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
