that munanga linguist

At Ngukurr, there is a community swimming pool. It is clean, free and provides great fun for dozens of kids each day who go there after school and on saturdays to have a good time. the place is run and supervised by a team of local workers who are employed by the CDEP program. When the health dept came to look at the pool, there were no problems found - it was clean and well maintained. The benefits to the pool at Ngukurr are: -keeping kids amused and entertained thereby giving parents and grandparents who look after big families in overcrowded houses and little bit of respite -improving kids health - swimming in the chlorinated water keeps kids' skin clean and thereby reducing the stress on the local clinic for treating scabies, skin sores etc. which can be common problems in communities -employment and training for local ppl on CDEP who work in the pool, many of whom now have their bronze medallion, a bit of training that comes in very handy. So why does Mal Brough get a goo...

If you would like to do *something* to voice your concerns about the legislation currently going through Parliament, GetUp! has set up a campaign where you can email comments to senators about the legislation before Tuesday's vote. Go to: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/NoRubberStamp&id=57 It's not much, but better than feeling completely powerless.

The government's intervention legislation is being discussed in the senate today. I'm still disgusted and disheartened by the government's actions - mostly with the process and approach they've taken with the whole affair, but also with some of the things that they're legislating (e.g. needing to suspend the racial discrimination act to pass through the legislation... surely that's gotta raise alarm bells). It's all pretty depressing, especially when you feel so powerless to change what's happening. And that's exactly the reason why ppl are complaining about the paternalistic approach and lack of consultation - it's leaves ppl feeling completely disempowered... And so today, some of the most important legislation concerning Ngukurr ppl is going through the senate, but ppl here at Ngukurr are barely aware of it. It is not fair and it is not just.

Well, the survey team representing the government's 'intervention' came and went yesterday. Firstly, the communication about the whole thing was poor. There were no announcements about them coming. The local council had to chase up the information themselves about when and what they were doing. Even yesterday, no one knew for sure if there would be a community meeting or if discussions would be 'behind closed doors' so to speak. But they arrived. Norforce came first and just before lunch a team of public servants came. They first met with the local council and then held a public community meeting. The meeting started with a representative from Darwin's FACSIA office running through the main points of the intervention: non-compulsory health checks, increased police, tying centrelink payments to school attendance, the wind-up of CDEP, removal of the permit system for the town area and emphasised that this was all in the name of protecting children and keepin...

The government survey mob is coming tomorrow. Woo-hoo. Or as they say in Marra, jawayiga! (Although I'm not sure how well my sarcasm translates into Marra.)

so slow with posting... sorry. so much happens and i have so much to share but so much of what happens is going by unblogged. also, the politics (intervention etc.) is getting me down and is so overwhelming that i just don't know where to start blogging about it. but i've had pretty good week at work. most of it has been out bush seeing places that i haven't seen before. Tuesday was a day trip to Walgundu with is a special site with rock art n lots of stories n history. The highlight was hanging out with some Alawa speakers that I used work with quite a bit and finally doing a bit of language work on Alawa again. Wednesday was in the office and the CDEP team worked so well - they're such a good team at the moment. But they're the ones pushing me to work! They made a gazillion flashcards for teaching and then we got through a fair bit of a Kriol translation job we're doing. Which is tiring but definitely not a bad thing! And Thursday/Friday was an overn...

I've found all the politics stuff that's been in the news lately really full on. I've been thinking about it lots and have had lots to say, but then at the same time, I don't quite know what to say and don't quite know what to think. Generally though, I find it pretty scary what the government is doing - and I think the fear comes about from the poor communication - when no one can tell you or knows what's happening, you can't really reassure yourself that everything's okay. One thing I can say though, is that the government's actions definitely have political motivations - no one can convince me otherwise of that. I was a bit depressed about it all a week or so ago, but I sorta came to the conclusion that I'll just get on with what we're trying to do here and then the proof (of our worth) will be in the pudding. And have we been doing some good work or what? The 4 ppl working with me on CDEP are doing really well at the moment and are a ...