Darley Neighbourhood House (DNH) is helping people to cope with bereavement and loss using a disconnected rotary phone.
The windphone, an idea which originally started in Japan, gives the chance to have a one-sided conversation with those who have died, with the words being carried to them by “way of wind”.
DNH general manager Amber Gordon said the windphone was installed to start conversations about death.
“It’s about how we deal with grief, how we remember people and where we remember them. Some people need a place, for some it’s within their minds,” Ms Gordon said.
The windphone, built by a volunteer of DNH using an old Bakelite rotary phone and a gossip bench, has already received a lot of interest.
“What I’ve loved watching is when you first mention it to someone and they ask what it is and you explain it, some people screw up their nose because we don’t have many traditions around talking about grief in Australia,” Ms Gordon said.
“I’ve loved watching people change their minds about it as the conversations have progressed – being able to open up about grief themselves.”
Even though the windphone’s main purpose is to connect the living and the dead, Ms Gordon said it serves as a gentle reminder for those still here.
“It’s a reminder as well to have conversations with the people that are still here,” she said.
“While it is a focus to talk about people who are gone, it’s also a reminder that life is short and you really don’t know when the last conversation you have with someone will be.”
DNH’s windphone is open to all between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday.
