Mossman

I have now been in Mossman for three days. Vit and I arrived Thursday afternoon. I was a bit nervous hopping out the car. I’m about to start working on a project and I have no idea what is it yet, what if I can’t do it? What if people don’t like me? What can I really do in a mere two weeks? As soon as I met Angie and Megan I relaxed. They were coming down in the car on their way to take a client to the bank in town. They rolled down the window. Vit told them with a glint in his eye “you better watch this one, she’s a crazy woolly headed feral”. I smile and faintly deny his claims but they assure me that if I wasn’t crazy I wouldn’t fit in at all. Phew!

The Aboriginal community of Mossman gorge is in the middle of rainforest. The Bama people are forest people and have learnt to understand and respect the rainforest and their people traditionally survived completely off what it offered, which, I am slowly learning, is so much more than I ever could have imagined. The FIM office is a beautiful office and is run by all indigenous people. It is, like Coen, an extremely successful centre. The vast majority of the aprox 200 people of the community are signed up to FIM. Mosman gorge attracts many tourists and there is a well established tourist and arts centre at the foot of the gorge. Sharon and Stuart who are on secondments here are working on proposals, processes and job descriptions for the new cultural centre that will be built at the foot of the community. The plan is that all tourists will park here then will get buses from here past the community and up to the gorge. The idea behind this is it will create more awareness about the community, increase trade for the tourist and arts centre and create jobs for many of the Mossman gorge people.

I am working with FIM and they want me to help design games that will assist people in finance management and create promotional material for FIM that specifically concentrates on the Mossman, Hope Vale and Wijal Wijal areas. I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into the projects and hope I can at least make a tiny stich in the overall FIM agenda.

The first day I got acquainted with my work mates, Megan, Angie, Rebecca and Julie. Angie and I ate lunch together in the rainforest then she showed me around the arts and tourist centre and introduced me to all the workers there. She then took me down to see Shawn play the didgeridoo for the tourists and then Shawn took me on a little tour around the base of the forest. He is a leader for a dance troupe and is recording his first album on Monday where he will be playing the didge over recording running water sounds, bird noises and other natural sounds that come from the forest to concentrate on mediation and holistic healing. The Cooktown crew, Megan and mark and Kate and Eric from cairns came to see us this weekend. We went on a guided walk with Shawn as our guide through the rainforest on Saturday. He showed us where to find a natural soap, natural “deep heat”, let us smell and try and touch the variety of fruits and nuts that are found in the forest. He told us of a bark that you could crush down and put in the water that would take out the oxygen and stun the fish so they could catch them. They only ever took what they needed. He showed as the husk of trees where boomerangs were made from, how they made fishing spears and temporary huts – the Bama people were nomadic people. He warned us off a stinging plant and how to heal the intensely painful wound. We sat in the roots of a massive strangle fig tree and shared dream time stories with us, his peoples beliefs and the connection with nature and animals. He told us how is Bama name means eagle, he was giving this name, his son given the name meaning evening star. He told us and showed us so much more… but that’s all I can remember for now.

We all swam in the gorge and played in the natural slippery slide and let the rapids pulls us down stream. Today we went out on the lower isles of the barrier reef. I talked to a beautiful big patterned turtle tiled with deep brown, red and orange crooked pieces were lay perfectly on his skin and shell. After he knew I was friendly he agreed to come out from under his rock and let me swim with him. He swam slowly so I could keep up and we moseyed around together for awhile until he swam to close to an island where I couldn’t go. I said goodbye and thanked him with all my heart. I saw what seemed like hundreds of coral and fish so many vibrant intricate colours and designs, Mother Nature indeed has the most create hand. A massive clam sat strong, breathing in, breathing out, deep purple flesh and sprinkled with sparking green and gold.

Work tomorrow, I’m really looking forward to it but tonight I’m thinking of Aurukun. I left something there or maybe something from there came with me…either way I feel a connection with that place that is not going to leave.

Cooktown

Cooktown is where captain cook first arrived and Vit took me up to grassy hill where you get an amazing panoramic view across the seas. This is where Cook worked out his root across the reefs. We go to the business hubs office were Megan and Mark are working. They are talking with Eddie and Ralinda about how best to go about improving the relatively unsuccessful business hubs office in Cooktown. Lots of tourists come to this town and this along with the rich history makes for a definite market. They have lots of ideas mapped out on a white board but the first port of call is engagement with the indigenous community to find out what their wants and interests are to ensure the community is kept in the driver’s seat for implementation and sustaining new business. At Megan and Mark’s we watch ‘Cathy Freeman going bush’. She visits Aurukun and we see Mavis, Hersey, Kenlock and others on the screen and the success of the tourist fishing boat is also showcased. It is a nice show and displays all the positives of Aurukun but it makes me sad to know that what you’re seeing on screen is a much sanitised, hunky dory picture of the community. I understand it is catered for a different audience and it is about Cathy and Luke rediscovering their aboriginal culture but I can’t help to think that they should also be aware of the innate dysfunction of the community and that the traditional culture of the community is now so jaded with issues of poor health, suicide, the alcohol epidemic and domestic and child abuse – surely two such high profile aboriginal people could be great advocates for the reform of such communities….? I spoke to Pat about this and she agreed with me but said the positive spin of the show was a really good for the people of Aurukun to see and that’s what counts I guess.

Hope Vale

Half an hour before Cooktown Vit and I stop for lunch and I drink my first real coffee for the trip. A mobile phone rings and we both cringe…back in civilisation. We pass through Cooktown and go to Hope Vale to visit the Cape York Digital Network (cydn) office there. Weeks ago in Sydney I met up with a woman called Gaye White who is working in partnership with cydn and the development of the centre. I think this is an areas IBM could really contribute to and she suggested I visit the centre. Liz and Nelson work there and they showed be around. It is very well set up with two rooms with computers, the smaller is going to be used for training, the larger for general use. It has only been open for six weeks (after being locked up for months unattended) and kids are already coming in there after school or if they miss their bus to school or are suspended the are using the space to work on school projects or pursue other educational and creative interests via the internet. There is also a radio station and a recording studio there. Liz and Nelson have big plans but it is early days yet and like everything there are always processes, procedures and politics that need to be nutted out first.

Coen

Coen is a small town of about 200 people. It sits in a valley enveloped by rich green hills. Colleen is here working at the primary school helping to organise the basic administration of the school and helping with some guidance for the indigenous woman who is in charge of admin. She also hopes to be able to take some of art classes for the students. Every child attends school in Coen, Emma, the principle tells us. She has never actually been a teacher before but as been working with the ‘Every Child is Special’ program in Cape York for two years. She says the main reason kids miss school is if there is a funeral - a frequent occurrence in all indigenous communities in Cape York as suicide rates are alarmingly high and health issues prevalent. Emma seems extremely competent and energetic and plans to stay at the school for 2 to five years acknowledging that it will take at least that amount of time to properly reform the school. She showed me the at present unused computer room which she wants to get some more computers in so she can effectively run IT classes for the kids. She talks of other simple things like getting high plants to surround the fence of the schools oval so kids know that school is a safe place and there will be no visibility of the outside where adults will frequently sit and drink and look on while the kids are playing.

Kate and Sharon are working with FIM and are currently updating databases of clients and identifying problems with accounts where clients are being charged too high rates or have signed up to something that is not relevant to them which is usually due to a communication problem between the client and the bank. Megan runs the FIM office here and has been since the office opened. Vit says that Coen is one of the most successful FIM offices because of strong continued leadership. I met with the new CEO, a young dashing Englishman who as buckets of energy and one of his plans is to have a festival in Coen in the second last weekend of September. This will act as a vehicle to showcase indigenous art and music from around the cape and help bring awareness about Finance management and good health and lifestyle habits. It will be an alcohol and smoke free event and will aim to lift the community spirit and highlight the rich sand diverse indigenous culture in Cape York.

The FIM office here is part of hub where welfare reform and centrelink are based too. There are multiple computers and internet lines and a number of offices where clients can see staff and areas for workshops or spaces where people can wait comfortably or work on their own projects. We join Megan and her husband after dinner and sit around the fire under a sky full of stars. They talks about the wet season just ending and laugh and say how they have forgotten what a tomato looks like. Roads have been closed for months but produce is arriving tomorrow. I ask if it is good land for growing fruit and veg. They say it’s ok and there was a veggie farm here but when the man who ran it left the garden wasn’t maintained and there was no real interest from the community to do so. It dried up and failed becoming another statistic of so many projects in these communities that begin as a great idea and are successful for a while, but if there is no sustainability or continued engagement the project disintegrates and becomes a decrepit memory in a stale line of one off wonders.

Aurukun

Aurukun has a population of aprox 1200 and is a series of faded coloured houses, often empty shells housing up to sometimes fifteen people. There is a council office, a library, an arts centre, a school and new shop, a church, an abandoned basket ball court an unused padlocked sports and rec centre and a gated pool that has been dry for three years. Pat asks the council if she could at least get out a cricket bat and a ball to start up an informal game some afternoon but the answer is no. They want to wait for the sports and rec officer they have advertised for but there are no bites.

The tavern sits on the edge of town, a big modern building that fills up on opening at 3pm but is only open for three or four hours and apart from within the tavern, the town is diligently alcohol free.

At the landing three rivers meet, the archer, the Ward and the Watson and together they lap against wet red earth of Aurukun. With the relentless heat during day time your urge is to plunge into the cool water but it’s full of crocs, so as inviting as it looks, unless you want to be eaten or have a limb bitten off its best not. Out on the water sits the successful tourist fishing boat that Westpac secondees helped the community to initiate and build. Now it is an established business, indigenous guides are on board and the business is doing exceptionally well.

The FIM office is attached to a hollowed out building that used to be the shop before the new one was built and it is surrounded by wire fencing. Pat described the old shop as stinky and rat infested. This is where her server sits and rats have chewed through the adapter so it is now powered by a battery and when it runs out she uses jumper leads to get it going again. Her office is one dirty room with one phone line and other line that is swapped between the internet and fax. Customers slouch on the broken splintered bench outside and occasionally tap impatiently through the bars on the one window. Pat is the only permanent worker here. Kate and Casey have come to help out which will free Pat up from just renewing pin numbers, setting up accounts and ordering new cards so she can leave the office and promote the service, attract new clients and chase up those that have left. Outside I meet Bernard and Jennifer They shake my hand and Bernard tells me that FIM has changed their life. It helped them to understand budgeting then get a lone to buy a Nissan 4WD and today they are expectantly waiting for the arrival washing machine. Once they pay off their lone Bernard says they will start buying furniture for the house. Pat tells me the couple are two of her best clients. FIM has made a big difference to individuals like Bernard and Jennifer but with only 70 active clients with FIM there is till lots of work to do. Gary, the soon to retire CEO says there is criticism that there is not a wider community impact with such programs but notes that individuals after all do make up the community. He makes the point that a few years back there was not children going off to boarding school to continue education (the closest high schools are in Cairns) but now there are seventeen kids at boarding school. Baby steps, momentum will gain that’s how change is made.

Kate and Casey live in a raised blue house just like Vit described in the interview. It has a six foot high gate topped with barbed wire and it is always chained and locked, a feature of the majority of the houses here. The whole town felt familiar thanks to Vit’s descriptive hypothetical situation everyone goes through during the interview process. The only difference was that there were not so many mangy, flea ridden dogs. They’re still around but thanks the mad vet who runs around with a big net the numbers apparently are far less. “I killed fifteen dogs today!” he says proudly on one encounter, “I love my job but it’s not without consequences” and with a crooked tooth grin he pulls down his sock to reveal a red bite mark inhabited by a series of white pussy dots. The dogs howl at night, Vit says “now tell me there’s not dingo’s in them”.

Pat and I are walking and a bunch of kids run up “hi miss, hi miss” they hold my face in their little soft hands and ask my name, my brothers name, my sisters name, my parents name “do you have any kids miss, do you have a boyfriend miss?” They jump up on pats back and I seem to have a child’s hand tugging at each of my dreadlocks pulling my head this way and that. I’m smiling. They ask for fresh fruit, for the thongs I wear for the mosquito coils I hold. My heart breaks. The answer has to be No, No, No. The same kids tried to climb the fence at Casey and Kathy’s house, “please miss can we come in, can we have some dinner, we believe in god”. Pat often has kids spidering up her gate asking if they can come in for dinner. She explains you have to say no because if you say yes once word will spread and you’ll have the whole town outside pleading. She often gets FIM clients shouting to her at night asking for their money, she usually tries to ignore them or if she has to come out to deal with particularly persistent callers she explains for the hundredth time that she’s not at work and they’ll have to wait till the morning. But Pat loves her job and loves the people, it is Vit’s favourite place because of the people who he describes as kind, welcoming, generous, soft people. Other people I have spoken to who are part of the program say Aurukun is their favourite community too. I was only there two days but from what I saw and experienced and the people who would stop you on the road, hold your hands and talk with you for half an hour, sharing stories and making invitations to come camping or fishing, I felt the same. I didn’t want to leave and asked Vit half jokingly to leave me there. Appo Aurukun, I will be back. Next stop Coen.

Welcome to Aurukun

As we drive in everything is quite and still, a hot breeze pushes the mango trees into a sluggish dance. First person we see is Patrice who runs the FIM office there. She is on here bike on the way to the airstrip. Mavis, Hersey and others are on a plane at 3pm to Cairns to go to a stolen wages trial. When the state controlled all the wages coming into aboriginal communities they robbed most of their measly wages before handing them over to the people. The trial continues.

We stop to say hi to Uncle Kenlock who, with his family sits on benches in the shade, about to head off to the airstrip too. Kenlcok like most people 50 and above already have great grandchildren toddling around. One of these beautiful brown faces was named Claudia. Claudie they called her too and to our excitement we both wore a temporary tattoo. We jumped back in the car after a chat and picked up Mavis and Hersey. They too were waiting in the shade of a tree with one humble bag of luggage. Mavis was wearing a striking green dress and Pat had just last night died her grey hair black. She carried with her a photo album picturing her with a succession of Westpac secondees. She showed us proudly, cackling loud at past memories as she described the smiling faces. Hersey, a woman with a wrinkled wise face and skinny limbs sat up close to me in the car and spoke to me, sparse words almost in a whisper and stroked my arm with her baby soft hands. A crowd waved the five passengers off in the little craft then everyone dispersed back along the wide red dust covered bitchamen roads.

Morning Light

I love arriving to a new place at dark so when you first wake in the morning to the grey blue sky you see you see surroundings for the first time. We are surrounded by fresh running water coming all the way down from Aurukun. Twisted trees wreath in strong currents and big boulders sit strong the flow changing its path to make its way around the grey stone. Yellow green thin leaves hang sleepily and rock in the morning breeze. We all jump in the water for our morning wash and colleen mark and I swim upstream to the frothy rocks to enjoy a natural spa. Breki is boiled sausages on stick, I politely decline, not my forte. Mark and Megan say goodbye and make their way back to Cooktown and the remaining six sit in the shade of a paperbark and drink tea. A half hour passes and we’re back in our cars. After fuelling up at archer river roadhouse it is time to say goodbye to the Coen crew. Kate and Sharon beep a final goodbye and bump off in the opposite direction….and then there were four. We drive through Milverton and Pickinni station then take the turn off to Aurukun at the crooked tree. The road from here stretches on as rough as guts.