Hughes Kimberley Calling

Myself and Brooke the hairdresser and bank telle with the girls (less 1)

It is the end of the first week of school holidays and for the first time this year we have spent the time at home. I still a have a gaping wound in my arm that needs to be dressed at the clinic every second day but the antibiotics have really knocked me around. I feel more debilitated from these than from the illness. I am used to bouncing out of bed at 5.30 am ready to greet the day. I am dragging myself out at 8.00 and have sometimes been back in by 10.00am. I have ordered some medication to help counteract the effects of all the antibiotics. Hopefully this will make me feel better as I still have 25 days of eradication antibiotics to go.

The wound is healing well though. Emma at the clinic is wonderful and training Juliette (who particularly likes the job of ripping off the old plaster) to be her assistant. I must say the healthcare I have received in the Kimberley is absolutely outstanding. Yes, I acknowledge that I have been much sicker up here, but the care is far better than anything I have received before, both at the clinic in Warmun and the hospital in Kununurra.

 Everybody in Kununurra is a “blow in” as the town itself was only established in the 1960’s. Almost all the nursing staff at the hospital had been there less than a year. Most were on a journey travelling around Australia. To me this explains why I find Kununurra so friendly, as almost everybody is new to town and there to make the best of their experience. I had great conversations with hospital staff: nurses, tea ladies and cleaners. They all had great stories to tell and I admired their courage. Some had been “superseded” by a younger woman in their marriage and so decided rather than stay around and be miserable, they took off on a great adventure. The nurses off duty even took me off to the movies on my last evening, complete with the canula in my arm as Sampson and Delilah was showing. It was a real privilege to watch this movie under the beautiful Kimberley night sky in the outdoor picture garden. This movie is set in an Indigenous community outside Alice Springs and although we do not have petrol sniffing in our community, the bleakness and marginalization of the main characters was very true to life. I could put easily 10 names to the lead girl from the girls I teach. They lead similarly disorganized and chaotic lives

The girls getting glammed up

At the end of term 3 I took my 4 best students to Kununurra overnight as a reward. Maybe I pushed myself too hard to get everything ready for the girls, maybe it was cultural differences, I am not sure. First of all, the Aboriginal Liason officer at school that was to come with me who is fantastic with the kids had got off the plane at Broome the week before when coming home from Perth and had not returned. The night before we were to leave I was desperately trying to find a community member to accompany us. In the end, I found a 22 year old woman who turned out to be a disappointment.

The girls left excitedly and I had worksheets on Maths to do that looked at distance and time during our journey. We started the stop watch as we left and timed the various legs of our journey and compared these with an ETA. They recorded distances travelled at significant places and calculated the distance remaining. Also as they were in the troopie I threw at them Maths questions relating to units of measurement. They were great at doing these in the car.

The journey to Kununurra is approximately 2 hours and 196 km. In the last 10km I was pulled over by the police twice. It seems they were doing a blitz. The second time I asked them to give me a break! Apparently the Kununurra, Argyle and Wyndham police were all doing extra patrols, but did not converse with each other what roads they were covering. The road from Warmun to Kununurra is the Great Northern Highway (it is also part of Savannah Way which goes all the way from Cooktown to Broome) so here was where the majority of traffic could be found.

We first headed to the supermarket to continue our lessons on measurement. Here we investigated the various units of measurement that were used on products. They completed their worksheets diligently though they had a great sense of shame that so many family members saw them completing their work. We then went to the accommodation which was 2 very nice apartments in Kununurra. As this was a reward I wanted the girls to stay somewhere really nice. In comparison to their homes, it was the Ritz I can tell you! Here they had a quick swim and some games in the pool. I must say it was just lovely to watch them just relax and have fun.

We then went to the bank where the girls were to open a bank account. They had been working to have some money to open an account. It was interesting that the student who was given $80 spending money by her mother, put only $5 in the bank, yet the girl who had absolutely no money available from her carer, wanted to use the $20 to pay for the excursion, leaving her nothing to bank despite her hard work. I decided that the school would pay her excursion fee as she had demonstrated the best work ethic and deserved a chance to get ahead.We take so much for granted. These girls had no examples of savings from their parents and the whole concept of delayed gratification simply does not exist in our community.

They spent an active afternoon in the hotel pool which probably was the problem. They were then very hungry and ate too much afternoon tea despite my warnings about dinner. They all then  wanted to have a nap just as the hairdresser was due to arrive. They were excited to get done up but their eyes were really sore from the pool and the girl who looked the most beautiful cried and wanted to go home just as we were about to go to dinner. The hairdresser had come after work and did their hair for free but the welfare mentality kicks in, their is no thanks, just an expectation that all is done for them.

Their eyes were streaming as we went to dinner but for the first 20 minutes they enjoyed using chop sticks and trying new foods. I had ordered a banquet, but after entre they were begging to go home as they were tired. I was so disappointed but must remind myself that to Aboriginal people dinner is just viewed as a necessary body function, similar to going to the bathroom. It just does not have the same cultural significance as it is to us. So we left very early with most of the food uneaten but luckily one of their grandmothers saw them in the restaurant and we were able to give them the food to share with their families who were sitting under the trees. When we got back, one said she was hungry and they came to life and wanted to watch DVDs together. I requested that they just go to sleep as I was disappointed.

The next morning I asked one of them to assist me to prepare breakfast but she ignored me and stayed watching TV.  After 5 minutes, I said I was not the maid and so cooked brekky for myself and the lady accompanying us. I left each of them to cook their own. I sat them down after brekky and told them that I was so disappointed, it was not that I expected thanks (no Aboriginal language has the word thankyou or its equivalent), but that their constant complaining had worn me out. I know what their living conditions are and this really was a treat! All day long at school it is the same, never positive just negative.

 Maybe they felt shamed and that were not worthy but when we went to the day organised for young aboriginal women on the Thursday it was very telling. By far and away my girls had the lowest self-esteem and were the most damaged. They clung to the back wall, were too shamed to get sandwiches off the table for morning tea and would not talk to any other students. Their heads were down and they were hugely embarassed. Kalumbaru girls are from a far more isolated community than ours, it cost $10000 for them to charter a plane to be able to join in the day. The difference is alcohol!!!. We are in a community awash with alcohol and the kids have the demeanour of those who live with high levels of various trauma in their lives.  I felt so sorry for them that they are going to miss out on so many of lifes experiences because of their feelings of unworthiness. It didn’t help that the adult I took kept asking when we couldgo home. 

Not one of them said thankyou as I dropped them home (again this can be blamed on their living circumstances) and I wondered if they enjoyed it at all. I spoke to one of their mum’s next day (the girl who asked to go home) and she said she talked from 5-11pm with excitement about her experience. I would never have guessed it. I can only think of what my experience would have been like if I had taken the remainder of the class, who are my difficult students.The girls loved the clothes and felt very dressed up in them. I just feel desperately sorry for them, when your spirit is that crushed or you have absolutely no example of socially appropriate behaviour and so little that is positive, how are you going to participate in life?

As part of my strategy to encourage good behaviour and school attendance I had put in place a reward system. Each student could gain a possible 25 points for each day. 5 of these points were determined by the time they arrived and began working at school. Although they were getting better, some students still arrived 1 ½ hours after school had started. As a result I had a few students consistently arrive early to begin their Mathletics computer work. On one occasion they arrived as early as 6.30 am. The other 10 points were awarded according to their level of cooperation for the day. 

I had talked about goal setting and had a very honest talk with the girls about how I cannot force them to learn. I can do my best to provide engaging tasks within the constraints of the syllabus, but ultimately there are some things they must do. Aboriginal students do struggle with the level of direction school gives. Some of my students have absolutely no direction given to them at home so it is inevitable that conflict arises. I maintain though that if we are to prepare them for the realities of work and to produce functioning members of society, they do need to learn to take some personal responsibility for their learning. At times some of the girls who did not regularly attend did perform well and score points. At other times though, as soon as it was time to do something they did not want to do, it was a mouthful of expletives and they left.

To be eligible to attend the excursion the girls had to achieve at least 200 points. There was ample time to do this, but my class size dwindled to 4 regular attendees. I had long ago stopped blaming myself for this and accepted that the chaos in their lives was far greater than I. In recent weeks I had encouraged the girls to fund raise to pay some of the way toward their excursion into Kununurra as I wanted to book them into really nice accommodation as a treat.. They had been cleaning classrooms, washing cars and selling popcorn. I had purposely left them alone to sell the popcorn. They had to be strong and resist the demands from family members for free popcorn. This was an important step if they were going to be successful in any employment enterprise that involved the community. There is an expectation in this culture that if you are family, then what is yours is mine. This seems to be perpetuated by those too lazy to do things for themselves. I can appreciate in days gone by, this looking out for one another was important for survival in a harsh land. But now it means that those who work and provide for their own families, sometimes have as many as 30 hangers on, who raid your cupboard, sleep in your beds or demand to be taken around. One young girl despaired of this and actually sold her car since she was sick of being “humbugged” by everyone wanting favours.

Working to earn money was something that very few in this community experience. I had watched some of their parents hand over $50 at a time just to spend at the roadhouse. Coins were always scattered over the playground and referred to as “rubbish money”. Our Juliette used to delight in collecting the 5 and 10 cent pieces they had tossed away. Once they began working, they were keen to earn money and they proved themselves capable. I was encouraging them to place some of the money in a bag to open a bank account when we went to Kununurra. I talked about saving, compound interest and delayed gratification. Some really struggled with this whole idea. They live in a community where almost everyone spends everything they own before the next welfare cheque arrives. This goes on gambling, food and alcohol. They do not have to pay for housing, any insurance, school fees or any of the regular expenses that we have.

In the end I had only 4 students eligible for the excursion. I had arranged that we would go up early on the Wednesday, complete Maths in the supermarket, open a bank account, get their hair done, go out to dinner, stay at a nice apartment and then attend a “deadly Divas” day the next day. My visit to the hospital for 5 days prior threw some of my plans into disarray, but the girls were very excited. Some had earned many more than the 200 points so they were eligible to select some clothing from the 2 enormous boxes that Sue Boudakin and Jenny Carter.  These are 2 wonderful parents from Mike’s school St Aloysius’ in Sydney who from the very beginning of the year have organized numerous deliveries of clothing, prizes, shoes, lego, basketball shirts etc etc to be sent up to these students. God bless them and their associated schools for the generosity and time.

 P.S. To be called “deadly” is the highest praise you can be given in Aboriginal culture. This term is used throughout Australia and even their national music awards are called “the deadlies”. This is almost used to the exclusion of all other possible terms for everything from a good song, great clothes, good looking fella, good meal.

 August ended with a visit from Ashlee, Mike’s daughter who is 23 years old. Mike was very worried how Ashlee would go as she asked if she would be able to get a good coffee in Turkey Creek and what entertainment there was. His fears were unfounded. Ashlee had a fantastic time and was very well received by the kids. Family is everything to Aboriginal people and so they had been looking forward to meeting Juliette’s big sister for a long time. She was very anxious about an encounter with a snake and when she saw the size of the scrub bulls and how they wandered in our yard, she realized there were other things to fear. As I gave her the hairspray as insurance against lice and warned her about ring worm, boils, scabies and a variety of other exotic nasties her level of anxiety increased.

Juliette was very excited to see her big sister Ashlee once again.

Ashlee worked with Mike and the boys, gave a talk on working and life in the city to my girls and joined Juliette’s class for story time. It was obvious she loved the kids and understood why Mike and I were doing what we were. On her return to Sydney, she obviously had been moved by her experience as her brother asked Mike if Ash had a life changing experience while with us. She has enrolled to do teaching at university externally next year and is collecting hand me down clothes from her colleagues to send up to my girls.

Whenever Mike had to go to the school or the roadhouse she went with him and developed a great relationship with some of the young girls. When she returned from her Bungles day tour, a number of them were there to meet her off the bus. She could look inside their hearts and see how much these kids had to offer despite their harsh circumstances. She sobbed at the airport when it was time to leave, questioning the kind of life she was returning to. We are both so proud of her! She rang excitedly to tell us that she is coming back again at the end of November.

 We had a wonderful weekend with Ashlee at Emma Gorge Resort. Although it was getting warm, this tent style accomodation was quite luxurious. Ashlee, Mike and Juliette headed off early to Zebedee Springs and El Questro while I was very boring and stayed in the dining room of the resort and did school work all day. I had much to reflect on from the past week of teaching. A real treat was restaurant dining. I had not been near a shop for nearly 8 weeks, so the luxury of a cooked meal was wonderful. Next morning, Ashlee and Mike rose very early to beat the scorching sun for their climb to Emma Gorge. They were in the waterfall by 7.00am. On their return we spent a leisurely day by the poolside as Juliette entertained the oldies on the AAPT bus tour. They were obviously missing grandchildren and so she had many of them playing games in the water with her. That child makes friends every where she goes.

The friendship between Erin and Juliette is wonderful to watch.

I had reached the end of my tether with the girls and their demanding behaviour. Who would have thought that only 2 students present could cause such mayhem. I was over their door slamming and threats and demands of instant attention. I was tired from nursing Juliette for all those weeks, but when you have to share yourself between students, Aboriginal students are used to yelling to get attention. That is what works at home! They expect you instantly to stop helping whoever you are and be at their side. If they get an answer wrong on the computer while waiting for you they release a torrent of abuse at you and say it is your fault. I had enough this day and when one student threatened to throw the computer on the ground I told her that she could no longer do computer work until she learned to behave more appropriately. She left and another student who then got an answer wrong while I was dealing with the other student then slammed things down and left. I was glad to see the back end of them both. Although they were regular attendees, they were wearing me down with their demanding behaviour. I was using this day at Emma Gorge to rejuvenate my spirits and think about how I was going to move forward from this point with my students.

Mike does bike riding with his boys after lunch on Fridays

I used the Accelerated Literacy text we were doing to develop activities based on cross cultural misunderstanding and goal setting. I sat them all down on the floor on Monday and I talked very earnestly about my disappointment in their behaviour and how at each step I was just trying to help them realize their dreams. Education was their key to escaping the poverty and violence they were living with. I talked about anger management and how they will end up unemployed or in the justice system if they do not learn to respond more appropriately. I know that this is what they live with constantly and very few adults show appropriate anger management. It is also a culture of immediate gratification, and so our education system presents many challenges as it relies on delayed gratification for long term success. It was telling that as we worked through the goal setting activity, one of the sudents sat herself away from the others on the floor, and the tears rolled down her cheeks, as she felt the future was just so bleak.

For those of you who have read all the posts of my blog, you may remember the difficult times I had at the Art Centre as I was trying to get the girls to work through the visual design process to complete a major work. It seems the entire heart ache was worthwhile as we posted 5 of their major works away to Perth for a competition that was open to all Catholic high schools in WA, the Angelico Awards. One day I was home from school when Juliette was sick and Katrina our principal rang in the afternoon to say she had just had a call from the competition organizers to say that Shanchia, one of my Year 7 students had came second overall. This was an amazing achievement, as this included students in Year 12. In their ignorance they asked if she was available for the prize giving that night in Perth (that is only 3500km away).

Shanchia working on her winning Angelico entry: Warmun Dreaming

I could not find Shanchia as she was playing somewhere in the creek, but her mum Roseleen was in a card game with many older women and I made a big deal of how significant her achievement was. As the oldies had shared their knowledge and stories it was their victory also. All of the artworks were exhibited in Forrest Place in the centre of Perth for a week. Next term I will organize an exhibition for them at the gallery here.

My numbers this term have slowly declined as one of my best students was taken away to Wyndham by her mother. This was the third school for her this year. One who was 15 had dropped out to “marry”, a tragic error for her as she was bright, with a flair for maths. I could see her making a great office administrator and we had been making progress with her anger management. All I could see now for her was alcohol and domestic violence fuelled by frustration. Being “married” here means living with a fella, neither of you work, you stay in bed most of the day and then you boss the older people around to look after you.

Another student left to attend a boarding school down south, her second attempt at a school away from the community. I was at least able to give her a really good talk about making this one work. Of the remainder, one attended school for about 3 days per term, another two for about 5 days per term. Two of these were completely illiterate. A bright girl who had been away and educated in a city briefly just wandered the streets.

I just love this photo of Erin and Juliette in the Warmun countryside.

The issue here for these girls was not me, but their inability to accept that school is not a place where you can do anything you wish all day. Those who were particularly hostile have absolutely no boundaries set by family and so you are the first to say no to them. By thirteen years old it is too late to learn how to deal with this for some of them. Many spend all night prowling the streets and getting into mischief. As with many of the students at our school, anger management issues, ADD and defiance disorders are what they struggle with daily. Not to mention hunger, lack of sleep, domestic and sexual violence at home.

Despite these girls, one success story eclipsed all these disappointments. Since the introduction of Mathletics, a girl who had previously attended school about 5 days per term was now here every day, sometimes as early as 6.30 to start working on Mathletics. Her posture and smile reflected an increased confidence and as her reading and Maths improved so too did her anger management. Neither of her parents cared for her and though her grandmother collected her welfare, she provided very little care. She became my star and she thrived under the praise. She had previously been a very infrequent attendee of school, and when she came she was very hostile.

 This girl has something special though and wishes to rise above the tragedy of life here. I had given her numerous prizes for being student of the day, yet almost all of these she had gift wrapped and given to someone else. This, from a girl who owned almost no possessions of her own!

Brother Paul has since moved on from being principal, though during this time he received an Order of Australia for his contribution to Aboriginal education. The Marist Brothers now allow him to work collaboratively with the Association of Independent Schools to place Aboriginal students in the boarding schools around New South Wales. He showed us the statistics, 250 boarders spread across 30 out the 36 boarding schools. 22 sat for their Higher School Certificate last year and 18 of those are now at University. These are certainly impressive statistics!

 From his years of experience Paul understands how the welfare system has damaged the pride and sense of control they have over their own destiny. When these boarders attend the schools such as Riverview, St Scholastica’s, St Joseph’s and Kincoppal, although Abstudy contributes to some of the fees, parents or carers are expected to make some contribution towards costs of uniforms etc. This is set up as a Centrelink deduction. Paul has found that this contribution takes away the handout mentality but also helps the family to value the experience being provided for the student. Generous donations from past and present students often make up the shortfall.

 One of Paul’s great success stories was of a boarder who attended Joey’s. He was from a community near Kempsey on the far north coast of New South Wales. He was now at university, having completed high levels of Latin, Mandarin and Extension English. His affinity for languages was developed in his own culture, as many Indigenous students are fluent in numerous Aboriginal languages. His English major work was the story of the history of his people in poetic form in both English and the local language. That is what is so frustrating in our teaching, these students are no less bright, just disjointed school attendance makes it hard for them to progress.

 God bless Paul. When he said he was coming to visit the Bishop of Broome, I cheekily said why not drop in, we were only a thousand kilometres away. On the east coast you would not think of travelling this distance, but in the Kinberley 1000km is your nearby neighbour. The humble man that he is he arrived for a 4 day visit via the all night Greyhound bus.

His experience with Aboriginal communities allowed him to make many valuable insights into the state of our community. One thing that struck him was the absence of Aboriginals in all the businesses in town. The community owns the roadhouse, yet not a single community person is employed there. As this also runs motel units, a restaurant and a caravan park there are lots of employment opportunities. The clinic, Art Centre, and community office all have more whites employed. It is a matter of empowering the community to take control.

 Paul enjoyed his few days at the school and Mike took him to some of the local sights of significance. Mike arranged for one of the Elders, Rusty to go with his class to Mistake Creek, the site of an Aboriginal massacre of which some of our community survived when they were children. As Rusty was telling this incredibly moving story, all except 2 of the boys returned to the bus, too lazy to stay and listen. They continued with their disrespect by yelling out “when can we go”. Mike was so sad that they showed so little respect toward one of their own Elders telling one of their groups most significant stories.

It was certainly lovely to have Paul stay with us for the few days and his insights into the education system here he was taking back to the Bishop of Broome and to the Catholic Education Office. He spoke very strongly of the need for a Catholic high school to be established in Kununurra. Many of our students simply do not succeed in boarding school in far away places. There are a number of reasons for this: often they have underlying emotional issues that need to be dealt with before they can adjust to the demands of residential living. Also, for Aboriginal people, connection to land and family is so strong, particularly for those in remote communities. Being away from this they simply become too homesick. At least if they were weekly boarding in Kununurra they would still have family around and could return home each weekend to community life.

Juliette and her flame who was the boys age champion

Here it is- Friday the 18^th September and the only reason I have time to catch up on my blog is because I am in hospital. The joys of living in the Kimberley in remote communities: a high staph load. We got Juliette over her many boils after 10 weeks and worrying if we would have to return to Sydney. I have now come down with my second carbuncle. These are like a massive head of boils but they do not come to a head that drains easily and have to be surgically lanced. Before they reach this stage your limb swells with the infection. It looked yesterday morning as if one arm had been doing lots of weightlifting as it was swollen from my shoulder to elbow. The clinic sisters at Warmun decided that with my history of heart valve problem that I needed to get to hospital and get IV antibiotics.

Sister Barbara receiving her water blessing from the boys

On arrival here they gave me happy gas which only made me dopey while they lanced it. I do remember hearing the doctor say to the trainee nurse that I had a grape sized hole in my arm. It looks like a very nasty gunshot wound. I will be fasting from midnight tonight just in case they need to go in again under anaesthetic tomorrow. I maintain my stance about the Kimberley in that it is where nature likes to remind you that it has the upper hand. The weather, the animals, the remoteness and the diseases all serve to remind us city slickers that we may think we are in control, but we live in a delusion.

It has been an eventful time of late. Juliette had her first overnight excursion, with the pre-primary class given free tickets to the Moscow circus that was performing in Kununurra. We were so worried how she would go as she has only ever been overnight with close family before. She had to have a sleep before she left and when I had to wake her up and dress her she was so grumpy and horrible. As soon as the school bus pulled up she was out the door like a flash with the biggest smile on her face, all sweetness and innocence. They were so excited. Three teachers were taking 6 kids and they were staying at the All Seasons Hotel. They felt very flash.

 Juliette of course was worried about a past scary clown experience and when the performance began with overly loud music that was it, she was out the door terrified. The circus manager came and put her on a seat where she could still see the show and gave her free fairy floss. She promised that nothing scary would happen to her and she managed to sit inside for the second half. They had a wonderful time but all returned exhausted.

Our athletics carnival was held in August. It is usually cooler but this year was unseasonably hot and on the day of the carnival we topped the state for the highest temperature 39 degrees. Juliette was so excited to be with her mum and dad in the red team. I had no chance of pronouncing the team’s name in the local Gidga language. Unlike their city counterparts, these kids are naturally very competitive and incredibly athletic. Juliette and the only other non-indigenous kid both came last in their races. There was no way they could compete against such natural athletes. Juliette was very excited that her young flame Treston won the age champion and the red house won the day.

Juliette co-celebrating mass with Father Martin

Someone once said he had seen many kids as talented as Cathy Freeman, but they were never given a chance. After watching the kids on this day I can see what he means. This is why the AFL scouts visit remote communities and why they have a disproportionally high number of Aboriginal players. Football is like religion for these communities. It is unfortunate that the girls play basketball here, which does not have a strong national base from which funds and sponsorship or even interest can flow. This is just another way that the girls are given the message that they are not of value.

I was very lucky to have my principal from Sydney, Sister Barbara visit us. She is a Josephite sister, like the founding sisters of the school here. More to the point, 4 of the staff at Ngalangangpum had taught at MSJ and so when the school board suggested she take a sabbatical, she requested time to see what her staff were doing up here. I had jokingly teased her during all of our conversations organizing her visit that she was to spend 2 weeks with Mike in the High School Boys’ class. She had experience at Walgett in rural NSW in an Aboriginal community and informed me she was not fazed by being called an MF!

Juliette heading off for her school excursion to the circus

Mike had received no classroom support all year and he had a very challenging group. He sometimes had as many as 15 students turn up, never had they had such large numbers and this was a great testimony to the respect they felt for him. Let me tell you though, they were extremely challenging as I also taught them for 1 hour a week, some of which I felt physically endangered. These are mostly angry boys with no aspirations. They range in age from 12 to 15 and in intellect from kindergarten level of brain function to bright boys who had been expelled from boarding school.

 God bless Sister Barbara as she insisted on working with Michael. It was the best 2 weeks teaching he had as she spent her time working one on one with Mike’s foetal alcohol affected student and with 2 teachers there was more attention to go around which is what these students so desperately crave. This boy absolutely blossomed with her guidance and she sat with the patience of Job while he did his Mathletics on the internet, and she was determined that he would reach enough points to gain a certificate. Nothing phased her and she was a great calming influence in the class. Her years of experience showed as she knew exactly when to discipline and encourage. 

Towards the end of the time the boys and Mike took her to Winiper Springs for a bush trip. This is sacred country and the boys gave her a solemn blessing and welcome to country. They went on to a thermal pool that involved trudging through knee deep mud. Sister elected to stay in the car and it was only five minutes before the boy she had worked extensively with told Mike he was returning to Sister as he was worried there was a cheeky bull about. It was beautiful to see this boy who was usually derided in his community for his brain deficit, grow into the role of a young man taking responsibility for the care of another. 

Juliette adored having Barbara here and each afternoon they would spend together, allowing me to have some quiet time. She had Juliette for a sleep over one night and learnt the hard way that children, though small are not the easiest of bed mates. We loved having her visit and it was great the way she affirmed what we were attempting to do with these kids.

As you can see it, has been simply ages since I blogged. We have been so busy, tired and each of us has been sick at some stage.

August began with another set of demoralizing and inappropriate state wide tests- the WAMSE. This was four exams, 2 in Science and 2 in Society and Environment for all students in years 5,7 and 9.  I was so embarrassed that the students would do so poorly on the Science exam considering that is my subject. Unfortunately for them, whereas the rest of the state was having 3-4 Science lessons per week, I had managed 2 in 8 weeks with the high school students. With the literacy and numeracy demands so high, there is just so little time left to fit in anything else.

 Professor Fiona Stanley, who was awarded Australian of the Year a few years ago for her discovery of the link between spina bifida and folic acid in the mother’s diet visited the school this week. I had begun communicating with her last year when I first got the position here, knowing that she devotes much time to Aboriginal health issues. From the first email, this woman was wonderfully warm and held the Warmun community very dear to her heart. She named a number of the Elders who she considers personal friends and is the patron the of Gidja Total Health Foundation. She had said that she was looking forward to meeting me when she had a scheduled visit to Warmun this year. I was brazen enough to ask if she would consider being my scientist for the day. She replied that it would be her pleasure.

 From the moment I met her I knew I was in the presence of a truly amazing person. She would take each of our kids by their hand, introduce herself as Fiona and made each of those kids feel like the centre of her universe while she was talking with them. She walked into the high school classroom and immediately picked up a school shirt and asked if she could put it on. Mike was so embarrassed as the shirt was not clean, and his boys have very few showers during the Dry season. She was not phased in the least.

Professor Fiona Stanley with my class.

 I asked her to describe the scientific method using the example of the research that led to the swimming pool being built in Warmun. She discussed how they compared and gathered research from an Aboriginal community with a pool and one without a pool. They measured many health indicators in their research but focused particularly on skin diseases, lung and ear infections, school attendance and mental health. In all aspects, a pool resulted in massive improvements in child health. She is now fighting to have the pool solar heated so that it can be used year round, as the health of the kids deteriorates during the months it is closed. It is hard to believe that the pool needs solar heating when the winter temperatures are still often in the 30’s. These kids have a very limited ability to tolerate the cold.

 Fiona then discussed other programmes she is working on. As she is an Epidemiologist, the crisis in Aboriginal health is of great importance to her. She talked about one research experiment where they took a group of Aboriginal men out into the bush for 6 weeks. These guys all had diabetes, heart disease and  numerous other ailments as a result of living on “white mans tucker”. After 6 weeks living exclusively on bush tucker all their pre-existing ailments disappeared.

 We then all went to the library for a liturgy to celebrate 100 years since the death of Mary MacKillop. Fiona and her travelling party joined us for this as did a number of the community Elders. It was a beautiful and uplifting celebration as we talked about how the work of this woman who lived in another part of Australia so long ago is alive and at work in this community. We all joined together for a wonderful morning tea afterwards.

 Fiona camped out in the bush for the night with some of the older women from the community who are her friends. They were teaching her some of the bush medicines they used for treating a variety of ailments. She was very excited at the prospect of finding new and effective medicines that could be marketed that were based on Aboriginal bush medicine.

 She called in on our school briefly next morning and was on such a high. She apologized for her lack of showering for a few days, but was so elated by the work we were doing for our kids she had been over to the community CEO to sing our praises. She had been out to visit a wildlife park along the Gibb River Road that is one of the only places in Australia where the mammal numbers are increasing. She wanted to see if she could organize for some of these scientists to take our students out on field work.

 Fiona and her companions left a number of books and games behind for our students and was keen for them to email and let her know what she particularly thought of one book for which she had written the foreword. She took the time to respond to each of the girls’ emails.I was so impressed with Fiona and I can see why she is so successful at networking lots of people researching a variety of health issues together. A more charismatic woman I have never met.

Looking from Telegraph Hill down over the billabong

 For a weekend away Mike, Juliette and I met up with our friends from Kununura Belinda, Manny, Molly and Jacob. Parry’s Creek Farm. Our accommodation was in cabins joined by a raised walkway that stood about 3 metres above a small lagoon. The owners did tell us that one day their dog disappeared down the jaws of a crocodile while standing next to the bank below. The waterlillies were out in bloom and as I watched the dawn awake it was a magic sight. This place attracts bird watchers from all over the world as the variety of birds here is amazing. These lagoons remain wet throughout the Dry season and so are a magnet for birds from as far away as Siberia. We spent a peaceful hour watching the setting sun and the beautiful birds. I had never been more enchanted than by a flock of about 10 pelicans. In a group this size all their movements are synchronized. They open their wings, duck for fish and raise their heads all in unison. They looked like they were taking part in a graceful ballet.

The waterlillies were just beautiful

One bird that was not so charming was the resident brolga. This had been rescued by a nurse in our community and as it grew too large for them to keep in their yard they thought this would be a good home for it. I remember watching Beth and her husband running it up and down the school playground trying to teach it to fly. This bird was turning into a nightmare for the owners here. Parents had chased it with tyre levers as it attacked their children and it had pecked holes in much of the shadecloth. It approached us and I quickly stood up and held my chair up to it trying to scare it away. The kids were terrified of it so we had no worries about them wandering off near the lagoon, they stayed safely on the walkway or very close to us.

Juliette drawing by the light of the campfire

After here we went to a thermal pool. This whole area is part of the Halls Creek fault line and the rocks are twisted and show the signs of a very active underground. This is what makes the water warm. I was trepidatious heading knee deep in places across the mud and grass. You just did not pause to think what could be lurking beneath. The pool was warm but very muddy. Again this was a little disconcerting. After we had left Leanne explained that a very large python lurks in this location.

Juliette co-celebrating mass with Father Martin

This week the girls’ from MSJ were working in the school, with each class being assigned a student (except the High School boys!!!). They had a great time and ran some after school activities also. One night they invited some of our girls to have a sleep over with them at Mirrilingki. They were hoping to sleep under the stars but soon chickened out when they realized that snakes were a real danger. The local girls taught them the fine art of damper making, whilst the MSJ girls toasted marshmallows.

On the Monday night we went to mass and Patrick, the elder of the community stated that his wife was home sick. This older couple provides food and support to such a large number of people that I worried who was looking after Betty when she was sick. We took them a big pot of stew, enough for a few nights. Going into their home was a revelation. This couple would be one of the most reliable couples in the community. Alcohol is not a part of their family way. Yet, I realized why the Swine flu was taking such a toll on the community. The poverty and absence of any food meant that they were at great risk of complications due to illness. They were certainly grateful that someone took the time to think of their needs, as they spend all their days thinking of others.

Mass tonight was funny as Juliette set all the altar up for Father Marting and then perched on the chair right next to him. She was banging the clapping sticks with such gusto during the singing I was worried that the chalice was going to be knocked over, the communion hosts fall all over the floor and then the camp dogs race in and eat them! Luckily we made it through OK. Once again the Elders perched on the edge of their chairs as Juliette took the microphone to say her prayer of the faithful. They all make motherly clucking sounds as she finished, they just love her.

As we farewelled the MSJ girls and staff at the assembly, each class presented them with a gift and the teachers’ spoke warmly of the contribution each made. The girls’ cooked a BBQ at Mirrilingki to say thank you to all who had made their stay so wonderful and it was great to see the enthusiasm and enjoyment they had here. Many could not wait to return again and were planning to come back to do some after school programmes at the end of their HSC.

On Saturday morning we headed into Kununurra for the rodeo. We were staying at the farm with Damian and Lyn and were going to the rodeo together. Lyn was even more worried about Juliette at the farm as the taipan who had fallen out of the log at our feet a few weeks ago was hanging around the back door, crawling up the sliding door one night. They knew it was the same one as it had the blister marks from where it had been toasted in the fire. The rodeo was great fun and we caught up with lots of friends there, particularly Lena and Jackie, our friends from the desert school. I was intrigued by an event called “wild cow milking” where a group of cowboys chase and tackle to the ground a vealer. It seems this is what they do at branding time. This rodeo had bulls and horses that were much larger and had significantly more bad attitude than the last. I just cannot understand why people would choose to do such a dangerous thing as ride those wild bulls or horses.

Mike and the boys' opening the boxes of shoes from Sydney

I now have to combine my blog entries, as daily writing is becoming impossible. My writing had been completed from 4am when I was unable to sleep any longer. It seems I have cured my insomnia somehow and as a result I just do not have the extra couple of hours each day required. I am so sorry to all that I am just so far behind.

 Day 1 of term 3 was a little surprising as 3 of my non-attenders turned up. It was great to see them and I hoped it was the start of a more positive school experience for them. I wanted so much to be able to give these girls something to make their life a little easier, even if it was just functional literacy and numeracy so they were less likely to become victims throughout their lives.

Trying on a shirt for size

We were amazed today at the arrival of numerous boxes of goodies from Sue Boudakin, a parent from Mike’s school in Sydney. She had offered to collect anything she could that would assist us here. I suggested that prizes for teenage girls such as nail polish and trinkets would be greatly appreciated. We have only one budget shop in Kununurra that is not really very budget and so it is very hard to buy prizes. Many thanks to the staff at St Philip Neri and St Aloysius for their generous donations.

Today the school signed up for Mathletics. This is an online computer programme that moves students at their own pace through the Maths curriculum. I have decided to start my girls on Year 2 as they have so many gaps in their knowledge due to the transient nature of their schooling. This way it can be simple revision for some or skill building for others. They do not realize it is Year 2 level. These students love this approach to learning for it provides sensory (by clicking the mouse) and visual stimulus simultaneously. As many of them are unable to sit and concentrate during a conventional lesson this serves a great educational purpose.

The MSJ girls have brekky at our house

To our delight, we welcomed a volunteer from The Netherlands. Naomi has just finished high school and in her holiday before starting university she took the opportunity to come to Australia and work with our children. She is young, enthusiastic, very pretty (much to the delight of Mike’s high school boys’), artistic and very warm and accommodating. The girls adopt her as their big sister. I am amazed that one so young is capable of so much in the classroom. One would only hope that she does eventually become a teacher and return to the Kimberley.

The students from Mount St Joseph, my school in Sydney arrived this week and did community service at the nursing home. They also came to the art centre and spent a very pleasant afternoon painting with the girls. It was so wonderful to see my colleagues from Sydney once again and we appreciated the fact that they took time out of their holidays to come with the 5 students. MSJ has always supported the work of the Josephites in this school and reinforces this support with the financial backing of the Books in Home Programme.

Juliette invites the girls into her fairy bed

Michael was overwhelmed when he was called to the school office to collect his mail delivery. To his surprise he opened the doors to a troop carrier laden with boxes of shoes. Sue Boudakin and Jenny Carter (both parents from St Aloysius College) had initiated this donation with the support of Australian Air Express. They had collected for our students a variety of shoes, predominantly joggers and other sporting shoes. The fact that they were second hand meant nothing to our students.

The Year 5/6 teacher was taking an excursion to the Argyle Diamond Mine on Thursday and for safety reasons all students (who never normally wear shoes) are expected to. Sister Mary drove a little girl home to get her shoes, only to find she would not come out of the house again as she was so embarrassed to admit she did not own a single pair of shoes. Like always, Sister Mary took her back to the convent and gave her a pair of her own shoes to wear. The very next day we were able to give this girl probably her first pair of shoes and the smile on her face said everything.

Swimming at the thermal spring

For our literacy lesson this morning the students emailed Sue and Jenny. It was important that they learned to say thank you for the efforts others have made in supporting them. The welfare system does make them take a lot for granted.

I am now so far behind in my writing that I will be combining days and giving far less detail.

Mini Palms Gorge, Bungle Bungles.

Heading back from El Questro, we were going to Kununurra Show. Now when you live where we do, these are events to really look forward to. There was no available accommodation, so I rang a couple we had met in the Bungles a few months ago who had become good friends.  Peter and Di had recently moved up from Hamilton in Victoria. Di was second in charge and had got a transfer to Kununurra, Peter was off the land and had that wonderful country dry wit.. Their children had grown up, (one having emigrated to Iceland of all places), and they were now ripe to embrace life’s adventures.

I rang and asked if we could camp in their back yard. They had visitors up from Hamilton, but it was no problem. They were going away for the Saturday night and said the house was ours to use as our own. Peter even defrosted for us an enormous barramundi steak to have as our dinner the night they were away.

Bungle Bungles

Lizzy and Urda were amazed how Pete and Di opened their hearts so warmly to complete strangers. We talked together about that is just how it is up here for many people. You are all away from family and friends, and so the new folk you meet quickly become your surrogate family. Having Juliette makes this easier for they all remember grandchildren they have left behind.

The show was fun, with some uniquely country events such as the watermelons races. Kids were made a pair of clogs out of a large watermelon and had to slide along a sudsy plastic sheet in a relay. The Ord Valley is famous for its beautifully sweet melons and so it was only right they featured.

After being in town for a few days we headed off to Warmun, and Lizzy was amazed by the wide open spaces and beautiful scenery of the drive home. We did many loads of washing and repacked our things ready to head off again camping in the Bungles the next day.

Again we had a great time at the bungles but the road had deteriorated significantly since the last visit, so much so that Mike declared that was the last time he was putting our car through that! It was a wonderful few days as you can see by Urda’s beautiful photos.

The final part of our holidays was back to Kununurra for we girls had booked a full day tour on Lake Argyle and the Ord River. This was sensational as both skippers had a wonderful knowledge of the bird life which was very extensive. I think the highlight though was approaching the spillway at Kununurra at sunset and sailing slowly around the wetlands. With the pink of the sky reflecting off the water, ringed by the beautiful rugged ranges that were bathed in the glow of sunset, the experience was breathtaking. The variety of birds and close encounters with crocs was awesome.

We said goodbye to the girls on Saturday afternoon, but Peter and Di were taking them back to their place for dinner and a shower before their late flight. We get on the road early as it is just too dangerous to drive at night with the cattle and kangaroos.

A great holiday was had by all!

Juliette and a bower bird nest

The Pentecost River with the Cockburn Range as a backdrop

This was taken from the car as we crossed the Pentecost River

I am so far behind that if I don’t start combining days I will never catch up. Just a sign of how busy it is up here. I thought I would have all this time for rest and relaxation!!!!!

The magnificent Cockburn Range

The Gibb River Road is one of Australia’s great road trips. Around 700km of dirt that goes from near Wyndham to Derby, on the west coast. It is notorious for shredding tyres and damaging suspension. Along it though are many of the most significant delights of the Kimberley: Emma Gorge, El Questro Wilderness Park, Cockburn Ranges and the tun off to Mitchell Plateau and Kamlumbaru. The Gibb River Road is only open for about 6 months of the year as it is completely impassable for the remainder. Even though we had not had rain since February, as we crossed the Pentecost River, the water came up to the doors of our 4WD.

     Mike looks over the Pentecost River and contemplates the vastness.

 Having said that, those grey nomads touring Australia turn this place into a highway. The camping ground at El Questro was bursting at the seams, so much so that I wished we had stayed at the much newer and well appointed Home Valley Station.

Juliette making jewellery from the long grass.

The people who live on these stations during the wet are isolated for up to 6 months of the year. When you speak to them, that is their favourite time, the land is the most beautiful, the rivers and waterfalls are awesome and there are no tourists. It just always strikes me how we who live in cities forget that their are people living such completely different lives. I think it would be an awesome experience.

       The beautiful Emma Gorge

Zebedee thermal springs in El Questro.

 This morning Urda and Juliette had a horse ride. It was Urda’s first time on a horse and she headed out with a group for a ride for a couple of hours. Juliette was led around the paddocks close to home for about half and hour. She was beside herself with excitement as she had only ridden little ponies at fairs and corrected me every time I called this one a pony.

It was an extremely hot day (so much for the 2 days of winter) and Urda did not let go of her reins as she was scared she would fall off, hence she did not drink enough water and began to feel the effects of heat exhaustion.

We went up to the Five Rivers lookout at Wyndham to show Lizzy. It was great to see it so far into the Dry as the estuaries were much drier, and the land looked even more unforgiving. It is a shame that the tourist season misses the Wet, as that is when this whole landscape is at its most spectacular.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 We called in onfriend Tim who teaches in Wyndham and his wife Stef. They are expecting their first child in December. Since she has had back surgery she is unable to deliver her baby at Kununurra as they only deliver low risk mums. She will be returning to Melbourne for the delivery as the next option here was Darwin. By this time Urda was feeling very unwell and had to lie down on their floor. We got her back to Lyn and Damian’s and tucked her in to bed. The rest of us had a big dinner cooked by Lizzy (who is great to take on holidays as she loves to cook) and settled in for a great night of good food and great company.

A little python had been spotted poking its head out from a gap in the tiles above the shower. Having a shower that night I was so nervous, constantly looking around, ready to deal with a snake that fell from the ceiling. The toilet at the farm is off the laundry and Lyn requests that a light here is left on all night so you can see any unwanted visitors. Someone had turned the light off and Damian’s niece Kim stepped on a python when she went to the toilet in the middle of the night. She did not scream as I would have but calmly went back to her room, got her camera and photographed it so she could show us in the morning. She is a braver girl than me!