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.
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.
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