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