(We don't have an awful lot of photos that cover everything that we are and do, but here are some that we do have anyway :) )







[One of our members supporting the equal pay campaign.]



Hi. My name is On Ee Chin, and I am the Vice President of the University of Tasmania's (UTAS) Women's Collective (which is a proud sibling of the UTAS Women of Colour (WoC) Collective and the UTAS Queer Women's Group a.k.a. Sapphos). We live in the small town of Hobart with a population of 789 (not true) sunflowers with an annual rainfall of 30,000 meatballs (amongst other things). There's been a recent boom in Tasmania's tourism industry because people like doing the cool things we have, eating our food and breathing down here.















[Another two of our members supporting the equal pay campaign.]



Last year, UTAS won the bid of hosting the Network of Women Students Australia (NOWSA) Conference (which was in Perth) for Hobart this year!



NOWSA is an organisation and annual conference which caters to women and women's issues (more back story information here: http://nowsa2015.com/).









[One of our members in our vulva costume which we had made for a health campaign, at a 2015 performance of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues.]



As a lot of you probably know, uni students are generally in very unfortunate financial situations. They don't have a lot of money to go around and tuition fees, food and living amenities usually take the top 3 typical spots. Not surprisingly we have received an overwhelming response in registrations for scholarships and well, and we don't have that many to go around :/.



The NOWSA Conference is a great opportunity for all women students in Australia, and we would like to make it reachable to as many women students in Australia as possible. So this is our try at helping out our sisters from all over the country. We need your help.









[President Ruby at the Women's Collective stall we had for UTAS' Expo Day.]



Here is a breakdown of the funds we need:



$100.00 will cover one attendee's conference registration for the week (which includes all the nice things that come with being able to be at the conference, like workshops, talks, lunch, recess snacks, venue hire... etc.)



$180.00 will cover one attendee's accommodation for the week (6 days and 5 nights at a nice and safe backpacker's that we chose)



$280.00 will cover one attendee's conference registration AND accommodation for the week.







[One of our keepcups :).]



All of the money we raise will go towards Conference scholarships. I set the target amount to be $56,000 because it's an impossible amount and the maximum amount we would be needing anyway to fully fund all 200 Conference attendees. Any funds we receive past the 1st May can be used to reimburse attendees or be given to a women's charity.

(EDIT: I've since lowered the target amount to $2,000.)



Though the Conference aims to be a healthy and safe space for all women, females and non-binary women to talk about their concerns and issues, it can still be a confronting and triggering space. Personally, even though there were some issues I experienced at 2014's Conference, I stopped being ashamed of who I was. I stopped condemning myself as much for things I couldn't change. I met scores of inspiring and amazing people who offered friendship and support. More doors and networks opened up to me, and after 4 years of being stagnant as a person, I GREW. Even though NOWSA isn't perfect, I would greatly and highly recommend it as a priceless experience.









[Me at the Women of Colour (WoC) Collective stall on UTAS' Expo Day.]



Registrations end on the 1st May. I know we don't have a lot of time, but this was a last ditch effort and definitely worth a try.







[Our Treasurer Heidi supporting the equal pay campaign.]



You can choose whatever amount to contribute from $5 to $Infinitaydoler.



NOWSA will be a collaboration between the University of Tasmania (UTAS), the Tasmania University Union (TUU), the UTAS Women's Collective, and of course, all of you :).



You can contact us at



2015nowsa@gmail.com.



Thank you very much :)



Much love and solidarity,







On Ee (that's me up there with the President Ruby) from the UTAS Women's Collective.







