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.
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.
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