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?

October - November 2008

Camping at Broome

Hi everyone,

The last six weeks for the Lears in the Kimberley has been a real time of enrichment and growth.

Not long after the last time we added to this blog, the four of us packed our camping gear and embarked on a camping safari / road trip to Broome. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore more of the Kimberley and was, of course, full of adventure - both the delightful and the distressing kinds!

Our tent and 4WD at Windjana Gorge.

Before we left, however, Hudson broke out in a body-covering rash of hives which required some pretty potent medication to overcome. While we can’t be 100% sure, we’re pretty confident he’d had a reaction to the sap from the mango trees in our yard. Fortunately, since then we’ve been able to keep him away from the trees and haven’t had a recurrence.

Carrying Hudson’s medication with us, we headed off down the 260km Kalumburu Road towards the Gibb River Road which took us west (in it’s entirety, running from Kununurra to Derby, just north of Broome). Our first camping spot was Drysdale Cattle Station on the Kalumburu Road. After setting up our tent we headed to a nearby swimming hole known as Miner’s Pool for a quick dip. A stunning spot, we all got in our cozzies (or ‘bathers’ as we are supposed to call them whilst in W.A.) and got our toes wet before spotting a croc floating less than 10m away. Hudson wasn’t phased and wanted to stay in, but Isabel and Amy were appropriately freaked out so we made tracks pretty quickly.

Our second night camping was at a spot called Silent Grove near the beautiful Bell Gorge. Despite the heat and the affectionate march flies, our stay there was wonderful. We swam in Bell and Galvin’s Gorges, the latter being our favourite so far, met some friendly fellow tourists and really enjoyed the drive all the way to Derby, a town a couple of hours north of Broome.

Galvin's Gorge.

Bell Gorge (facing upstream).

Bell Gorge (facing downstream).



Picnicing at Bell Gorge.

Derby was quiet; granted, we did arrive on a public holiday so there wasn’t much happening, but I don’t expect the word ‘vibrant’ would be found in the Derby section of the W.A. Lonely Planet. Nevertheless, Derby was a nice break from the wilderness of camping. The old gaol, 12 metre tides, Derby Wharf and the Prison Boab Tree were worth a look.

Gantheume Point at Broome.

Our week in Broome was just what the doctor ordered. Mornings and evenings on the beach were our staple diet but we managed to squeeze in a few trips to the shopping centre, dinners out, an afternoon camel ride on Cable Beach and several swims in the pool where we were staying. Broome is divine. Some parts feel like the Whitsundays, some like Noosa, some like the desert and some, it has to be said, like the central coast of NSW. All that aside, Broome also has a uniqueness that can only be experienced by a visit, and it’s that element that obviously draws so many people to this remote part of Australia. We’re looking forward to a return visit, hopefully next year.

Camel riding on Cable Beach.

Hudson, Adam & Bel on Cable Beach.

Amy & Isabel on Cable Beach.

On our way back home we camped at Windjana Gorge and visited the nearby Tunnel Creek. Both spots are now famous not only for their spectacular natural features, but also because they were hideouts for a man known as ‘Pidgeon’ Jandamurra who was the centre of a dramatic piece of Kimberley history. Sometimes referred to as the aboriginal Ned Kelly, Jandamurra was viewed as a sheep stealer and murderer by the authorities of his day, but as a freedom fighter by his own people and, to this day, many who have come after him. His story’s worth a read if you’re interested in that kind of thing.

The towering cliffs of Windjana Gorge.

A 'freshy' sunbaking in Windjana.

Tunnel Creek.

We drove on to Manning Gorge where we stopped for a swim before returning to Drysdale for our last night in a tent. And, before you all ask, yes we did make it back home with all four wheels still attached to the car! It turns out that the western half of the Gibb River Road isn’t quite as rough as the eastern one.

Our car after arriving back at Kalumburu.

A few days later, we were back in full swing at Kalumburu. With ‘the build up’ to the wet season beginning, we were trying to get our heads around just how hot and humid a Kimberley wet season would be. Fortunately however, while we were away the Dept of Housing and Works upgraded the air conditioning in all the teachers’ houses here, so we are now confident that we can stand tall in the face of the full force of nature’s tropical intensity (read, ‘escape to the artificially cooled paradise of our lounge room’). We have enjoyed a few downpours of rain over the last couple of weeks but we hear that this is nothing to what we can expect when the wet season really hits. Apparently the only adequate outdoor footwear is gumboots!

In week 2 of term, Adam returned to Fremantle for the second stage of his training as a numeracy specialist. It was another really helpful course and Adam once again enjoyed a couple of beers, a pizza and a live band on the side.

To add to his travels, Adam also returned to Broome for few days with the rest of the school staff for a District conference where we explored issues and strategies related to aboriginal education in the Kimberley. We also visited local schools to share ideas and resources; I was left wondering whether the school I visited in Broome is part of the same Department of Education that looks after ours - they look kinda different! Overall, I found it to be a productive trip, but the time spent together as a staff was the most valuable part. Getting to know others better over a few days away from the classroom was a real bonding experience.

Good news about Amy’s job….The government reinstated the funding for the Women’s Project until the middle of next year. This is such a relief for us as it means we know we can stay in Kalumburu next year. Leonie Cameron (the previous CEO) left the community a couple of weeks ago to begin a new position in Alice Springs. Her partner, Peter (the Operations Manager) will leave the community tomorrow. This places lots of pressure on our friend Tim, who has to try to fill these positions as well as his own. We hope and pray that these positions will be filled quickly by the right people.


Isabel is due to start Kindergarten next year. Jacob (her friend that she currently attends Kindy with) has only just turned 4 so he is not able to move up to the Pre Primary Class (the equivalent of NSW Kindergarten). We still don’t feel confident with Isabel attending the school by herself due to the sexual abuse that has occurred at the school in the past. So Isabel will continue to attend Kindy (which is more like Preschool) next year and we will also do Home Schooling to keep her up with the NSW Kindergarten level. Hudson can also attend Kindy next year. He is very excited about going to school with the big kids. Belinda (Jacob’s mum) and I will take turns going along to school with the kids.

One of the women in the community we have been getting to know is a Christian lady named Barbara. She has asked Belinda and Amy to start up a bible study for some of the women in the community. We are hoping to start this next Tuesday evening. Please pray that this will be a time where we can continue to build relationships and share Jesus’ love with the women in the group.

We are very much looking forward to coming to Sydney at Christmas time. We are enjoying our life here in Kalumburu but we do really miss family and friends. And yes it would be nice to go out to a restaurant for dinner too! We will be flying into Sydney on the 19th December and flying back to Kalumburu on Australia Day. We look forward to catching up with you then.

Sunset on Cable Beach.

Lots of love

Adam, Amy, Isabel & Hudson.

September

Hi all,

We are so sorry that it has been so long since our last update!! Life in Kalumburu has been very full!! It is hard to believe that it is almost the end of term 3.

Our trip back to Sydney at the end of term 2 was fantastic. It was wonderful to meet our two newest nieces and catch up with friends and family.

Adam came back to Kalumburu a week before Amy, Isabel, Hudson and Tania arrived as school holidays ended a little before Isabel’s recovery period. After a week back at work, Adam drove the 8 hour trip into Kununurra to have the car inspected and the registration transferred to W.A. and to pick up Amy, Bel, Huddy and Tania. It was a great trip and I was able to see many of the sites along the way that you miss on the much faster plane trip.

Our car under the big boab at Murra Gurra beach.

The trip back was eventful and very memorable. We had some drama with the car, getting a flat tyre that meant we didn’t arrive at our camping spot ‘til it was already dark but the drama had only just begun. The next day the spare wheel shook loose and, while travelling at about 100km/h along the corrugated dirt Gibb River Rd, came off the car leaving us grinding along on 3 wheels and one disc as it bounced away in front of us. We had lost all the wheel nuts for that wheel but were able to retrieve the wheel, borrow one or two nuts off each of the other wheels, re-fit it and hobble along to Drysdale Station where we could buy some extra wheel nuts and continue home. Fortunately nobody was hurt and the damage was able to be repaired properly back in Kalumburu.

Tania and Adam sharing Anglers' tips at the gorge.

For the next week and a half we were blessed to have Amy’s mum staying with us. It was great to be able to share our experiences with her and to show her around most of our favourite spots in and around the community.

Us Lears with Ma at Nullawarrie (swimming hole).

It was a sad farewell to say goodbye to Tania/Mum/Ma and the dusty Kalumburu airstrip felt a few drops of moisture falling from our eyes as we waved goodbye for now, while the little Cessna made its way back to Kununurra. We look forward to catching up again though, in a few months when we return to Sydney for Christmas.

The community has experienced some real ups and downs over the last couple of months. The Catholic mission celebrated its 100th anniversary in August. Celebrations included the opening of the new Kalumburu Museum (a part of the mission), an art competition, a ‘mini fair” (stalls selling goods made by school students, slippery pole climbing, a dunking machine etc), a corroborree and a re-enactment of the landing of the first missionaries at Pago. The anniversary seemed to be quite a big deal in the community and there was a real buzz in the air that weekend.

Corroborree for 100th Anniversary of the Catholic Mission.

Another positive for the community has been the involvement of the army over the last couple of months (you may have seen the recent report on the 7.30 Report). The army has focused on building a new health clinic, fixing up the roads, tarring the airstrip and conducting a training program for about 20 of the locals. Most of the army contingent left last week but about 40 people still remain to finish off the last jobs.

A local boy climbs the slippery pole to get the $10 note off the top at the fair.

Unfortunately though, there has been quite a bit of violence in the community over the last month. Some of the families in the community have been fighting with one another. Apparently these families have been fighting for generations and only minor conflicts turn into major fights. Before you worry about us….we feel perfectly safe and haven’t even seen any of this violence occur. Most of the fighting occurs late at night when we are safe in our beds sound asleep! It is incredibly disruptive for most of the community though. Everyone is up all night, either participating in the fight or watching. We have heard reports of rocks and bricks thrown at people, houses and cars and a motorcycle being set alight. Apparently, the Police just film the fights with a video camera (as it is not safe for them to intervene) and then make arrests in the morning.

It’s amazing who you bump into in the most unlikely places. Just before the end of term 2 a group of students and a couple of teachers from Shore School in North Sydney arrived in Kalumburu and Adam was thrilled to recognize Matt Gray, the chaplain, whom he had known from his days as Christian Studies Coordinator at Arden. It was great to chat about my experiences with Matt and I was able to have a chat with the boys about what life is like for Kalumburu kids.

I bumped into a friend from school days at Northholm while at the corroborree. She and her husband and their 4 month old daughter are doing a trip round Australia. We’ve also enjoyed catching up with some friends who have been passing through on similar trips, some of whom we know from our days at Dural Baptist Church. What a blessing it is to meet up with old friends and spend time with them in this beautiful part of the world.

Adam, Huddy and Bel cool off in our inflatable pool.

Adam officially started his role as Numeracy Coordinator at the school this term, and spent a few days in Fremantle at the end of August undergoing some training for this position. His focus at work is now to train other teachers at the school in more effective ways to teach numeracy.

The future of Amy’s position with the Aboriginal Corporation is a bit uncertain at present. The government have cut the funding for her position (and Belinda’s) as the Women’s Project Coordinator. This was a huge shock as only three weeks before this announcement, Government representatives had assured us of the continuation of this funding. Leonie (The CEO of the Corporation) was very supportive of the Women’s project and said she would find money from elsewhere to continue the program. Unfortunately, however, she and her partner (who is the Operations manager with the corporation) have been sacked by the Kalumburu Council. So the whole future of the Corporation and obviously my position within it, is in doubt! At the moment everything is continuing as normal but nobody knows what will be happening next year. I’m not too worried about it though. I am hopeful and prayerful that I will be able to continue working in Kalumburu in some capacity next year. I feel like I am slowly starting to build some relationships with some of the local women and I would be really disappointed if we had to leave at the end of this year.

Celebrating Hudson's 3rd birthday on Murra Gurra beach.

Playgroup is going well and I love being able play and chat with the kids and families in the community. It continues to be a struggle to get parents / carers to come along but usually we get at least one parent / carer along each day. Today we had 4 mums and 13 kids and that was just fantastic! Belinda and I had fun spending $5000 on new toys (out of last year’s budget!) and the kids are really enjoying playing with them all.

Girls group continues to be challenging but very worthwhile and satisfying. We have about 15 girls come along each week. We are using a program developed by Wesley Mission called “Stretching your Wings”. The program is designed to be used with kids who have witnessed domestic violence. It focuses on the development of a positive self esteem, communication skills, emotional awareness and conflict resolution. We have to adapt the program quite a bit to suit our girls but it has certainly been a very helpful resource and one we will continue to use for the rest of the year.

The Young Mums Group has changed its format quite a bit. Not many mums were coming along to the group (if any!) and after talking to the young mums in the community they said they would prefer to go out fishing or camping together instead of painting and jewellery making. So next term we are going to try to go fishing and or camping once every month with the young mums. I’ll keep you posted.

Beautiful Bel at the gorge.

Isabel recovered very well after having her tonsils removed. Thankyou so much for your thoughts, prayers and messages of support during this time. It’s a big relief to have had this done. The doctor said hers were the size of an adolescent’s tonsils and with the poor hygiene habits that affect the lives of Isabel’s peers here in Kalumburu, she was always going to be struggling to stay healthy and/or on antibiotics until we had this done. She’s now happy, healthy and antibiotics-free and her voice sounds quite different!

Huddy tries out his new birthday gear.

Hudson celebrated his 3rd birthday on the 19th of this month! We had a party in our front yard and Hudson had a great time celebrating with many of his new friends. Unfortunately he was quite sick leading up to his birthday (with tonsillitis, an ear infection and an eye infection!) but recovered just in time to enjoy his birthday! It was a tough week and a half while Hudson was sick but we are all glad to be over that now.

"Happy Birthday to you!"

We’re constantly so proud of both our kids. They bring us so much joy and happiness and we’re thrilled that they’re able to experience this part of the world and the people of Kalumburu.

We are going to Broome for the school holidays and are really looking forward to this! We will spend one week in Broome (in a little cabin in a caravan park) and take a week to drive to and from Broome (camping along the way). We are really enjoying the incredible opportunity we have to explore the Kimberly. It truly is an amazing part of Australia. Most weekends we are able to jump in our 4WD and head to a waterhole or beautiful beach.

Some sad family news….Amy’s uncle passed away earlier this month. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of our family at this time. We wish we could be with you…

We will be returning to Sydney again at Christmas time and hope to catch up with many of you then. In the meantime we would love to hear from you via email, phone or snail mail!

Love Adam, Amy, Isabel & Hudson

June Update

Hello Family and Friends

Thankyou so much for your love and support over the last couple of months. We have really appreciated the phone calls, emails, letters and care packages we have received.

We are enjoying our time here in Kalumburu but there are certainly many challenges and difficulties. We have had some real highlights and encouragements but have also experienced frustrations and disappointments.

For Amy…
I am really enjoying my job with the Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation. I run the playgroup on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the help of a number of local women. We normally have about 12 children come along (all under 4) and about 6 mums / carers. I am slowly getting to know people and am getting my head around all the different families in Kalumburu and who belongs in each family! Families seem to operate quite differently here. Quite often children are cared for by their Aunties or Grandmothers. Children (as young as 2) often turn up to playgroup by themselves and I am learning to ask “Who do you live with?” rather than “Who is your mummy?” A couple of mums / carers are coming regularly to playgroup but it continues to be a struggle to encourage the mums / carers to come along and to play alongside their kids. Music and craft seem to be the best way to promote positive interaction between the carers and kids. Generally speaking, it seems that the women in Kalumburu have not been shown a lot of love in their lives. They may have grown up in an abusive family and / or may be in an abusive relationship with their partner. This impacts on their ability to demonstrate love and affection to their own children. They tend to discipline their children by hitting them, or shouting at them and putting them down. I have been fortunate enough to grow up in a loving family and I pray that as I parent my own children in Kalumburu I can be a positive example to others around me.

Another part of my role with the Corporation is to run two groups – a Girls’ Group (for girls aged 10 – 16) and a Young Mums’ Group (for mums under 25). I run both of these groups alongside Belinda.

Our Girls’ Group is going really well. We have been getting 15 girls along each week and they always seem really keen and excited to come along. At this stage we have been doing lots of fun and friendship forming activities with them. We have done a few activities to promote self esteem and encourage respectful behaviour and are excited about doing more of this in the future. Activities the girls have enjoyed included: a pizza and movie night, a treasure hunt, cooking, painting and jewelry making. The girls’ behaviour can be pretty wild at times. They often tease one another and put each other down. Working with girls of this age is a new thing for me so this can be quite a challenge. It can be hard to find the right balance between disciplining them and setting boundaries but also getting alongside them and developing a positive relationship with them. But…I am really enjoying getting to know these girls. Despite their at times challenging behavior, they are really beautiful girls and it is such a privilege to be able to be a part of their lives.

The Young Mums’ Group started slowly but is now going very well. The first two times we held the group nobody turned up! But ….we changed the time to the afternoon (as opposed to the evening) and on our third attempt we had 12 women come!! We have enjoyed two nights of jewelry making and one night of painting. Again, it feels like such a privilege to sit around the table with these women, make jewelry or paint and chat. It was especially amazing watching some of the women paint traditional Aboriginal paintings. Some of the women are very open to having a conversation with me but generally speaking I am finding that the women are quite wary of me and are pretty closed. I think they wonder, “Who are you?”, “Why are you here?” “How long will you be around for?”, “You can’t possibly understand my life”. And to be honest…these are all pretty valid questions / comments. I pray that with time we can build friendships and that I can be a source of encouragement and love for them.


For Adam…
Teaching in Kalumburu continues to be challenging but in many ways rewarding. I continue to work across four classes teaching students from Year 2 to Year 7. Behaviour management is the biggest challenge and I’m often left scratching my head as to why some days are so much better than others. I’m continuing to work on teaching the Space and Measurement strands of Mathematics to Years 3 to 7 and am also teaching Creative Arts to kids in this age range. To the children in Year 2 I teach music and Religious Education. On top of this, I’m also working in partnership with the regular teachers of students in Years 3 to 7 to implement their literacy programs. So it’s a bit of a mixed bag, but variety is the spice of life, hey!
Though they can be a handful at times, the students are also very affectionate and fun. They’ll often walk up to me in the playground and put a hand on my shoulder and ask, “Hey, Sir Lear, we got you after lunch?” or “Sir Lear, when you got us?”

The highlight of this term would have to be the visit we had from a Hip Hop dance crew (sponsored by Beyond Blue) that came to the school for a week to teach the kids a few routines which were then performed on Friday night at a disco. Another highlight has been the school’s commitment to making school more rewarding for the kids by giving out a food hamper each week to a student whose name has been drawn from a hat which contains the names of those who have maintained 100% attendance for the week and have kept their ‘good standing’ in the school. We’ve also introduced ‘Clubs’ which runs on Friday afternoons and is basically a time when all students can choose from a range of options to do something like footy, cooking, art, indoor activities, etc. They love it.

As a summary of my experience during my first term in Kalumburu, I would have to say that this is not what I expected. The school has plenty of money available to it from the government, but finds it hard to get quality and consistency in many services and provisions (the latter part I expected, of course). But, being a major part of an almost purely indigenous community (apart from a handful of other white adults like us), you would think the curriculum and standards would be markedly different from those found in another Dept of Ed school in, say, Perth or even Sydney. On the contrary, these aspects of the school really are very mainstream. For example, we use the exact same School Report grading system as those used in metro Perth state schools and have to grade the students according to the same standards. While I recognize that I’m still very new here, I have questions about the appropriateness of such an approach in a place like this. But then what outcomes should we be aiming for, on behalf of the students in Kalumburu?

This is one more example, I believe, of Kalumburu being a community that finds itself (or perhaps has lost itself) in a nebulous space between Indigenous and Non-indigenous lifestyles, systems and cultures. The outworking of this is that much of at least what has gone on up to now is not working out. Perhaps some positive change is starting to happen, though. I’ll keep you posted!

On the recreational front, I’ve been fortunate to spend a few half Saturdays or Sundays fishing and oystering. The marine cuisine is abundant up here, and, with mates from school and in the community offering to take me out on their boat or out to the rocks, I’ve been able to bring in quite a number of large, delicious fish and pick off several dozen oysters in the last couple of months. Mmmmm! When fishing we have to use big sinkers on our lines so the bait gets to the bottom before one of the many pesky sharks grabs the line midway down and picks a fight with the unlucky angler at the other end!


For Isabel…
Isabel attends Kindy three mornings a week and really loves it! It starts at 8.15 and finishes at 11. Jacob (Belinda & Tim’s eldest boy) goes along too and Belinda and Amy take turns helping in the classroom on the three days that our kids attend. There was an incident of sexual abuse at the school last year and while the Kindy class is quite separate from the main school we just don’t want to take any chances. Also, the kids in Kindy can be quite rough and we really want to ensure that Jacob and Isabel are in a safe environment. The Kindy is for all the four year old kids in the community but not all the children attend regularly. There can be anywhere from 5 to 15 kids in the class. There is only one teacher (Miss Janelle) so Amy and Belinda try to help out as much as they can. There is a teacher’s aid assigned to the class but she has not come to work at all this term. Miss Janelle certainly has her hands full! Besides from the staffing levels, the Kindy is very well resourced and Miss Janelle runs lots of great activities for the kids. Isabel participates beautifully in group time and it is wonderful to see her confidence grow. Isabel also likes the fact that she gets to make her own breakfast and brush her teeth at school! She also gets to wear a special school shirt and looks so grown up!

We have had to keep Isabel on antibiotics to keep the tonsillitis away. If we stop the anti biotics the tonsillitis returns. Bring on the tonsillectomy in July! While she is on the antibiotics she is really healthy and well.

For Hudson…

Hudson is really enjoying life here in Kalumburu and loves going along to playgroup four days a week (Amy, Isabel & Hudson all enjoy a “home / rest day” on Wednesday.) His favourite activities at playgroup include music time, playdough, painting and story time. Hudson is full of life and energy. He loves to sing and dance and make people laugh. He is so delightful!

The trampoline and swing set we brought up from Sydney has proved to be a big hit with the kids in the community. We often have our front yard filled with kids playing on the equipment and playing games. Isabel and Hudson love having the kids around and join in with lots of the games. We have had to set some firm boundaries with the local kids about when they can come to play. At first they let themselves into our yard without being invited and wanted to come over everyday. To ensure we have enough family time we have told the kids that they can come and play Tuesday and Friday afternoons only. We love having them over and spending time with them but we have to look after our own family too.

Exploring the Kimberley…
Our car was delivered to us via the Barge from Darwin and arrived in Kalumburu a couple of weeks ago. Hooray!! We were starting to feel a little bit trapped in tiny little Kalumburu….especially Amy, as she wasn’t getting the same opportunity to get out on the weekends as Adam.

Knowing the car was coming, we planned for a weekend away at the spectacular Mitchell Falls about 4 hours drive South then East of Kalumburu. We camped for the weekend with Belinda and Tim Shields, their two kids and Belinda’s parents who were visiting. This was Adam’s first experience as a Four Wheel Driver and the car remains in one piece and (as far as I can tell, at least) with all 4 wheels still doing what they should be, so I can’t have gone too far wrong (I guess)! Thanks to Toyota for making a car strong enough to survive the terribly rocky roads that lead in and out of Kalumburu, especially with a novice like me behind the wheel.
The highlight of this trip, was the helicopter ride we took in to the Falls before walking the 3½ km back to base. It was made more spectacular because the chopper had no doors. The kids (and adults of course) loved it – what a buzz. I have to say here that Isabel was awesome and walked almost all the way back - what a trooper! Hudson found the distance pretty hard going of course, and we were happy to carry him most of the way.

Since having the car we have really enjoyed exploring the many beautiful spots around Kalumburu. There are numerous beautiful beaches near Kalumburu. It only takes about 20 – 30 minutes to reach absolute paradise! The beaches are just gorgeous…beautiful white sand and clean and clear water. We are certainly having many family adventures! The kids love it!

We will arrive in Sydney on the 6th July and will be staying with Amy’s mum in Baulkham Hills. Isabel’s operation is on the 10th. Amy & the kids will be in Sydney for 3 weeks and Adam will only be there for 2. We are very excited about coming to Sydney and catching up with family and friends. We can’t wait to meet our 2 new little nieces/cousins Maya & Rose!

The best way to contact us while we are in Sydney is on our mobile…0400621060.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Love Amy, Adam, Isabel & Hudson.

May update

Hi Everyone,

We are all going really well and settling into life here in Kalumburu! It is hard to believe we have already been here for over a week! Our house is mostly unpacked now and we are staring to feel at home in our new house. Our house is great. It will never win any home beautiful awards but it is very practical and quite big (well bigger than our place in Northmead!).

It is very hot here! It gets up to about 35 degrees in the middle of the day. Our house, school and the playgroup room are well air conditioned so it’s not too much of a problem. We have had a swim in the creek (we promise there were no crocs!) a couple of times and we have all enjoyed the chance to cool down!

Our trip to Kalumburu went quite smoothly. The kids did very well on the planes. Isabel was very excited about our take off and landing and made all the passengers around her smile! Our last plane was a little 4 seater including one seat for the pilot and one seat for Isabel and Hudson to share! Fortunately, Hudson was very tired and fell asleep even though the flight was incredibly noisy and bumpy! We were thankful that it was only a one hour flight!

When we first arrived in Kalumburu, we stayed with our friends Belinda & Tim and their kids Jacob and Riley. It was so wonderful to be able to stay with good friends! Belinda and Tim have really helped us settle in and have given us invaluable information and guidance about the community.

Our container with all our belongings arrived on the barge a few days after we got here. Grace Removals had promised us that they would organise a way for the container to get from the beach to our house (about a 10 min drive). However…when Adam and Tim went to the beach when the barge arrived it became apparent that Grace had let us down…..our container was there but we had no way of transporting it along the 16km dirt road to our house. Fortunately….the army arrived on the same barge. Adam approached one of the army guys and he was more than happy to help us. So the army used a massive fork lift to deliver our container to our house. We really felt like God was looking after us!

Amy & the kids have started to attend playgroup and they really enjoy it. The playgroup here runs 5 days a week. Amy will be running it 2 days a week but we plan to go along at least another day as well. (There aren’t too many other options here!!). There are 2 Aboriginal women who work at the playgroup too. It will be great to work alongside them and learn from them about Aboriginal culture. About 4 or 5 kids turn up to playgroup each day. Some of the kids (as young as 3) just come by themselves. It seems like some of the kids have to take care of themselves a lot of the time and from what we have heard many of them have been physically and sexually abused. At playgroup we will be aiming to create a safe environment for the kids to play and learn. We will also be encouraging the mums / carers to come along and to play with and interact with their kids.

Amy and Belinda will also run a group for some of the young mums in the community one evening a week. We will do art and jewelry making together and hope to build good relationships with these women. We also hope to build their self esteem and encourage them in their parenting. Amy has also started to run a girls group with Belinda, one afternoon a week. The group is for girls aged 10 – 16. We will be doing craft and cooking with them and trying to build their self esteem etc. Most girls have their first child by the time they are 19 here so it feels like an important age group to be working with.

The school is also interested in Amy doing some OT work with some of the students. She’s got a lot to keep her busy!!

Adam is enjoying school but is finding it to be a little different to what he was expecting. He is providing support for children from Year 2 to Year 6 in four different classrooms. This means sometimes he helps the regular class teacher so that there are 2 teachers in the room at the same time, and other times he takes a class while the regular teacher takes time out of the classroom to catch up on preparation, marking etc. The Principal has commented that he thinks Adam has a lot to offer the less experienced teachers by being in the classroom with them and chatting with them about ideas that might be helpful teaching strategies etc.

The school is quite well resourced as State schools go, which is really encouraging. Like many aspects of the community, the government seems happy to send money and/or equipment most of the time. The real difference, or should I (Adam) say ‘problem,’ however stems from poor parenting and community breakdown. I don’t think I’ve seen a student in shoes yet, and some turn up without a shirt. I taught a lesson on ‘time’ and many students nominated 8:15am as their favourite time of the day, as this is when breakfast is served at school. Sadly, I had a bunch of boys from school walk past our house on Saturday when I was out in the yard and they asked for some food – an orange or some bread was their request. Many kids are neglected and/or have been abused.
In the classroom the students have been hard to manage. They respond well to shouting (though I’d prefer not to be doing that of course) but they have no real concept of consequences, so they often disregard instructions, lose concentration and engage in teasing or tit-for-tat hitting which spirals into fighting. Some students have developed a habit of walking out of the classroom and going home if things aren’t going their way. Students often attach themselves more to one teacher, and the appearance of a new staff member is not at all a novelty. Teachers come and go all the time. All of this stems from, as I said before, community breakdown and poor parenting which includes inappropriate role modeling, neglect, abuse etc. – a tough cycle to break. The good news is that they love it when I play the guitar and there are a few gems and a few kids who will work well when the environment is controlled for them. Even in a week I’ve seen improvements and I’m looking forward to that continuing as we become more familiar with each other.

The staff at the school are all lovely and nearly all have less than 4 years experience. There are 11 other teachers and about 10 indigenous staff who work at the school either providing support for the teacher or working in the school grounds. Unfortunately though, there is a real sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which creates a strange and unexpected but very clear divide between the indigenous and non-indigenous staff. The ‘locals’ never appear in the staff room, and don’t come to staff meetings. I’m not sure why this is, but the Principal and other staff are aware of it and the school is looking for ways to engage and include the indigenous staff more. Generally speaking it seems there is a distinct lack of empowerment and motivation amongst the indigenous workers in the school environment. This problem is apparent in many or possibly all schools in the Kimberley as we had a staff development day in Kununurra for a few schools in the region and a large part of the day was focused on this problem.


We are really pleased with how the kids are settling in. They are amazing the way they just take it in their stride. Highlights for them so far would be swimming in the creek, playing with their friends Jacob and Riley, holding a frog for the first time, going for a bike ride around the community, playing in the sprinkler (there are no water restrictions here!) and going to playgroup! We will meet with the school principal this week to talk about the possibility of Isabel starting at the Pre Kindy. We can actually see the pre kindy room from our kitchen – it is that close!

Isabel has come down with tonsillitis…again! This is her third successive bout now. She had her last dose of antibiotics on Wednesday night and woke up with a fever and vomiting on Thursday night. Fortunately, we brought plenty of antibiotics with us and we were able to start her on them straight away. Amy took her to the clinic on Friday and met the two nurses for the first time. It is so comforting to have good health care here. All medications are provided for free! The nurses confirmed that Isabel had tonsillitis again but suggested we come back and see the Doctor on Tuesday to see what we can do about stopping the infection. We have Isabel booked in to have her tonsils removed when we come back to Sydney in July….but we don’t want to have to keep her on antibiotics all that time.

We received some very exciting news early Monday morning! Amy’s sister, Bron and her husband Ben had their first baby! They had a beautiful baby girl and have called her Maya. It took a while for us to get the news because our phone wasn’t connected at that stage. But we were so excited when we heard! It is hard being so far away from family at times like these but we are so grateful for emails and phone calls.

We hope all is going well for you and look forward to hearing from you in the near future! Our postal address is c/- Kalumburu School, PMB 7, Wyndham 6740 and our phone number is 08 9161 4840.

Love Adam, Amy, Isabel & Hudson