ARDS Conference: Bridging the Gap

Dear All,

Today was the first of two days with Richard Trudgen and others, whose names I can't spell, at the ARDS Seminar here at Darwin Crown Plaza. I walked down, so that was nice.

There are probably about 70 people attending and I have met some interesting people eg. a girl who finished study at Griffith and is back with her family wanting to work with Aboriginal People in setting up Tourist businesses; a young woman from Melbourne, now in Alice Springs, working for "Life without Barriers". She is a Social Worker and is setting up arrangments, including home living support, for young people who have been in trouble. The next person was another woman from Melbourne, Jewish, whose history has been the Womens' Movement and who is a Dr of Education working in Alice Springs to support trainee Aboriginal Teachers with one day of full-on study in their home Communities between the rest of the week teaching. Then I met another girl from Esperance who had been a 'Fiery' there but who always wanted to work in Darwin and was working in the Red Cross in Disaster management (in between disasters as well and before such) with the most vulnerable people - mostly Aboriginal.

Day 2: Still interesting and more great conversations at lunch. Today there was an RFDS woman from Cairns (nursing background but into managing some of the service); a Service woman from Darwin (into helping people set up businesses); and the Doctor from yesterday.

1) Richard Trudgen 2) Recording Yolgnu words with help of * Linguist Dr Elly?, *Tjunina, *Warrawir??? - Yothu Yindi member, and *Richard; 3) The three Educators who came in with comments during the talk and illustrated things.

I have learnt some interesting things which I did not know previously about Aboriginal culture (most of the examples were up in north-east Arnhemland where Richard Trudgen has been). At the end of it all I can see that Aboriginal people are well able to learn all that we can and more, but the channels of communication between our culture and theirs are not open in many ways. Some concepts have no 'cross-over' (my term) . A few facts anyway:

in 1980, 95% of the Yolgnu people were employed and the Milingimbi and Warrawi had one of the highest population growths in the world.

The first cyclone-proof house after Tracy was built by a Yolgnu team, and some of their companies came out under cost. Now it costs up to #1 m for a 3-bed house (contractors love these contracts!). The Government sent in quick pre-fab builders who could build 6 houses in 3 months. This shamed the local builders who did 3 per year with materials they prepared themselves. Aboriginal builders walked away unrecognised and gave up.

Yolgnu men operated all the boats in the Gulf and didn't lose any in storms, but were forced out of business by a Government decision to burn all their small, personally-made boats and provide one very large boat to do the work, operated by a Skipper with a Certificate. This white Captain like his drink and moved the big boat to Alyangula. The industry collapsed within 12 months and there was personal loss too in 'named' boats that had been burnt. The Aboriginal sea men were upset, felt let down, their skills were not recognised. This action destroyed the community.

1990s: 95% employment was with English-speaking workers. There was a low growth rate and diseases.

Fish knowledge previously was protected and breeding grounds were protected. Fish were plentiful. Now they are netted and it is not worth going out fishing.

2009: The results of the Intervention are mixed. There is still a high death rate and in 2009 Aboriginal clans are becoming extinct in Australia.

That was only some starting information. Since then we have covered The Boat Wars, The Pastoral Wars, Sacred Sites (really, sites for protection); the Culture of Silence; "Naming" and categorising other cultures: Law; Language and Communication. Too much to write about here. I'll see if I can load three photos (I lost a heap yesterday- pressed a wrong button!)

Two other Nungalinya Theology Staff are attending so I have someone to sit with and share with a bit. It is very helpful and interesting.

You would get a glimpse of why the Seminar was called "Bridging the Gap: Building Capacity with Indigenous Communities".

We have a DVD to watch so I'll see what is on that.

It was very helpful.

I'd better start packing for the midnight + 40 mins plane!

Love from Rita

First Aid

Dear All,

I have a First Aid Certificate again! The first one since 1956! Wow! The two-day course was held up near Casuarina Shopping Centre at the local St John's Ambulance Station. There were 12 participants, and only 3 of these were female! We paired off (I was with Max, who was excellent to work with) and after Sharon talked and demonstrated, we did whatever was to be done - eg. CPR on a dummy. Then we recorded what we had done on assessment sheets. I did a fair bit of crawling around on the floor on my knees, which wasn't something I do often if I can avoid it, but it was OK. I really enjoyed the two days and, lo and behold, passed the final test without error and was given the certificate (which was already printed!) Success! Here are some pics:

1) Sharon explaining; 2) Sharon, demonstrating with the help of David & Kurtz (participants);

3) I have Max all ready for transport with his 'broken' leg!

4) The Dummies look cute - especially the baby. In the background you can see a Darwin teacher, then in the corner, a Refugee from Nepal (but Bhutanese) whose family was given Refugee status to come to Australia (Tassie) last August after 17 years in a Refugee Camp in Nepal! The girl was married 15 days ago to a man who talked to her parents and her over the phone and was acceptable (they are Hindu) and now she lives in Darwin with her husband! Her English was fair because they had school in the Refugee camp with an English teacher but she never left the camp and said that often were short of food etc. She works in a migrant centre and says there are about 7 other people in Darwin from Bhutan and about 70 Nepalese. Her husband is studying at the Uni. The man on the right of her is Kenyan, here with his wife and two young children to give the children a better chance in life. He is a Chemist and doesn't know of any other Kenyans in Darwin, although he has a sister in Adelaide (I think - I may be mixing him up with the girl)

5) Here are James (from Montana, USA, but living in Darwin with his Australian wife - first baby due in October) and his pal Darren. Both are studying for boat licenses - one to be a Coxsin (??? how do you spell that?) and the other for his Master's. They have both been with the same company on the prawn trawlers in the Gulf and came across to Darwin from Cairns. James has left that job and is looking for other work.

6) Max is getting my arm in a sling to help me with my 'broken collar bone'! Max has been through the 'wars' having suffering countless breaks coming off/crashing his motorbike(s?) which he loves. Name a bone and he has probably broken it. He was very sanguine about it all. He has two young daughters who he says are wild about motorbikes. (I didn't ask him what his wife thinks, but then, she married him!)

The First aid started at 8.15 am and was scheduled to finish at 4.30 pm but we finished at 4 pm both days, which gave me time to head up to Nungalinya College (one block down Dripstone Rd) and check emails and what was going on. Much is going on in planning for next Semester.

Tomorrow and Thursday I will be at the ARDS (Aboriginal Resources and Development Services) Conference here in Darwin City with the speaker being Richard Trudgen who wrote that book Why Warriors Lie Down and Die. That starts at 8.15 am and finishes at 4.30 pm. It should be worthwhile. I will be able to walk to it. People here speak highly of him.

Sufficient for the week! I head off to Brisbane this coming Friday morning at 12. 40 am and won't be in Brisbane until 8.05 am having come via Sydney. No choice up here. I couldn't get the plane which leaves at a more 'respectable' time because I am giving a Presentation on my Thesis on Friday evening at Colloquium which starts over at Banyo at 6.30 pm. I am the 3rd presenter for the evening so I hope the audience perseveres. Anyone interested is welcom at the Colloquium in lecture theatre 1, under the library at ACU. Hope I am conscious enough to make sense.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone in Brisbane, but finishing the thesis is first priority!

Love from Rita

Various Snippets

Dear All,

I haven't put anything on for more than a week. As I said, the thesis presses and, although it is not going along any faster than it was, I found out this week that I have a month more than I thought I had, so I'll celebrate by doing another blog!

I know some of you took part in the World Day of Prayer on March 6th. Well in Darwin it was held here at St Paul's Catholic Church in Nightcliff and it was well attended. As you would expect, it was hot and all the doors were open (which is most of the side of the church) for fresh air. As we arrived we were amazed and delighted to find we could not find a park near the church. Wow! This is going to be the best attended ever, we were saying to each other. Of course there was a school disco or similar on and people were there in crowds for that. What is more, the children were careering around on the lawn in the dark beside the open doors of the church, so we had an especially 'youthful' atmosphere for the service. There were adults supervising them, and they kept them about 10 metres from the church, but they were still very audible. The service was prepared by the women of PNG and the speaker was an Anglican Priest who had worked recently up there and who spoke about women up there. The PNG choir from the Casuarina Uniting Church sang, and a Salvation Army woman led the Service (mostly) although there was also a 'Sr Rita' there - she is the Parish Sister there! A strange situation for me! A young Nigerian / Sudanese man was on the keyboard (no music) and he was brilliant. That's an idea for Rochedale, although I hear that another famous 'Rita' is helping there!

The TAA (Training and Assessment) Course has finished the face-to-face component and now there are the assignments to do. The thesis takes precedence over them for me until after I get back from Brisbane on 19th April. But I do bits when I have time over at the College and am well advanced in the first Assessment out of 14 altogether, and hope to email it to the 'Trainer' before I head off to Brisbane. Some of the assessment is practical and will involve some teaching at Nungalinya, but that is a bit hard to organise at the minute.

We had our community Orientation (for what is left of the year after 15 March) day and Sr Yvonne who was in the my Novitiate Group came in from Wadeye (Port Keats) and Sr Anne Gardiner (who I know quite well) from Bathurst Is, as well as Sr Lorraine from St John's. That doubled our community for the weekend - especially now Sr Mary Chan is living at Salonika. Yvonne has been 15 years at Wadeye - this time. She is a nurse but is mostly involved in the Alcohol Awareness program nowdays. Sr Anne is currently getting computers into her 2nd hand clothes store so the women who come there can become proficient on them.

I've put a few pictures in of Darwin at present. The weather is changing to the Dry and there are many signs. We had this sharp and savage little storm a couple of nights ago and I believe the winds were up to 100 kph and the temperature dropped (briefly!) to 22! The rain was incredible and sounded like hail. It swept in everywhere. The lightning flashed, the thunder roared, the very heavens were shaken (remember? But I didn't seen any little pig curl up his tail and run to save his bacon!) A long carpet runner in the top corridor here rolled up and went around the corner - later I nearly tripped over it in the dark and it took quite a bit of dragging to get it back on place. The next morning when I went for a walk there were a lot of large palm branches snapped off. Later I heard a council woodchipper on its rounds. Sr Jo commented at breakfast that it could have been a 'knock-em-down' storm - typical of the start of the Dry.

I managed to get three pictures onto the blog but the internet has gone on strike now. I'll try again shortly. However these three show:

1. A dragonfly which turned up on our TV room wall the other night. Dragonflies herald the dry and are being seen about everywhere at present.

2. The garden in our courtyard is quite nice, but it will be drying up from now on with a lot of hosing to keep the plants alive (no water restrictions here - yet!) Since nature is profligate with water up here, so is everyone equally lavish.

3. This is the area near Mindil Beach, just along from the Casino, where Darwin's well-known markets are held every Thursday evening in the dry. They are very popular and I hope to get down there sometime (when the thesis is finished!) You can see how green it is and the lovely shade trees.

I called in at Mindil Beach on the way home from work yesterday - just on impulse. That was where I took the photo of where the markets will be soon. The "Danger" sign greeted me and brought back many memories, but I was surprised there was nothing about crocodiles because two of our sisters had a narrow escape with two crocs swimming towards them when they went for a 7 am dip years ago at Mindil Beach. If it hadn't been for a couple of beachcombers who had been there all night and who came running towards them, gesticulating, they would never have known and the crocs may have got them. Sr Anne, who I was living with at the time I heard the story, said she kept on having cold shivers all day when she thought of what might have happened.

1. The Danger Sign is the first picture- Double click on it to enlarge it and you will be able to read all the directions about what to do if you get stung. People always take vinegar with them to the beach up here.

2. The second picture is of a tree common up here - I think it would be a Banyan.

3. Looking along Mindil Beach itself towards Bullocky Point where you can glimpse a bit of Darwin High School. No golden sand, because there is iron stone rock around here, and it is red. You can double click and enlarge that one too - it is only the middle picture can't be enlarged.

Well that will have to do for this week. I will be down in Brisbane quite soon so you may not get another blog before I come down. This coming week I have two days on a First Aid course (instructions not to wear a skirt!); and two days at a Seminar with a well-known authority on Aboriginal People - Richard Trudgen, who wrote the book Why Warriors Lie down and Die which I found today on my bookshelf over at Nungalinya and have browsed a bit, as advised before Conference. It is very very interesting but quite horrifying in places. He is talking about one lot of Aboriginal People in north-east Arnhem Land. Yothu Yindi came from there. Enough

Love from Rita

The Thesis presses!

Dear All,

This week I think I will give you just two cartoons which might tell you a bit about my life this week. You can enlarge the one on the right by clicking on it, don't forget, but you might be able to see what is going on anyway! Apart from the Thesis, there have been meetings at Nungalinya as we work out how we are going about the rest of the year. At this stage it is looking more likely there will be classes in the second half. But much, much work to get things up to scratch by then. However, I would prefer that, having come up here to teach - and, by then, the thesis will be out of my hair. It is due by 24th April, so I really have to have it up to proof-reading by the time I hit Brisbane. I probably need to get it bound and everything down there, but ....... eeeekkkk!

Hope the Baptism goes swimmingly on Sunday, so to speak! I should see a few photos in due course. And Kath and John arrive up in Brisbane on Monday for Simone's 4th on Tuesday. Hope Sarah's birthday went happily today. I was thinking of you and praying for you Sarah.

Time for some more comments on my blog. Thanks for your text message Ruth - nice to hear from you. All you people who are reading and not responding ....... what can I say? Be brave and try.

Love from Rita