It's hard to know how to document an adventure such as this. It was so many things and so many experiences rolled in to one I hope I can do it justice. All I want to make sure I do is effectively describe the differing emotions, interactions and the confronting nature of the trip, all while painting an appropriate picture.
So here goes.
After landing in Alice Springs the Red Dust team settled at the hotel and got to know one another. From Alice there were going to be 3 different tours to three towns to the west of Alice: Areyonga, Kintore and Yuendemu. I was going to Areyonga with Kyle Vander-Kuyp, Linley Frame, Darren Smith, renowned photographer David Callow and 3 Vodafone representatives. We were briefed on the town and what to expect, and all those who had never been on a tour were given a thorough education on what to expect, ie. what you can and can't say or do. It was also important to have a little understanding on the history of the place and of the people and also to recognise some of the confronting things we may see on the trip. I must say I was a little nervous but undoubtedly excited to get out there.
The next day we headed off west out of Alice Springs and toward Hermannsberg (which happens to be the hometown of famous Aboriginal painter Albert Namintjira and the birthplace of my dentist!?!). Once at Hermannsberg it was dirt track all the way to Areyonga. I drove with Kyle and we talked sport the whole way and also about his experiences on these tours and his own background being an indigenous man brought up by a white adopted family. Coincidentally I hurdled at school and looked up to Kyle as my coach had been one of his training mates. We got along very well.
One of the main messages we'd been given was to sit back and observe when we arrived and not to expect the kids to know or trust us straight away, however the members who had been out before like Kyle, Linley and Darren were well known in the community and you saw that impact immediately. I was blown away as we drove into this tiny picturesque town tucked between two mountains, as kids and adults ran up to the car to greet the crew and yelled out to their mates "red dust's here, red dust's here!". From that point I realised how much of an impact this charity had made on this community.
So much for sit back and observe. After 5 minutes in the town I was playing basketball with a couple of the kids and no more than 15 minutes later I was being used as a stepladder, climbing frame and pommelhorse all in one. I could tell straight away these kids were incredibly tactile. It seemed as long as you were wearing the Red Dust tee-shirt you were accepted as a friend in this community.
So, onto the program.
Basically we had a house in town in which the 9 of us chucked our swags and slept and ate in, but most of our time was spent in the school. Each morning we'd get up and head straight there to start helping the kids. First off was to ensure they ate their breakfast which is something not all of the kids do. Then we needed to ensure they blew their noses and cleaned out their ears, which is such a seemingly obvious thing to us but hasn't yet become the norm to these kids. We'd always start the day with a warm-up and stretch, ably delivered by Kyle and at these moments I was usually running the warm up with at least one child on my shoulders. Then during the day our role was to be in the class room assisting in any way we could. That could mean helping them read, write or just understand the lesson. These were incredible experiences. I'm no teacher but being able to help a child who's English is only just starting to develop, felt really good. By this point we had started to build a fantastic rapport with the kids and I felt my time was going to be worthwhile. In between classes there were plenty of games of football, four square, hop scotch, basketball and general gallivanting around and everyone seemed to be having a great time. After a day or so we knew every one of the 40 or so kids there's names off by heart. It was also great to learn that attendance at school goes up when Red Dust's in town, so I felt perhaps the message was starting to get through.
I don't want to rattle on too long but I want to share one thing which made this experience all the more special. After school would finish at around 3, we'd head home for lunch and in no time we'd have 15 or more kids in our front yard yelling out to come out so they could show us around. They wanted to share their native education with us and we were only more than happy to oblige. They took us to the top of the closest mountain, named 'Helicopter Hill' and to the local water hole where they told us stories of the 'Rainbow Serpent' and other local myths and legends. It was truly brilliant to be let into their world. The other thing that was so amazing about these children was firstly the fact that they are completely devoid of any of the materialistic urges in our society. I gave one kid my hat to keep and by the end of the day 14 other kids had worn it. They just don't have the idea of 'ownership' that our western society has. Secondly, the kids want to take your camera and take photos. Often it disappears for hours but it ALWAYS comes back and always in perfect nick and usually with some brilliant photos on it. Those two things really drew me to love these kids.
The funny thing about the whole experience is that I really feel as though I've only scratched the surface. I've now formed some incredible friendships and relationships with these kids and I need to go back again, otherwise I feel they were all formed in vain. If I don't get to go back and help these kids develop and see the improvement in them, then I feel that I only went for selfish gains. It was so amazingly clear that these communities need our help and are still a long way from functioning at what I see as a socially acceptable level. The evidence of obesity, diabetes and a long list of other problems were glaringly obvious and the government are only beginning to help arrest these trends. With charities like 'Red Dust' doing these sorts of tours I feel as though the gap is closing a little, although much of Australia could afford to go and spend a bit of time with these people to see how fantastic they are and see that all of the negative stereotypes are somewhat of a millstone keeping us from helping more.
Anyway, that's my two cents on it all. Overall it was a brilliant, incredible, often confronting but completely worthwhile experience and I'm so thankful to have shared in it. I will be heading back to Areyonga sometime in the near future and I look forward to seeing how far some of those kids have developed. I believe some of them could really go far if they got proper education and training.
'Nuff Said
For more info check out reddust.org.au
