By JAMIKE DAVID Date Posted: June 28, 2008
On ANZAC Day, I joined a mixed team of youth and adults on a journey to Rockhampton. It was an open invitation given by Linda Esguerra as she had planned a presentation with Aboriginal Elders of the Rockhampton community to instigate the latest project of Gawad Kalinga, Dreamtime Australia. The Dreamtime Project aims to work with the Aboriginal community here in Australia.
While in Rockhampton our main mission was to present Gawad Kalinga (GK) to the Aboriginal Elders and show them that GK was the program to help rebuild the Aboriginal culture and dignity of their people, just as it has done for so many in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Cambodia. We prepared for our mission on the Friday which was Anzac Day and did so over a great steak at a local eatery. We were after all in the beef capital of Australia.
On Saturday, the mission began. We started off by going on a trip with a friendly man by the name of Uncle Lloyd. It turned out he was taking us to see a compound which he has set aside to take in the homeless Aboriginal youth in the area. The youth centre was still in the early stages of development but it had all the right foundations. What a perfect opportunity for GK! We were then driven onto another compound which focused on adults and gave them a chance for a new beginning through rehabilitation, shelter and a sense of belonging.
After our little side tour we were brought back to a hall which held the chapel for the Aboriginal community. There we prepared some food, some drinks and most importantly of all, our presentation of GK. The people that we presented to included four Aboriginal elders and other leaders in their community, the Deputy Mayor of Rockhampton, a solicitor and a teacher. Our presentation was made up of a video and three sharers, Marcy Mission, Louise Davies and myself. We presented the work that was done in both the Philippines and Papua New Guinea and gave ideas of what could be done with the Aboriginal community in Rockhampton.
One idea was to create a multi purpose hall which could be used by the Aboriginal community to gather in and instil the core values and culture of the Aboriginal into their youth. GK would be used to help instil these values and essentially rebuild the dignity of the Aboriginal people. Everyone present saw the opportunity that was put forth in front of them and all eagerly agreed that there was a place for GK within Rockhampton and the Aboriginal community. It was just a question of taking the first step.
Early the next morning I took a flight back to Sydney and all that was running through my head was the countless possibilities ahead of us through the Dreamtime project and it was exciting. People that have experienced GK will know that it has done so much for rebuilding communities and knowing that there was a place for GK to help communities in Australia also really touched me. Well, that’s where this short story ends, full of opportunities and hope for the future. To end, I’d like to say this. It has been awesome to see how GK has rebuilt communities in the Philippines, my birthplace and the country that my parents call Home. It will be just as awesome to see how GK can rebuild communities here in Australia, the place I now call Home.
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