Sarah Hunt, author of Hidden Documentary, spends an afternoon with community choir Melbourne Sings and explores how a group of seemingly disparate individuals find common ground by singing with one voice.

Sofitel Hotel, Collins Street, 5pm

A small girl stands in the front row of her primary school classroom in a long school dress with rolled up sleeves and white bobby socks. She beams with excitement as she belts out her Cyndi Lauper version of Advanced Australia Fair. She sways her hips in time with the wah wah of the keyboard. The music teacher walks slowly along the line of school children one-by-one. She stops in front of the small girl, slowly turns and nods.

This week the painful memory of my first musical rejection at age eight came back to haunt me. I was going to spend an evening with a choir – where there was a distinctly awful possibility I would have to sing.

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The Scavenger is a monthly online magazine/portal for alternative, progressive news, features and commentary that you’re unlikely to find in mainstream media.

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Makalita Fewster used to be a meat lover. A total carnivore, a diet of offal, bone marrow and tripe was a regular part of her food intake. She would always be the first person to order the weirdest thing on the menu, and tuck into it with the gusto of a seasoned expert. She thought that converting to vegetarianism might be a battle, but was surprised about how easy it was for her to switch marrow for mung beans.

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