that munanga linguist

Yes I'm still alive. Hi all. The last couple of months have been pretty huge... no chance of letting you in on all the goings on but here's a summary: - Was starting to really hit the wall at Ngukurr and feeling burned out. Felt the need to think seriously about medium to long-term plans - In the middle of that was a mammoth trip to the Indigenous languages Conference in Adelaide. Three of the guys I work with at Ngukurr came along. It was exhausting but great. We did a presentation that went very well (including a few tears and a choked up presenter... hmmm... that would be me!) - Then i turned 30!! - then i had a month off while my mami SN helped out with things at the Ngukurr Language Centre. Thanks mami. (You can read some of her stories on 'Finding A Voice' - click the link to the right) - I went to Dublin to visit my sister for two weeks. Hi sis! - Then came back to Katherine to find a tricky situation at work whereby I felt obligated to temporarily take ...

So the other day, I was dropping all the language mob home after we'd been at Ngukurr School teaching language for the afternoon, when 5 men in the back of the troopy, our Ritharrŋu and Wägilak teachers, very quickly raised their feet off the floor saying dja t am! dja t am! And this is why:

This week was a rough week, with another community meeting held by public servants from the Intervention. This time it was to tell the community about the changes to the CDEP program. CDEP is an employment program subsidised by the Government. It is similar to work for the dole, but slightly different in that the wage is a little higher, it isn't compulsory, it is easy for employees to receive top-up wages or do work extra work and you actually have a supervisor and manager and can build training and employment pathways into your job. CDEP has been working really well here for the past year or more providing employment to over 120 people. More than just provide employment, it helps Ngukurr provide services that we wouldn't otherwise be able to fund. The areas that rely heavily on support from CDEP employment are: creche, art centre, language centre, aged care, mechanic's workshop, builder's workshop, garbage collection, swimming pool/sport'n'rec/after schoo...

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...