Dear All,I must put in one of my lovely early morning photos of the the MacDonnell Ranges just outside the Convent in Alice Springs. The morning sun really lights them up and the ghost gums really add to the picture. I have several other just as good, but one must choose!
There have been so many interesting things going on this week I will just have to select a few of them to put on this blog.
I visited around the town on Monday and checked out various places where courses from Nungalinya could offered locally - took photos and checked on details etc. Then on Tuesday I headed off to Santa Teresa with the Nurse and Doctor (Sue & Alice) in their 4WD over the rocky road and drove myself home after lunch in the Parish 4WD which was needed in town. I didn't find out until I returned that the reason it was so heavy to turn was because the fluid had drained out of the power steering!!!! (before I got near it!) Luckily the road is fairly straight - that is its only virtue as it is unsealed and mostly stoney. 
If I had false teeth they would have rattled out of my head. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the surface. It is 70k out to Santa and only about 20k are sealed, Fortunately it was neither wet nor dusty dry when the 'bulldust' can be a hazard. [Don't forget to double-click on the picture so you can see the stoney surface in all its glory!]
If I had false teeth they would have rattled out of my head. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the surface. It is 70k out to Santa and only about 20k are sealed, Fortunately it was neither wet nor dusty dry when the 'bulldust' can be a hazard. [Don't forget to double-click on the picture so you can see the stoney surface in all its glory!]I spent most of the time talking to the Sister in the Parish there about the Intervention. There are many negatives for the people in Santa Teresa - mainly with the Cash Card. They have no idea of what other money they have because rent, electricity, children's lunches etc gets taken out of it and they never get statements. They have to ring up to find out what is left. The remainder after expenses are paid can go into a Key card but there is effectively no cash in the town at all. Sr Liz went to the store (with a visiting American girl who knew nothing of the joys of Tim Tams) with $15 to buy two packets of Tim Tams and two Cornettos and was $2.80 short! Store prices are inflated by over 100%. It is not hard to spend all of one's money well before the next lot comes. Liz has had some women come to her with absolutely no food to give the people dependent on them and no way of getting any.
One lady came and showed me around the Church. It contains the most beautiful and inspiring murals all around the walls and she was one of the group of painters who did these so she explained their meaning to me. I couldn't take photos of the interior but have a snap of the exterior. 
Everything was inculturated: the Nativity Scene showed an aboriginal mother with a baby in a coolamon and two grandmothers gazing on with her. On a hill at the rear were the three 'wise men' - three warriors silhouetted with their spears, all in the distance. All the animals in the picture were significant. Another picture showed the people moving through the desert and over them a little white cloud - as Moses lead his people through the desert where they received God's law, so their Arrente people moved through the desert and were given their law. I have a booklet with the pictures in it. The lady who showed me around had a great sense of humour and was chuckling about her sister, who has poor health, and has just been admitted to a Nursing Home along with their mother. The sister, Mia explained, has had many 'resurrections'(chuckle! chuckle!) - and she recounted twice where her sister was pronounced dead, only to return to life: - the first time everyone was mourning and crying outside the house and the priest rushed down from Mass and went in, only to find the corpse sitting up! He nearly needed a Doctor! A previous time the sister had been in hospital and pronounced dead and taken to the morgue but the Dr came for a final check with a stethoscope as she lay there in the morgue and found her breathing! 
Everything was inculturated: the Nativity Scene showed an aboriginal mother with a baby in a coolamon and two grandmothers gazing on with her. On a hill at the rear were the three 'wise men' - three warriors silhouetted with their spears, all in the distance. All the animals in the picture were significant. Another picture showed the people moving through the desert and over them a little white cloud - as Moses lead his people through the desert where they received God's law, so their Arrente people moved through the desert and were given their law. I have a booklet with the pictures in it. The lady who showed me around had a great sense of humour and was chuckling about her sister, who has poor health, and has just been admitted to a Nursing Home along with their mother. The sister, Mia explained, has had many 'resurrections'(chuckle! chuckle!) - and she recounted twice where her sister was pronounced dead, only to return to life: - the first time everyone was mourning and crying outside the house and the priest rushed down from Mass and went in, only to find the corpse sitting up! He nearly needed a Doctor! A previous time the sister had been in hospital and pronounced dead and taken to the morgue but the Dr came for a final check with a stethoscope as she lay there in the morgue and found her breathing! 
Sunday was NAIDOC Sunday so we had quite a few special things at Mass. We started outside with a smoking ceremony and you can see with the picture that Fr Raass's vestments are quite spendind and obviously Aboriginal. He is in Alice Springs specifically to work with the Aboriginal people and is Fijian himself. Near him is the Aboriginal woman who did the smoking ceremony. They had a bit of trouble with the start time because the first fire died down but they had to have the leaves just right and green and the fire just the right heat to get smoke, so they worked on the dead embers and we waited.
On the last two days in Alice Springs, Fr Raass took me to some Town Camps. On Thursday I went to Amoonguna. Here you can see a photo taken outside the store of 'Annette' and Fr Raass. She works in the local Aged Care Facility which has about 8 - 12 residents. There is the compulsory dog (or 2) in the picture! The town was very tidy - they have started regular pick ups. 
The same day we went into town and visited an Art facility which is also the Catholic Aboriginal Mass Centre in Town. 'MK' (her name is abbreviated because there are several 'Margarets') was painting for an exhibition soon to take place. Others were discussing what they would do for Stations of the Cross they are painting for the Church which is going to be built - they have raised half the money so far so it is getting close to becoming a relaity. Fr Raass wants them to do really 'Aboriginal' paintings but the preliminary drawings seemed very 'traditional' so He sat down to talk with the little group.
It is getting late so I will finish here and do some more during the coming week when I get a chance. I will just put in one more picture of Rowan - who was Samson in the film Samson and Delilah. He was a member of the first family we visited on Friday at Hidden Valley Camp. 
His family are community leaders and you can see him with his father and younger brother in the photo. His mother was in town shopping when we called. There is a younger sister also and he was busily making a race track in the dirt for the remote control truck he brought home from Germany. As he wheeled it up to the newly constructed track, it looked a bit like a base from a motor mower and he started it with a cord, just like that! He seems a nice young chap - in Yr 10 at school.
His family are community leaders and you can see him with his father and younger brother in the photo. His mother was in town shopping when we called. There is a younger sister also and he was busily making a race track in the dirt for the remote control truck he brought home from Germany. As he wheeled it up to the newly constructed track, it looked a bit like a base from a motor mower and he started it with a cord, just like that! He seems a nice young chap - in Yr 10 at school. I'm back to work at Nungalinya tomorrow, so I had better hit the hay. Mass at 6.30 am will be a rude shock! Hope all goes well with everyone. Peter is never too far from my mind at present and it won't be too long before we get the Autopsy report I would imagine.
Love from Rita
Very interesting Rita. See you soon.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Kath & John