December 2009

Hi Family & Friends

It is hard to believe our time in Kalumburu has almost come to an end. We are excited about coming back to NSW but also feel really sad about leaving this special place. We have had an amazing time in Kalumburu and have experienced, learnt and grown more than we could have ever imagined! We are due to fly out of Kalumburu next Friday, arriving in Sydney early Saturday morning. Having said that however; we are currently on cyclone watch, with a cyclone predicted to hit Kalumburu on Monday. Hopefully, it all comes to nothing and we can fly out of here as planned next Friday!!

Painting fun at Playgroup

Some big news that we would like to share with you all is that a teenage girl from Kalumburu is going to live with us next year. Her name is Sanchez and she is 13 years old. Her parents are keen for her to move away from Kalumburu so she can attend high school and have opportunities and experiences that aren’t available to her here. She will attend St Philips Christian School (where Adam will be teaching) and will be in Year 7. Abstudy will provide financial support and Sanchez will be able to travel home to Kalumburu every school holidays. We are really excited about Sanchez coming to live with us and are so happy to be continuing our connection with the community of Kalumburu.

Marine discoveries at Pago

Adam...

Ok, this is my debrief... or at least the start of it. If you want more, plan a trip to the Hunter sometime after January. I’d love to process it with you (preferably over a local drop).

If you’re thinking of ducking up to the far north Kimberley for a weekend to snag a Barra I have two things to say. Firstly, if my experience is anything to go by, it’s not as easy as you might think. Secondly, if you catch one, I do not want to hear about it. I return after two years Barra-less. Disappointment.

That is just one of the emotions running through me at the moment. I’ve also got excitement, sadness, appreciation, mystification (is that a word?) and a host of others. A couple of years in Kalumburu has been transforming, to say the least.

School Boys play in the puddles after October rain.

Work has been reasonably smooth. Well before finishing at Kalumburu RCS I started feeling a part of St Philip’s CC. I have appreciated receiving emails including questions, information, documents etc which have made me feel a part of all that’s going on in Cessnock. That has been wonderful. I’ll be sad to say goodbye to Kalumburu RCS. I’ve made some great friends in the other teachers and have learned so much. I am a better teacher and administrator thanks to the opportunities and support I have been afforded here, and will be forever grateful for that. I feel that I am coming to grips with the depth and complexity of many aspects of indigenous education. I recommend the experience in a remote school to anyone who is thinking of something like this.

Visiting St Philip's Christian College - Cessnock

I finished my Grad Dip Div about a month ago, which is a real relief. While I enjoyed the study, it was challenging because of the obvious demands it places on a full-time teacher and dad. I would like to revisit a lot of the material here and there in the future, when time and assessment pressures aren’t screaming at me.

Year 4 and 5

In the last few months my relationships with some of the local people have grown and deepened more than they have in the entire time up to this point. It is with sadness that I will be saying goodbye to many wonderful people. Hopefully, through Sanchez, I’ll be able to maintain a connection with Kalumburu and its people. I have experienced the wisdom and intuition that the aboriginal people of Kalumburu (and, I expect many other places) possess but which, in their humility, is not obvious at first (or for sometime after if the ‘ice’ in the relationship is hard to break). The transiency of Gudiyas (white people) in the community understandably delays or restricts the building of relationships with locals and my habits, prejudices and insensitivities are equally hard to break through.

I’ll quit my rambling now, but I’d love to talk more with you about my limited experience. It feels like the journey is just beginning. Right now I can’t see how, but I hope and trust that the path that helps me build on the Kalumburu experience as I return to NSW will be revealed or at least discoverable over the coming months, before it all slips into distant memory.

Amy....

I have been really busy this term, continuing my work at the Corporation and at the school and also home schooling Isabel. I have enjoyed all these roles and have learnt so much but am really looking forward to a bit of a change of pace!

Mums and Bubs' group

Here is a bit of a run down of the different groups I’ve been involved with....

Playtime at Mums and Bubs

Mums and Bubs Group continued to be a real success this term. The mums decided that they wanted to meet together outside in the Grotto (grassy area) instead of in the Clinic. This worked out really well as we had more space and the mums enjoyed being outside in the shade. On average we had about 8 mums attend the group each week. Activities that the mums enjoyed included; making hand and foot prints of their baby, making bell wrist bands for their baby and painting a banner of the hopes and dreams they have for their baby. We also had discussions about a variety of different parenting topics such as sleeping, nutrition, child development and play.

Mums were given books to take home for their babies

Playgroup started out slow in the beginning of term 4, but attendance grew towards the end of the term. Mums who attended the Mums and Bubs Group also started to come along to Playgroup. This was fantastic! A lady from the community began working with me at both Mums and Bubs and Playgroup and she was a wonderful help. She will continue to work in these groups next year.

The Girls made puppets that they later used in role plays

We continued to do the Mooditj Program in Girls Group and completed this at the end of November. Mooditj was a great program to do with the girls as it helped them develop self confidence and relationship skills. It also encouraged the girls to set goals for their future and helped them take positive steps to reach these goals.

Girls Group Christmas party

We had a special dinner for the girls who attended 80% or more of the program and the girls were treated to some pampering as well! Sandra, the Community and Youth Development Worker, will continue Girls Group next year.

Mooditj dinner

It will be very sad to say goodbye to the friends I have made here as well as to all the beautiful kids. I’m sure our experience in Kalumburu will stay with us for a long time to come!

Isabel & Hudson.....

Isabel and Hudson have had a great time in Kalumburu but are very excited about returning to NSW and being closer to family! They are also looking forward to getting involved in activities such as swimming and dance lessons....things that just aren’t available up here!

Hudson still loves his hugs

Isabel finished doing Home School with Amy last Friday and is looking forward to starting Year 1 at St Philips! She has learnt so much this year and has come such a long way with her reading and writing. Isabel has enjoyed her mornings at Pre Primary this term and has been very brave and strong.

Beautiful Bel

Hudson has had a great time at Kindy and playgroup this term and will really miss the friends he has made here. He will attend Nulkaba Preschool next year, 3 days a week.

Hudson and Shaneal at the Playgroup Christmas Party

Thank you so much for your support while we have been in Kalumburu. It has been greatly appreciated!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and look forward to spending time with you in the New Year!

Love Adam, Amy, Isabel & Hudson.

August 2009

Hi Family & Friends

It is quite a daunting task sitting down to write this blog. A lot has happened since our last entry and it is hard to know where to begin. But here goes.....

Exploring local rock art with guide Sylvester.

Firstly, Adam has accepted the position of Middle School Coordinator at St Philips Christian School at Cessnock, beginning next year. We are all very excited about this and look forward to the change and new opportunities that next year holds. It was with some sadness that we decided not to move back to Sydney as we will continue to miss being a part of the day to day life of our family and friends in Sydney. However, after living in such a remote and quiet place as Kalumburu, it would be hard for us to move back to Sydney. We enjoy the wide open spaces of Kalumburu and hope to be able to continue to enjoy this in the Hunter Valley! St Philips School seems to be very keen to serve the Cessnock community and we are excited to be able to be a part of this.

Kalumburu Mission

The next bit of big news is that our good friends, The Shields Family, are no longer living in Kalumburu. The funding for Tim’s position at the Corporation finished at the end of July which meant their family could no longer live in Kalumburu. Incredibly though, Tim has already started working at St Philips School in Cessnock as the Senior School Coordinator! (That’s right, he and Adam will be working right alongside one another!) The school needed someone to start as soon as possible and it worked out so well for the Shields Family that Tim was able to move straight into a new position. We are all very excited and amazed that we will be able to continue to live close to the Shields Family. We truly feel God’s guidance, care and provision for both our families. In the meantime though, we have to adjust to life here in Kalumburu without our good friends. Once again, however, we have experienced God’s love, care and protection over the past couple of weeks and find peace and strength knowing that we are in His hands.

We will be coming back to Sydney in the next lot of School holidays. This will really help break up our last 4 months here in Kalumburu. It will be so lovely to catch up with family and friends. On a practical level, it will give us an opportunity to explore Cessnock and surrounding areas to sort out housing, school, work etc for 2010.


Adam...

Adam has thoroughly enjoyed his last term and a half as Deputy Principal at Kalumburu Remote Community School. It has been a real blessing to have been given this opportunity and through the job, I'm learning a great deal more about school administration and management of staff and school resources. Working alongside the Principal, I've been entrusted with a variety of responsibilities and feel a strong sense of trust and partnership underpins their working relationship.

Adam sits as one of the judges at the local Hip-Hop Concert.

Our struggle at the school continues to be improving attendance. In the dry season students and their families seem to move around The Kimberley quite a lot, so we have a fluid, and, at this time of year, depleted school population. This makes it hard for teachers to help some students build on the progress they had been making up until the point they left the school.

Positive relationships between a core group of students and their teachers are rewarding though, and the school leadership emphasises a positive approach when addressing issues in focus. We really try to send positive messages to students who are doing the right thing, publicly recognising them in assemblies and providing rewards and special activities such as elective experiences and BBQ lunches for those who attend regularly and maintain ‘good standing’.

At the same time as taking up my new role as Deputy, I've retained my role as Specialist Teacher, Numeracy. It has been great to have this focus and the opportunity to support younger teachers through modelling lessons, assisting them with planning, preparation and lesson implementation.

I've continued with my study through distance education, recently completing subjects in theology and cultural anthropology. I'm in my last semester of study for this course.

So many highlights come to mind when I think back over the year. The most precious have been the times spent with visiting family. It has been such a joy having you come all this way to visit us and to share this gorgeous part of Australia. More than that, though, just hanging out with such special people has been pure gold. We look forward to being with you all more often when we move closer to you.

The crew of our Kimberley Safari at Cape Leveque.

Amy.....

The funding for the Women’s Project Coordinator position also disappeared at the end of the financial year. Fortunately though, I was able to negotiate with Brian (the CEO) to continue to run a number of programs in the community.

I run playgroup on Tuesday mornings and support some local women to run it on Wednesday mornings.

Hudson and friends at Playgroup.

We have had low attendance at playgroup recently. This is mostly due to changes that occurred to CDEP (similar to the Work for the Dole program). Before the end of the financial year we had three wonderful women working at playgroup. They were doing a great job and were bringing their own kids along each day. However, due to the changes in CDEP, at the end of July they all got paid two weeks in advance. Unfortunately, this meant they did not turn up to work for the next two weeks! (Why work if you have already been paid?!?). A lot of other community members also got some big payouts which fuelled many card games (and therefore gambling) within the community. People stopped attending playgroup and played cards instead. This was all very discouraging but over the last couple of weeks, it seems as though playgroup is rebuilding again. It is quite a relief to be running it only once a week (it’s exhausting!!) and it is encouraging that there are some local women running it by themselves one day a week.

The Mums and Bubs Group started at the beginning of the term and is going really well. The group is for mums and children 1 year old and younger. So far the attendance has surpassed all expectations, averaging about 6 mums (plus kids) each week.

Mums and Bubs group.

A local lady has volunteered to help me and she is proving to be invaluable. She helps me “round up” the women each week (we drive around in my car and remind all the mums that the group is on) and helps with set up and pack up. The group is held in the new health clinic which provides a comfortable environment for the mums to chat and for the babies to play.

Mums and Bubs group.

Each week we have a discussion time where we focus on a certain topic to do with parenting. The women have given me some good feedback about what they want to learn about and I feel excited about the potential of this group. Topics they would like to discuss include: Keeping my baby healthy and strong, sleeping, encouraging positive behaviour, hopes and dreams for my child’s future, developing my child’s communication etc...

I am very thankful to our bible study friends in Sydney who put together an amazing gift box for the Mums and Bubs group. I knew that the mums would need some encouragement to attend the group and I thought it would be helpful if they could receive a gift when they came. Enter my lovely Church friends! They sent up a whole box of presents for the mums (shampoo & conditioner, hand cream, lip gloss etc) and books for the babies. I’m sure these gifts have been a huge incentive for the mums to attend the group and I am very grateful to my friends for purchasing them and sending them all up. Thankyou!

The girls from Girls’ group were very sad to see Belinda go and I had to fly solo for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, a couple of young female teachers have kindly volunteered to help out with the group. This will make my life a lot easier and enable the girls to receive more attention and input within the session.

Last term, Belinda and I were both trained to run a fabulous program called “Mooditj”. It is a positive lifestyle and sexual health program that has been specifically designed for Aboriginal youth. I have already run 2 sessions and the girls have responded to it really positively. They have engaged well with the activities in the program and seem very enthusiastic and interested. There are 10 sessions in the program all together. So far we have covered self identity and puberty and this coming week we will be focusing on emotions and feelings. It is pretty time intensive preparing all the resources for the group each week but so worthwhile as the girls seem to be getting so much from it.

Isabel....

Isabel was very sad to say goodbye to the Shields family, especially to Jacob, with whom she had such a strong friendship. We were concerned with how she would cope in the classroom without her good buddy there. Isabel, however, has been incredibly strong and brave and is now forming stronger friendships with other class mates. She has a number of good friends that she plays with happily at school and, while she misses Jake, she is still able to have a happy time at school.

Bel and friends play on our trampoline.

This is helped along enormously by her beautiful teachers Mrs & Mr Love. They know Isabel so well and help make that sometimes crazy and chaotic Pre Primary classroom a safe and happy place for Isabel to be. When asked what she would like to do when she grows up, Isabel says she would like to be a ballerina!

Cousins take it easy at Donkey Pools, Charnley River Station, Gibb River Road.

Breaking news: Isabel lost her first tooth today! (Thurs 20th August.)

Gantheume Point, Broome.

Hudson.....

Hudson and Bronnie.

Our little Hudson turns 4 next month!! This is quite hard to believe! He is very excited about having a party with all his “Abodiginal” friends from Kindy.

Hudson helps washing the car.

Hudson now goes to Kindy on Fridays all by himself while Amy runs “Mums and Bubs”. There is always low attendance in the class on Fridays (around 6 kids) and they watch a Dora DVD and do some cooking. Hudson has been very proud to be such a big boy going off to school by himself.

Hudson & Ma at school.

Hudson participated in the school athletics carnival last week (Unfortunately, Bel was sick and couldn’t attend.) He went in a running race and played a version of “Captain Ball”. We were very proud of him holding his own amongst all the big kids.
When Hudson is asked what he would like to be when he grows up he says he wants to be a “listening-to-Music-er!” or a “rock-n-roller!” Too cute!!

Visitors & Holidays!
Tania (Amy’s mum) visited us in May and stayed for a lovely 2 weeks. We greatly enjoyed her company, loved sharing more of this special place with her and very much appreciated her support and help about the place! A real highlight of her stay was a camping trip to McGown Beach which included a tour of some amazing rock art.

Cruising the King Edward ( 'our' ) River with Tania.

Ancient rock art at Galvan's gorge.

In the July holidays we drove to Broome and met up with lots of family (Jen & Ang & their kids Ella & Rosie and Eric & David). We had a relaxing time in Broome and then enjoyed the adventure of travelling up to Cape Leveque and then back along the Gibb River Road to Kalumburu.

Camel riding at Pender Bay, Munget, on the way up to Cape Leveque.

Cape Leveque was absolutely divine with red cliffs meeting white sandy beaches and clear blue water. Once again, we enjoyed exploring gorges and waterfalls along the Gibb River Road and it was extra special to be able to share this with family. Eric and David travelled all the way to Kalumburu with us and we enjoyed showing them around the community. We have loved having lots of visitors this year!

Cousins on a rock at Cape Leveque.

We look forward to hearing from you soon and hope to catch up with many of you in the September / October holidays. We hope you are all doing well.

King Edward River, Kalumburu.

Love from
Adam, Amy, Isabel & Hudson

April 2009

Hi Everyone!

Here is our latest update of our life in Kalumburu.

A cruise on a friend's boat on the King Edward River

(which runs through Kalumburu).

We have well and truly settled back into the community after our long break in Sydney over the Christmas holidays. After a busy term 1, we find ourselves on holidays again…giving us a chance to update our blog!

We have just enjoyed a one week visit from Gary & Helen (Adam’s parents).

Swimming in a waterhole with Nan and Pop at El Questro.

We stayed with them at El Questro Wilderness Park for three nights and then enjoyed showing them around Kalumburu for the remainder of the time.

Isabel and Hudson on a cruise up the Chamberlain River Gorge at El Questro.

El Questro was amazing. It was wonderful to have a break from Kalumburu for a few days and enjoy the natural beauty at El Questro. We swam in thermal springs, cruised along Chamberlain Gorge, walked to El Questro Gorge and swam in beautiful waterholes. We feel so lucky to have this opportunity to explore the Kimberley. It really is a special place!

Mucking around in First Lauer - a little creek that only runs in the wet season.

The wet season has come and gone. The rain was so beautiful and refreshing. We loved going for walks around the community in our gumboots (the kids loved splashing in the puddles!), swimming in the nearby creeks and hearing the rain on our roof most afternoons and evenings.

More mucking around in First Lauer.

("Lauer" means creek. "First" is because it's the first one on the road out of town)

Everything looked so green! Unfortunately, the rain ended early this year and our favourite creek is already drying up.

Swimming in our favourite creek.

(Called "First Creek" not to be confused with "First Lauer" - Go figure!)

The upside of this is that the roads are also drying out (!), making other swimming spots more accessible.

Isabel demonstrates her acrobatic skills at First Creek.

We visited our favourite waterfall for the first time this year, just last week. It was so great to be back!

Adam….
Adam’s big news is that he has been promoted to Deputy Principal. It is such an exciting opportunity for him and a real honour. Adam starts this role in Term 2 and will also continue with his role as Numeracy Co – ordinator. At school the challenges and goals related to them remain the same, but we are slowly making progress encouraging consistent attendance and developing more effective literacy and numeracy programs in the classrooms. It is great to be working among such an enthusiastic and capable staff who are all keen to provide the best education they can for the students.

Adam’s continuing his theological study on the side and also fits in some fishing every two or three weeks – it’s a very rewarding pursuit!

Amy….
Amy is still sharing the position of Women’s Project Co – ordinator with Belinda. A new CEO has started at the Corporation just this week so it will be interesting to see how things evolve in the months ahead.
Playgroup is going well with a core group of mums and kids attending most days. We have just moved back into our proper building / portable after running playgroup in the Corporation conference room for almost a year while the new clinic was being built. It is so lovely to have more space!

We have been liaising with the nurses at the community health clinic to try to start up a Mums and Bubs group. Most of the kids that come to playgroup are 2 and older so it would be great to connect with some of the mums with babies. Our aim would be to support these newer mums by providing them with a safe place to meet together and offering them information about baby health and development.

Girls Group is going strong with about 15 girls attending each week. Belinda and I will be attending 4 days of training in Halls Creek in May that will enable us to use the “Mootidj Program” within our girls group. The “Mooditj program” is a sexual health program specifically designed for indigenous youth aged 10 -14. We are really excited about the program because up until now it has been hard to find resources that seem to fit within our group.

I have also been doing some work for the school this year. I work in the Kindy room two mornings a week (when Hudson attends) and I am also employed as the school’s library officer for a few hours each week! The school has ordered a lot of new books and I am the lucky one who gets to catalogue them and cover them (No, I’m not thinking of a career change!).

We're all involved in the school!

Home School with Isabel is going well. It is quite a privilege to be involved in teaching her how to read and write! We do “Home School” 4 afternoons a week for about 1 ½ hours. Some days she is tired and not overly co operative but on the whole she is an excellent student (even if I do say so myself!). She loves to learn and seems to be picking up things quite well. The challenge is to keep things interesting by adding a lot of variety and practical activities. A big thanks to my teacher friends out there who have given me a lot of help. I’m always open and very keen for ideas!

It is so wonderful to have our friends, the Shields family, here in Kalumburu to share life with. Belinda and I help each other out a lot with child care and work arrangements. I don’t know how we would go without them here!

Isabel….
Isabel now attends the Pre Primary class at school 4 mornings a week. She loves it so much she wants to go 5 mornings a week next term.

Megan and Isabel at Pre-primary making some... stuff.

Pre Primary is for the 5 year old year old kids in the community but it isn’t really at the same level as Kindergarten in Sydney. This is why Amy is home schooling Bel in the afternoons. Isabel and Jacob go happily off to school together each morning and we feel confident that they are both happy and safe in this environment. Isabel is interacting more and more with the local kids and her confidence and assertiveness have grown so much!

Hudson….

He's really very shy, as you can see.

Hudson started Kindy at school this year. This is equivalent to a Preschool in Sydney. Amy goes to Kindy with Hudson two mornings a week and he just loves it! Hudson is very social and active so he thinks Kindy is just great.

Hudson joins in tug-o-war with the big kids at the school 'Fun Day' on the last day of Term 1.

He is learning that he has to sit still sometimes (!) and is learning to fit into the Kindy routine. Hudson interacts beautifully with the local kids and is making some great friends.

A 'mob' of school kids.

Hudson also goes to playgroup with Amy two mornings a week. He seems to enjoy the variety of different activities he gets to experience each week.

Playgroup.

We are looking forward to Term 2 and all the opportunities, challenges and experiences that lie ahead. We appreciate your prayers and support.
We love getting mail (whatever variety!) so please write and tell us your news. We miss you!

Stopping for a rest on a walk at El Questro.

Love Amy, Adam, Isabel & Hudson.

Merry Christmas

Hi Everyone,

This is just a short message to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

We also just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support throughout the year. It has meant so much to us. We are looking forward to catching up with you during our holiday in Sydney. We arrive in Sydney on the 19th December….just in time to do some crazy Christmas shopping!!

Love,
Adam, Amy, Isabel and Hudson.

Hudson, Lorraine (works at the playgroup) and Isabel share the love.

Playgroup Christmas Party

More of the Playgroup Christmas Party

Girls' Group Christmas Party

Is there an afternoon we haven't used our pool since October?

Bel, Jake and friends at Kindy.

Hudson and Riley having a man hug.

I chucked this tiddler back... we only keep the big ones. (Just joking)

Feel the love.

Our little man.

Fishing at the Girls' Group campout.

How beautiful is she?