 2020
‘New normal’ under Covid-19 restrictions has seen a resurgence in traditional farming practices, bartering and the use of tabu
by Kalolaine Fainu in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
THE GUARDIAN: BEHIND THE EIGHT-BALL
29 April 2020
PNG Health Minister Jelta Wong had been in the job for just a few months when the coronavirus outbreak reached PNG
THE GUARDIAN: 'WE HAVE NOTHING': PNG'S BROKEN HEALTH SYSTEM
10 April 2020
In a country where nurses are forced to use rice packets as gloves and laundry detergent as disinfectant, there is terror at the arrival of coronavirus
ICDP: THE FORGOTTEN VOICES OF OCEANIA
2019
As the founding director of the Pasifika Film Fest, it has been my long-term objective to create a Pasifika Film Industry that brings the stories of the ‘South Seas’ to the cinematic screen. I believe the time is right for the forgotten voices of Oceania to be heard, with the Australian Government’s push to secure soft power in the region underlining the Pacific’s awakening from decades of disregard.
SPIO: WE HAVE A NEW GENERATION OF STORYTELLERS
2020
Kalolaine “Kalo” Uechtritz Fainu, an avid advocate for Pacific representation in film, shares her motivations for creating the Pasifika Film Fest and offers tips for aspiring Pacific filmmakers
PACIFIC BEAT: KALO'S JOURNEY BACK TO PNG
2020
Kalolaine Uechtritz Fainu is a Tongan-Australian woman who grew up around Pacific communities in Australia but, she always felt a calling to Papua New Guinea's East New Britain province.
Since the late 19th century until 1990, generations of her family lived in East New Britain and the stories of their lives have been embedded in family lore.
ABC: DEATH BROUGHT KALO TO PNG
2020
"In Papua New Guinea, the catchcry is 'expect the unexpected!'"
It's a familiar concept for Kalolaine Uechtritz Fainu, a Tongan-Australian woman who grew up around Pacific communities in Australia.
Still, she didn't realise how accurate the phrase would become when she arrived in East New Britain province in PNG last year for what she thought would be a three-month stay.
MAT: RECLAIMING OUR SPACE AS PASIFIKA STORYTELLERS
2 August 2020
Podcast: Melanesian Women Today host Mereani Sovick interviews Kalo Fainu on reclaiming our space as Pasifika storytellers.
Hover over image in gallery below to open link to media
