A visit to Griffith Base Hospital ....

A couple of years ago I had a visit to hospital for a surgical procedure and while it was just day surgery, I freaked out. I was held together by friends who provided amazing support. So imagine my experience this week as I had a simple insect bite, that had become infected and turn into a nasty ulcer hosting a bug that is resistant to just about every medical resource we have available to us, checked after a visit to Emergency a couple of weeks ago.

Don't miss the Bible to validate your argument against Marriage Equality

The Bible sets out very clearly for Christians an ethical guide to how we care and support each other. God does not condemn, He asks that we love, support and nurture and that we ensure there is justice for all. Robyn J Whitaker, Trinity College, A leading scholar on the Bible, explores this in a great article on what the Bible actually says about Same Sex Marriage, published today in The Conversation.

National Sorry Day begins a week of reflection

Today is the 26th May, and it marks the date on which the "Bringing them Home" report was tabled, on May 26 1998. The enquiry into the removal of children from their families was co-chaired by Sir Ronald Wilson and Mick Dodson, and they were supported by co-commissioners Annette Peardon, Marjorie Thorpe, Dr Maryanne Bin Salik, Sadie Canning, Olive Knight, Kathy Mills, Anne Louis, Laurel Williams, Jackie Huggins, Josephine Ptero-David and Professor Marcia Langton.

The report detailed how the actions of successive Governments (State and Federal) has created generational grief, trauma, impacted on mental and physical health, and created circumstances that has lead to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over representation in our prisons,high drug use, high delinquency rates and it has pulled apart a family structure that had survived for over 60,000 years before the the Europeans rocked in. It has lead to a loss of culture, and language.

The numbers of children and families involved is extraordinary, one half to two thirds of children were removed, most were only in their infancy. They lost the people who loved and cared for them, and were handed over to people who mostly could care less. As these children grew up, because of the trauma they had been exposed to , they were then classed as unfit parents and the removals continued, and sadly still do today, with Aboriginal children being one of the highest groups represented in statistics on children being taken from birth parents. 

"many young Indigenous women experienced child-rearing for the first time while they were still experiencing the process of removal. This set in motion a cycle of removal – the children of a removed child would then be removed. By the stage the discriminatory laws were changed and replaced by welfare laws common to all, Indigenous children were still being removed. These laws required that the child be in a state of ‘neglect’. Human Rights Commission 

Last year while discussing Reconciliation and what it means I overheard a couple of younger people question why we have to keep saying sorry when Kevin Rudd did for the Nation. Saying sorry once doesn't repair generations of trauma, it doesn't rebuild your family and the memories that you never had a chance to build with your Mother, Father, Aunties Uncles and cousins, it doesn't restore your sense of belonging and pride in being who you are and where you have come from. 

Two weekends ago, I along with around 350 Early Childhood Educators form across the nation, gathered at the Gold Coast to attend the Early Childhood Australia Symposium on Reconciliation, it was the third year this type of gathering has been held on this issue. We listened to dynamic young aboriginal men and women tell their story and it was heart wrenching to hear the level of dysfunction , trauma and generational grief that is so debilitating you actually wonder how they actually survived and got through. 

 
It is very clear, that until we all understand how impactful and debilitating the responses to policy have been on generation after generation, and that means putting yourself in the the shoes of aboriginal men and women, and seeing through their eyes, the unrelenting racism that still permeates our society, the grief of missing, aunts, uncles, holes in families created by missing people that would cripple you with grief. I would suggest its like Post Traumatic Stress Order, and sadly it has not been diagnosed or treated properly, and that in part tells its own story.

National Sorry Day marks the beginning of Reconciliation Week, this year it celebrates 50th Anniversary of a landmark referendum held in 1967 that saw Australians vote in favour (over 90%) and Australian Government to change the Constitution so it could be involved in the affairs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Constitution of 1901 made no mention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in fact regarded them as just part of the Flora and Fauna. Fifty years the Australian people, with a resounding yes vote said we recognise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

We have all heard the Paul Kelly song "From Little things Big Things Grow" and that tells the story of a Gurindji stockman, Vincent Lingiari, the workers and families walked off Wave Hill and began their seven-year strike in 1966, initially people thought the walk off was about pay and conditions, actually no pay, just rations, but it was much more. Vincent said ..

"We want them Vestey mob all go away from here. Wave Hill Aboriginal people bin called Gurindji. We bin here long time before them Vestey mob. This is our country, all this bin Gurindji country. Wave Hill bin our country. We want this land; we strike for that."

The Gurindji strike was not the first or the only demand by Aborigines for the return of their lands – but it was the first one to attract wide public support within Australia for Land Rights. In part it raised the nations conscious on something that had been pushed far form their minds, and gave impetus for the referendum vote.

Vincent had to wait until in 1975 when he was handed part of his land back following Gough Whitlams intervention with the Vesteys.  

"On this great day, I, Prime Minister of Australia, speak to you on behalf of all Australian people – all those who honour and love this land we live in. For them I want to say to you: I want this to acknowledge that we Australians have still much to do to redress the injustice and oppression that has for so long been the lot of Black Australians."

"Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands part of the earth itself as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever."  Gough Whitlam, Prime Minister, August 1975.

The following year, 1976, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was passed by the Fraser Govt.

The second celebration in this special Reconciliation year, is the 25th year of the historic Mabo decision, where the High Court of Australia validated the land claim made by Eddie Mabo against the Queensland Government.  He challenged the declaration by Britain when they arrived that the land was empty land or land that belongs to nobody (terra nullius) they did this while staring at the a group pf people from the local Gadigal people of the Dharug (Eora) nation who had come down to watch.  While the First Fleet may not have had the knowledge the the 60,000 years of continuous connection with the land, or of their farming techniques, using fire to create pasture lands for game, rock barriers in rivers to catch fish, or history that was not recorded on parchment or stone, but through songs and stories that began in the dreaming, but still the land was not vacant because there were people standing in front of them and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have had a continuous connection to the land in tehg claim and that they have not done anything to break that connection.  The High Court agreed with Mr Mabo and declared that Terra Nullius should not have been applied in the action of claiming sovereignty over the land.   Sadly Mk Mabo died 5 months before the decision was handed down, but his legacy has seen over 2 million square km be recognised under Native Title.  

Reconciliation is not just about sorry, or land, its about much more.  Its about non Aboriginal Australians learning more about the diverse language groups (Nations), and their unique continuous connection with this island continent that they have had for at least 60,000 years.  

Considering our Western Civilisation was born when the Sumerians began living in grouped shelters around 5,000 BC, we are a much younger upstart that our first nation.  Some may argue that if they had been around for so long why hadn't they discovered clothes, designed the wheel and became modern. No need really, they learnt to live with the land, understood her cycles and moods, and managed her in a way that rewarded them, with all they needed.  No other indigenous cultural in the world was as successful in understanding and living within and with the natural world.  All the other groups, basically kept modernising their societies and at the same time devoured the  natural resources and this ultimately led to there culture collapse and ultimately death,  We need to head that warning.  So we need to understand Culture and this underpins Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now and in the past and also how it links them to the land. 

We also have much to learn about Family and how it works in each nation group.  We have a responsi9bility to revisit the 230 years the Europeans have been here and how they treated the Indigenous people who had been here for 60,000 years.  We have a responsibility to learn the truth and to make sure our history isnt sent to the cleaners so we dont hear of the massacres, atrocities, rape and murder the mass poisonings of water holes, or food stocks.  We also need to undertsnad that South Africa didnt invent the apartieh system, no they borrowed the idea from us, the White Australia policy of the early 20th Century. We have a great big gap in our history books that doesnt talk about local swimming pools with a gate for whites only and one for blacks, where if you were aboriginal you couldnt leave the mission without the correct permit, where you were paid less, often not money at all but but in flour, sugar and tea, a country that had policies that could see you locked up if you spoke in own language.  

There are many people alive today who:

• Were forcibly removed from their parents under government policy
• Had their children taken away. 
• Were not allowed in towns after 6:00 at night. 
• Were not allowed to be in certain areas without permission. 
• Were barred from schools and hospitals. 
• Returned from wars only to find they did not have the same rights as white people. 
• Have not enjoyed the same rights as others, simply because they were Indigenous.

There are even a few very old people today who witnessed killings and poisonings as young children. This affected those people deeply.

Acknowledging and knowing all this is also not enough, because each of us is part of this journey to reconcile with our first nation people.  We have challenge those who enable racsim to thrive, we have to ask for the truth that has been removed from our history books.  We have stop changing national policies and how we run our Indigenous portfolios, we have to listen more, and allow for solutions to evolve from those we are aiming to support, and we have to recognise that our First Nation People, should be recognised in the Constitution as being here before our ansectors rocked up, and that we didnt pay for the land we developed.  

We also need to acknowledge country in a sincere and meaningful way at our public and I would even say private fucntions.   It's a mark of respect the custodianship and special relationshiop with the land that the first nation people had, and we all benefit from how they cared for this place for so long, It also acknowledges the wisdom of elders, who were tasked with passing stories and histories of how the world worked and out of these came the knowledge you needed to live your life and follow its cultural and law. 

We could also start flying the three flags that represent this Nations People.  

These three flags represent three distinct cultures and histories with this nation.  

Reference http://shareourpride.reconciliation.org.au/sections/our-shared-history/

It's Time

On January 13th 1986, I walked through the doors of Griffith Child Care Centre as its new Manager, previously I had worked on a Mobile Children's Service and at TAFE Griffith Campus teaching the first intake of Child Care Students and on February 13th 2017, will be the final day of continuous service with what became Griffith Child Care Centre Inc and its two EC services - Dorothy Waide Centre for Early Learning and Griffith Central Preschool and the family support program Griffith Connections.

Donald Turnbull and Malcolm Trump - twins out of the Alien.

Its crazy isn't it. We have vilified Trump because of we consider him dangerous, a buffoon and someone that everyone has an opinion on. Yet we are no better, we have a government in power that no longer trust facts, and one that is hellbent on staring Global Warming down, until they are under at least 3 metres of water. 

Our Education Future - what is possible

This week I had the opportunity to participate in the thinking on the Future of Education in our community. I have long believed that our system is failing young people in how it prepares them for the world of their future.

Beyond Year 12, The Class of 2016

Well Year 12 team of 2016, its here at last, that time you were told the focus of your school years, the HSC, the exam of exams, and its so important, you were told, that how you score in the various subjects over the next few weeks will determine your life outcomes. 

What a crock of crap. Seriously on behalf of every parent, Aunt, uncle and every teacher who drummed that message home into your head, so now it has become this huge Blob that threatens to consume your life, I want to say "we are sorry, we lied, we told a porky". The real truth lies within the community you live, the communities you will move and the world you are yet to discover. 

"Constance on the Edge" Documentary Film by Belinda Mason

Few of us know what it is like to be a refugee, to flee in the middle of the night, as your home or village is invaded and live in the constant fear of being captured, tortured or killed. Actually that statement is wrong, because Griffith is a community that is made up of refugees from wars and hostilities around the world for much of the last century. 

Conversations about Suicide

I would like to share a post from BeyondBlue's website on Suicide. If you have concerns about someone in your life who may be at risk or even yourself please contact LifeLine 13 11 14 or BeyondBlue's Support Service 1300 22 4636.

The impact of suicide is huge, not only does it impact on family, but also the community, the friend network. In Australia, Suiscide is the biggest cause of death for male and females 15 - 44 years and its getting worse. Its cause is complex, and its impact devastating. Maggie Dent, often talks about the layering of one issue on top of another and while most of us have the capacity to defuse the ticking time bomb inside our head, for some the adding of another layer ends up being too much. Tragically for those around the victim, they never know which layer was too much.

We need to have a conversation about this national mental health emergency. We need to say its okay to talk about how we feel, whats happening inside our head and why. Its okay to express how we feel about others we are close to and about the feelings that confuse us or what is happening in our lives that get us down.

At the moment, you will have noticed a lot of tweets, social media posts about this very issue, lots of young men and women are posting the tag #ITSOKAYTOTALK. This hashtag is the brain child of UK Rugby player Luke Amber who's brother in law became another victim of this mental health crisis in July this year. He wanted to encourage men to talk, because the UK statistics are as horrific as Australia's.

In 2014, 2864 Australians took their own lives. This is almost eight people per day -- one every three hours.* There are also seven suicide attempts every hour nationwide, The solution is not to judge, but instead create a space where people feel safe to tell you how they feel, be compassionate and empathic, make a difference and reach out. Suicidal thoughts or behaviour indicates a deep unhappiness and does not mean that the person has a mental disorder.

Shane's Story on BeyondBlue's website is a great start to understanding how we can be better at making a difference. BeyondNow is a support application that can be with you everyday to help you overcome the feelings you have and also help you indertsnad how others may be feeling and how you can help and support.

What is BeyondNow?

Convenient and confidential, the BeyondNow app puts your safety plan in your pocket so you can access and edit it at any time. You can also email a copy to trusted friends, family or your health professional so they can support you when you're experiencing suicidal thoughts or heading towards a suicidal crisis. 

For the Web -based application click this link and share it with friends. If you have a SmartPhone IOS or ANDROID the Links are here iTunes and Google Play

Each of us can make a difference, #itsoktotalk, take the time to ask and then take the time to listen, and stick around.

* Hunter Institute of Mental Health - Suicide data 2014 analysis from Hunter Institute of Mental Health 

Transhumanism and its impact on children and learning

Technology is for some of us is an extension of who we are and essentially built into our very being, for others its unfathomable and alien, confusing and irrelevant. I'm listening to the new Guru in my life Jason Silva and his thoughts on technology and humans.  I work in early childhood and see that technology and children are made for each other in way that has never happened before.  The designers of new technology have studied how we engage with tools for so long that now we are at a stage where the machinery we are using is more attuned to how we engage, its intuitive, learning and reactive. We want and need to touch, talk, look and participate, its so powerful. 

The Art of Relationships

While this blog is mostly about the Arts, I want to share with you my experience today, which is a demonstration and a reminder of the critical importance of connection and the ART of Relationships.

Celebrating NAIDOC Week.

Poster is by Wiradjuri artist, Lani Balzan. The theme for this year's celebrations is "Songlines - the living narrative of our nation"  

While Capt Arthur Philip and the rest of the Colonists may have thought the local indigenous people who greeted them were unsophisticated by European Standards and seemingly nomadic. They in fact had a strong and long history with the land, and held their knowledge and history in Songlines that go back to the dawn of time and the Dreaming. 

Passed on from generation to generation, and in some places recorded through complex carvings on trees, or painting on walls of caves, and carved into rock, this ageless narrative tells of a history and connection to people, land and the landscape that extends further than any other culture or civilisation on earth.

The poster while it depicts all the songlines from across the county coming together, is remarkably similar to the Aboriginal Pedagogy which is defined in the 8 ways of learning. 

This Aboriginal learning framework is expressed at its simplest as eight interconnected pedagogies involving narrative-driven learning, visualised learning processes, hands-on/reflective techniques, use of symbols/metaphors, land-based learning, indirect/synergistic logic, modelled/scaffolded genre mastery, and connectedness to community. (8 ways Wiki) It is more complex obviously when viewed as each nation, family or group add their own culture, history and important understandings to the system. Learning is not seen as linear, but an interconnected, fluid and evolving.

How we learn - culture way

1. We connect through the stories we share.
2. We picture our pathways of knowledge.
3. We see, think, act, make and share without words.
4. We keep and share knowledge with art and objects.
5. We work with lessons from land and nature.
6. We put different ideas together and create new knowledge.
7. We work from wholes to parts, watching and then doing.
8. We bring new knowledge home to help our mob.

NAIDOC Week will also see the close of the remarkable Exhibition Murrumbidgee MarraMarra which has drawn record crowds to the Griffith Regional Art Gallery.  

However prior to that happening, the Gallery has played host to a Gala Event to celebrate NAIDOC week.    The evening celebrated the significance of culture in telling stories, Songlines that have passed down through generations, and also reinterpretations of personal stories.  Murrumbidgee MarraMarra is visual art experience, powerful, evocative and filled with both ancient and modern ways of telling story. 

Tonight we heard from one of those visual artists, Ms Veronica Collins.  I met Veronica years ago when she created works for an exhibit at the Cottage Gallery.  Veronica worked alongside Di Tarr and they lived and breathed that local exhibition and the one that followed in Sydney.  Veronica's work is framed within the strong geometric patterns that define Wiradjuri work, and yet is post modernism at its finest.  Veronica spoke of her work and also surprised the audience with a new project is part of.  Her artwork is being reproduced on clothing and it looks wonderful.  Emdar Designs is coordinating and the printing is being done locally as well.  

Music was via what is now regarded as the oldest wind instrument in the world.  Our young artist did an outstanding job in producing the haunting voice of the Didgeridoo. 

The young dancers then began their stories.  The first half reflecting traditional dance.  They emerged from the Centenary Spears Installation and this in itself was very moving.  However i fell apart with the very modern dance that was created to the music of Gurrumul Yunupingu and Blue King Brown "Gatha Mawula Revisited".  Its a stunning song to begin with and this young team of dancers gave it another level of emotion.  Tears Tears Tears.  

Wiradjuri man, John Muk Muk Burke then gave the next part of this extraordinary feast of narratives. Story Telling takes on many many forms.  He told his story of his family and his journey to his awakening as a Wiradjuri man.  He unpacked his own story against some of the great wrongs that been brought upon our First Nation.  Reciting his poems, brought full circle to the Songline theme of the 2016 NAIDOC Week and gave meaning to the narratives of a proud people not just being about something in the past, but that these stories, histories truths and ways of being , knowing and becoming are connected to today and the future.

We are moving forward, our community is slowly lifting itself up and out of ignorance, and racist intolerance.  We have people people who are working together to build up Aboriginal young people and give them ways of telling their own story and also pf participating.  Hopefully as we continue to learn about each other NAIDOC week will become a focus for everyone.  

Tonight was brought together by so many people, Council Staff , community members and I want to say thank you. 

Original Worx - Ben Ceccato Band Live Album Volume 1

I dropped into the post office other day and there waiting for me was a small CD Box, hmm I knew what this was. It was all rush rush to get home and pop this into the CD machine and what for the 1's and 0's compressed and burnt onto the disc to be translated into music to fill my world with and also have a peak into the songwriter and musicians mind and heart.

Boat People - One man's journey to safety.

Thank you Ruby Blumer for this link to the Area News. Politicians, (or their spin doctors) create and build campaigns based on suspects fears of a population, or create bogeyman so the focus shifts from the real Job politicians are there for.

It has been very easy to demonise refugees as Boat People, because its far removed from the real lives of most people. Most of us have never been exposed to what these people have had to survive through, day in and day out for much of their lives and indeed for some its generational. We don't know what it is like to flee the place you love and grew up in, to leave family, friends and everything familiar and just run. We don't know what its like to languish in a "refugee camps" for years on end, no job, no education, nothing nothing nothing util even the hope in your eyes dies and fades.