The place where Planes are Comets and Children are Birds!

The week began on a sad note due to the passing of one of the very well respected old ladies late on Sunday night. We celebrated mass at her home on Saturday as she was too sick to travel to the Church and Father John agreed she needed some blessings from the community. We all gathered outside on her veranda and sang the Blessing Song, which could be heard through her window and was said to be a very lovely moment for her. With her passing, most of the community is now observing ‘Sorry Time’, the few weeks or months before a funeral when close family and friends partake in a variety of traditional practices done after someone dies. We had few kids come to school on Monday morning and the store and clinic were closed out of respect. In such a small community, everyone feels the impact of someone passing away. Just before Mangarri, all those in Sorry Time came through the school, sweeping with branches and leaves. This is just one of many traditions upheld in this time and areas where the deceased might have been throughout their lifetime are symbolically ‘swept’. Great respect is shown to those in Sorry Time and we all took turns shaking everyone’s hands. It certainly was a very solemn occasion but one that all the Luurnpa students partook in with immense respect. The next few months before her funeral will involve even more traditional practices as Sorry Time continues.

On Tuesday morning six Secondary students left Balgo for a three day trip to Kununurra where they will partake in an athletics competition between Kimberley schools. Henry, the PE coordinator and Mindy, their teacher have spent the last few weeks selecting the squad and have chosen students to run races of several distances, do shot put, long jump and discus. No matter the result, the experience will be a lot of fun for everyone involved and the school is totally behind them all the way! And I’m silently jealous of Henry getting out to Kununurra. It’s definitely one of my favourite places in the Kimberley and a great place to chill out in for a few days.

We finished our masks the other day and the kids absolutely love them. As soon as I handed them out, onto faces they went and stayed until the end of the day. It would have been weird seeing all these Luurnpa students walking out of the school with what looked like bird faces but I’m every child put in their absolute best effort and they look fantastic. Mine is currently hanging on my wall at home (I put it on a few times in class and made the kids laugh) but it’s going to be a treasured reminder of some epic Primary C art lessons when I head home.

Antonio shows off his mask.

Anthony has finally moved into his new home. I helped clean and furnish the place the other day that really is in a prime position. He’s right at the back of the school so literally only has to step out of his door and he’s at school, the pool is right next door, the computers are ten steps away and the Brother’s and their Foxtel is right next door. It’s pretty epic. Ant’s favourite part of his house is ‘his mat’, a big green rug in the main room that’s actually set out like a mini soccer pitch. Seeing that screams ‘Lad Pad’, however it’s not stopping me going over and raiding his fridge, at the moment only containing one punnet of cherry tomatoes and a scoop of ice-cream. So much choice! Cassie and I are pretty keen on getting the kids to go wild on his white walls, or at least put up a few drawings and such to brighten up the walls. We even went far enough to suggest psychedelic 70s stripes all around but he didn’t seem too keen on that. Really, who would?!

Chris, a Primary D student gave me a flower yesterday. So cute! It’s currently been pressed under a whole heap of books in my room so I can treasure it forever. Good to know that if it’s the last flower I ever get from someone in my lifetime, I have proof! I was also made to beam this morning when Shonielle, Tegan and Rachel started singing ‘Steph is the best’ over and over again during literacy time. Totally brightened my day!

In a place where the teachers don’t understand the local language, it seems crazy for the kids to invent another one. But they have! It started with the secondary girls and has now trickled down into the lower years. It drives me crazy! Basically after every sound, a ‘b’ sound is added on. Kind of like pig latin, but with a twist. The worst part of it is that I can’t even give you any examples because I seem to be the only person in Balgo that fails to speak it! Sure, understanding it is fine but I can’t get my head around all the different additions and such. To make matters worse, Henry picked up on this and now so have the kids so I totally get tested again and again with it. I’m slowly getting better but I’m sure when I finally understand and can speak it fluently, a new one will be invented. Gotta love working in such a small school where every new thing get spread around and taken on board like wildfire!

Last night I was walking to the Brothers house when I spied this plane and jet stream in the setting sun. Because it was dusk, the white jet stream was lit up in a beautiful yellow and looked rather like a comet. I took a few pictures and they kind of worked out, but seeing it in person was definitely the most amazing thing!

Primary C is going on an excursion to the Art Centre tomorrow where Tracey and Sal will show us around and we can find some art that the student’s family members may have made. I think I’m more pumped than the kids; I LOVE the Art Centre!

WHAT A DAY!

Every time I go out on a bush trip, I always know it’s going to be a massive day. There’s the organization that goes into even getting there; getting together food, water, first aid kits, spare tires (missed that step today, oops) cameras, hats, sunscreen, rugs, towels and possibly even the kitchen sink! Then there’s the actual travel which takes forever, but it is well worth it. And the biggest part of it all is the destination; almost always different every time. However no matter how much we can plan, most of it is left up to the universe. Essentially, we don’t know what’s going to happen during the day until it happens. Like this morning, I assumed that it was just Cassie, Leesa, Camille and myself along with the fantastic and knowledgeable Cathy just going out to the lake. But when I was picked up, I crammed myself into the troupie with those mentioned plus what seemed like a thousand kids, plus Jenny and Jim in their car behind us, turning the one vehicle trip into a convoy. We assumed we were just having kangaroo tail for lunch but ended up having a side of goanna as well! I’ve learnt to never guess what’s going to happen on these Balgo bush trips. You can dream all you want but it’s always going to be an experience you weren’t prepared for!

The convoy swung by my place at 11am (thankfully late enough to enjoy a good old Sunday sleep in) and with seven kids under ten with me in the back seat (Corryanne, Camille, Shonielle, Delwyn, Danica, Cecilia and Tegan) plus a puppy, it was set to be an entertaining ride. First the kids argued over who would use my camera (I’ve learnt if I ever want it back, not to give it out!), then over the bag of chips Delwyn had and lastly who would sit where in the troupie. But overall they were very well behaved, probably because Camille was bribing them with a lolly at the end of the day if they were. Hey, if it works, it’s all good!

Me crammed in the troupie with Danica on my lap.

We were about fifteen minutes out of Mulan when Cathy screamed to stop the car! Cassie who was driving started freaking out thinking something major had happened to the car. Cathy however told her to reverse as she had seen a goanna and believed she could catch it. I was SO pumped! I’ve heard about how they catch the goanna, but never seen it nor tasted it. Usually, the ground and all the flora is burnt, exposing all the holes in the ground that the animals could hide in. We were fortunate in the sense that Cathy had spied a goanna lazing on a rock just off the road in an area of already burnt land. She had also seen it run down a hole so we all ran out, surrounded the hole and watched as Cathy instructed Jim where to dig. Jim dug and dug and dug, exposing the hole and everything in it. He even dug up a very poisonous centipede that the kids all ran away from while Cassie and I got closer to take photos of. Yeah we’re tourists!

Jim had dug a long way down when he shifted a bit of dirt and we saw the goannas tail sticking out from a crevasse in the rock not far from the surface. As he made the hole wide enough to get the goanna out of, the reptile began digging out from the other end and as its head scraped the surface the kids pummeled it with rocks, stunning it until Cathy was able to get it out and Jim dealt it a killer blow. It was very cool and certainly an exceptional thing to witness first hand. The kids all posed for pictures while we congratulated Cathy on her amazing eyesight; none of us would have ever seen a goanna just chilling on the side of the road. We all piled into the troupie with the goanna just chilling under my seat, phantom death movements happening every now and again and freaking us out!

Jim digging.

You can just see the tail.

Cathy and the goanna.

Danica, Shonielle, Cecilia, Tegan, Corryanne, Delwyn and Camille with the Goanna.

Corryanne with the goanna, after Cathy had gutted it.

We reached Mulan and headed off on the very bumpy road to the Lake. Cathy was taking us to the Two Trees site of the lake, a place I had been previously on a very hot day but was looking forward to going back in cooler weather. The belief is that the Rainbow Snake lives in the water and therefore to swim without angering the snake one had to put mud on themselves before going into the water. The weather was a lot windier than the last time so I wasn’t planning on swimming, but was looking forward to enjoying the sun, currently lacking that summer bite!

However our plans were delayed when I heard a funny sound and realised we had a flat tire. Uh-oh! I know how to change a tire but was a bit wary about doing it on the troupie so watched and studied the way Jim placed and lifted the jack before climbing up to the roof of the car and getting the spare down. But things weren’t as simple as we had hoped. Someone had placed a flat tire up on the roof! It looked like a spare and we assumed that it wasn’t faulty but not to be! Fortunately Jim and Jenny’s ute is 110% organized and even had things to blow up the tire with! We were very lucky that despite the flat, things worked in our favor to fix up the problem.

On the rest of the road to the lake, we admired dozens of horses, some game enough to start cantering as the car approached. In some instances, we were worried that if we didn’t stop the car, the horses were going to run into us; they were galloping that fiercely. As well as horses, we spied a few cows and even a lone camel that was standing in the same spot when we passed by again three hours later!

Horses!

So desert like!

The lake was finally reached and was so beautifully blue. It reminded me like an inland ocean, fit with waves lapping quietly on the beach. Cathy wasted no time getting the kangaroo tails that we had brought ready for eating. The process was quite intricate; firstly the fire had to be made just right and then the hair of the roo tails had to be burnt and then scraped off. Then the tails were cut and wrapped in silver foil and placed in the coals of the fire, with hot coals under, over and around the meat and left like that for an hour. Cathy then took them out and let them cool down a while before they were eaten, the skin peeled off to get under to the good meat below. I love kangaroo tails and now that I’ve seen how they’re made, I’m keen on trying it out!

Lake Gregory.

Me with the Goanna, just before it got put onto the fire.

Cathy cooking.

Corryanne scrapes off the hair of the tail while Cathy looks on.

Me; 'It's kind of dead looking'.

Jenny; 'That's because it is you idiot!'

While the adults chilled in the warm sun, the kids got up enough courage to try out the water. It looked frigid and they didn’t get too wet but enjoyed splashing around and throwing water at each other. I much preferred warming myself in the sun trying to keep out of the cool wind and when lunch was ready the kids flocked out of the water and threw themselves on the ground in anticipation of the impending meal. Essentially, goanna is a white meat that tastes like white meat with a red meat aftertaste and kangaroo tail is a red meat that tastes like lamb shanks. SO YUM!

We packed up soon after the meal and headed back, stopping along the way to cut down some trees and collect firewood for Cathy. Fortunately, the drive back home was a lot easier than the drive there and a lot quieter. Everyone was so tired from the day’s events and despite how much fun it was, we were quite happy to get back home, wipe the dirt off from the day and chill out.

Today I crammed myself into a troupie with ten other people, helped to catch, cook and eat a goanna, was almost run off the road by a herd of wild horses, helped change a tire, ate a kangaroo tail, chilled by an inland ocean and chopped down enough trees to keep a fire going for a month. Yep, I’m living up the desert life!!

It's SAT-urday!

Saturday. The day I really have to fight for any form of motivation. After a busy week, it’s a struggle to even get out of bed, or off the couch and actually achieve something. The day also goes really quickly but I suppose when you’re only up for half the day that’s bound to happen! Ah, sweet, sweet Saturdays. I usually use Saturday as the cleaning day so I suppose that’s another reason getting out of bed is super hard. Who wants to get up when they know a dreaded day of vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing, washing and dusting is forecasted? Plus, with a name like SAT-urday, are we really meant to be doing anything other than sitting around chilling?

Luckily during the week it’s easier to get up out of bed, simply because the day’s events are usually bound to be super exciting and fun. My favourite days are now Thursdays (Friday’s up there as well, end of the week and mail day, wooo!) because every afternoon in Primary C we go for a walk around the community to learn about something different. Last week we were looking at bush foods and this week we walked over to the Kutjungka Centre of Trade Training that our neighbor, Jerry manages. It’s only been up and running for a few weeks but is already looking like a top notch facility for further education and special skills and the kids were pumped to see it. When the clock struck 1pm, we walked through the school gates and out into the wilderness of Balgo, seeking a new adventure.

.

The students are currently learning about 'The Bear Hunt'.

They're exclaiming what a beautiful day it is!

Along the way the kids posed for a class photo at an old trailer near the footy oval (that no-one really knows how it got there) and washed their hands with ‘bush soap’, a tree we had discovered the week before. We also made an agreement to spend one Thursday cleaning up Balgo as the kids were saddened about the amount of rubbish surrounding the area. A ‘Clean Up Balgo’ initiative sounds pretty exciting actually! We lined up outside the entrance and said hi to Jerry, who was just as excited to give the kids a tour as the kids were to have one! Jerry explained a bit about what the facility does before ushering the students into a classroom and telling them about the places that they would visit. On the tour agenda was the hospitality room, the Boystown office, and the library and woodwork/metalwork areas. Having only seen parts of the KCTT, I was looking forward to seeing the rest of the area, having talked to Brother Lou many times about all the problems and delays that came with building it. No-one was expecting it finished before the end of the year so it’s a great positive here in Balgo! Especially if Peter Garrett DOES come and open it, party on!!

Primary C, and me.

Antonio is actually in mid air, jumped off the trailer as the photo was taken.

So cool

Frena, Sharelle and Renelle

Renelle poses as all the other students check out the soap tree.

Lining up ready for the tour.

Saying hi to Jerry

Jerry holds up only three fingers, to demonstrate what can happen if you touch the dangerous machines without permission.

Nice lesson!

First stop was the hospitality area, and it was the type of kitchen that I would be kept very far away from. Not only was it completely spotless, but so very organized! Every working station was set out in an identical manner to the other with all the cutlery, crockery, pots and pans needed to cook almost anything. It was rather spectacular and the kids loved most Jerry putting a saucepan on his head just before turning on the massive exhaust fans that blew them all around. They were also super impressed with the huge fridges, but just a little disappointed that they were kind of empty. My favourite thing was the massive sandwich press that could cook six sandwiches at a time!

Nice Hat!

The huge fan!

Jerry took us through to see Michael who works at Boystown and he took them through the offices. Boystown is an Australian wide La Sallian program that offers assistance to women suffering from domestic violence, troubled young men and even pioneered the very successful Kids Helpline! Sure, you’ve all heard about that but I bet you didn’t know it was La Sallian!! In Balgo however, they work to help people get to get on the payroll, get their licenses and obtain employment (Rhonda), help young mothers and babies (Sister Alice), teach young men basic skills (Brother Lou) and co-ordinate all these things in a La Sallian manner (Allan and Michael). I always kind of knew what Boystown did in Balgo but it was great to hear it in a well explained manner. Considering we live next door to the compound, I ought to have some idea what goes on there.

We were then taken through the Library and then onto the woodwork and metalwork areas. The kids loved this the most as they got to wear pretty cool helmets and visors that looked super cute on them all, especially as they were designed for adults, not nine year olds. Jerry talked about the safety needs for these areas and how important it was for every person to protect their eyes, feet and hands whilst working on such dangerous machines. The students were shown the welding areas, the woodwork tables and the massive gas bottles used to fuel the machines and were pretty impressed with everything!

The library.

Renelle shows off her hard hat.

Learning about welding.

Antonio loves his hat!

Jim and I were then given the task of using the massive sandwich press (wooo!) to make the kids (and adults) a yummy cheese toastie. It was a very impressive machine, toasting in less than two minutes and absolutely perfectly, producing that lovely golden-brown look to the bread that everyone aims for when cooking toasted sandwiches. We enjoyed a nice afternoon tea with juice and sandwiches before thanking Jerry and walking back to Luurnpa, just in time for the bell. It was a very productive and interesting visit, enjoyed very much by everyone!

Waiting for Mangarri.

Rachel enjoys her sandwich.

Sharelle and Renelle had a great day.

 

Yesterday morning during Maths time I taught the students how to play Jenga, seeing as it was Friday and they deserved to do something super fun while they were at my activity station. For those who don’t know what Jenga is, you basically build a massive wooden tower out of blocks and take turns removing a block and putting it at the top, aiming not to knock it all down. We play it a lot on Friday and Saturday nights as Ant brought it back from Perth and has since then got us all addicted. The kids loved it and got super into it, while I enjoyed making it harder and harder for them by moving it while they were trying to get the blocks out. Yeh, I’m mean like that! The best group was the cream group, which just had Sharelle in and we took turns trying not to knock it down. We may have knocked it over just at the end of the group time but got the most blocks out and therefore succeeded in creating a rather epic tower. Win!

Sharelle and our epic Jenga tower.

Cody, Frances, Corryanne and Cecilia.

Renelle and Antonio. They are the main attenders from the Brown Literacy group and work super well together. Yay for teamwork!

In a previous blog, I mentioned the Trachoma testing that was carried out on our students and said that the ‘Magic Number’ was not reached. Unfortunately after posting that, I discovered that it actually was. For everyone in Balgo to be treated, regardless of whether they had Trachoma or not, 10% of our students had to be found with the very contagious eye disease and 76% of the kids had it. The eye doctor came with pills yesterday to treat the staff and despite some awful side effects including gastro (just my luck) it was worth it. Trachoma eventually causes blindness and is the disease that Fred Hollows campaigned against throughout his lifetime. Disappointedly, Australia is the only First World country that still has the disease. Kevin Rudd spoke about Rheumatic Heart disease not long ago after his heart operation, saying that today; ‘it is wiped out in Australia, if you are white’ and sadly, this is also the case with Trachoma, incredibly prevalent amongst Aboriginal communities. It’s so sad to think that while the rest of Australia got rid of diseases like Trachoma and Rheumatic Heart disease decades ago, they are still very prevalent in Aboriginal communities. While so much money is been thrown at research and new medical technologies, it seems silly to neglect the diseases that we can fix, especially if two pills is all it takes to cure them!

Anthony and Rick decided on Thursday night at dinner that despite the fact that Anthony’s house was ready, it had no furniture and therefore left on a whim for Kununurra yesterday at Mangarri time to get furniture, crockery, cutlery, towels, sheets and curtains. They just upped and left, staying with the Kununurra nuns who Henry swears are the coolest nuns alive. We all were slightly jealous but remembered we’re going to Halls Creek next weekend so are looking forward to a bit of a Balgo break, good food and drinks containing more than just cordial. Woo!

With the boys engrossed in the rugby and Cassie, Leesa and Camille planning lessons for the next week I’ll entertain myself with the Mirli Mirli (the parish newsletter that I compose weekly, still haven’t done), cleaning and hopefully some rest and relaxation. Tonight we’re having another bonfire and tomorrow we’re going on a girls trip out to Lake Gregory with Cathy so I’m super pumped for the rest of the weekend. But I’ve got to get my motivation a bit up before then!

Getting Creative!

While the cooking skills are improving, my kitchen safety skills seem to be getting worse. On Friday I made bacon and egg pie; pretty impressive considering my sincere lack of culinary experience. It turned out exceptional however one of our tea towels was left a little worse for wear when I accidentally burned a huge hole in it. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best idea to flick the tea towel up onto the still hot but off stove while I opened the oven. Luckily the flames were put out without the use of the fire blanket (saving that for an emergency worse than that) before the house was engulfed. Knowing the fire trailer takes seven minutes to get anywhere in Balgo has made me a little more wary when it comes to fire!

The 'Uh-Oh'...

...balanced with an 'Aw Yeah!'

Cassie and I enjoyed Saturday night by our very own made fire! We were incredibly impressed with ourselves, managing to not only build a bonfire ourselves but keep it going for a few hours. Sure, we did attempt to light a huge log with a stick but discerned that small amounts of kindling were better than burning our fingers holding the lighter to the wood. It eventually took off and was super warm, keeping the mozzies away which was an added bonus. We chilled Balgo style, lying on a blanket under the black sky, counting some epic shooting stars. I seriously thought there was a meteorite shower or something because I haven’t seen that many shooting stars in such a short period of time since the time my family and I went star gazing during the Leonard Meteorite Shower! I suppose that’s one of the perks about living in an area with no major lights; clear view of the night sky!

Happy belated Fathers Day everyone! The staff of Luurnpa all celebrated the day with a lovely shared lunch in the staffroom. After watching Ann Marie, Robert and Louise’s two year old daughter and Steve and Glenda’s three year old Ella playing with each other, Henry kindly pointed out that I was the third youngest there and should therefore eat at the kids table. Ha de ha ha Mr. Jones!! However Ann Marie picked up the telephone and for some reason was talking to me (she kept saying ‘Steph, Steph!’ into the phone, so cute!) so I ditched the oldies and hung out with the young ones. At the end of the lunch, Ann Marie had learnt the words ‘dishwasher’, ‘texta’, ‘dinosaur’ and had learnt where the water came out from in the sink. I’m like the baby whisperer!

Three more sock puppets have been made over the past few days. Sharelle, Danielle and Renelle all made excellent puppets and with different types of socks used, everything stuck on a lot better than the first lot. They actually look really cute! The students are now learning about explanation texts and are learning how to teach a method to someone, the example being how to make a sock puppet talk. Everyone loves playing with the puppets, making them talk and learning about something completely different at the same time.

Danielle's

Renelle's

Sharelles

The worst thing happened the other day; the mangarri room ran out of milk! Absolutely awful! However, the kids didn’t think so. They’re usually only allowed baked beans and spaghetti on Fridays but with no way to properly serve the weetbix (I suggested replacing milk with juice, didn’t go down well) only hot breakfasts are allowed at the moment. Woo :) Anthony ruined the excitement over extra baked beans and spaghetti yesterday bringing in the milk powder that you mix with water, but it looks kind of gross so I’ll wait for the proper milk to arrive, simply because when you serve the kids something more exciting, they like you a little bit more. Yep, that’s right! Bribing children with food to love me more!!

On Monday in our health lesson Camille taught Primary C about Head lice. The students looked at pictures of lice, learnt the difference between nits and lice (the nits are the eggs, the lice are the parasites) and discovered that lice suck your blood. Needless to say, I was feeling rather queasy the whole lesson and Frena, as clever as she is, picked up on this. The kids all had to make a book teaching others about head lice with illustrations, so Frena decided to base her characters on me drawing a red-headed female with lice in her hair and big arrows saying ‘STEPH’ all over the page. She certainly did make me feel even queasier than before and last night I ended up having absolutely awful nightmares about lice and nits and all things itchy. I remember waking up in a panic, scratching my head and freaking out until I realised that I checked my hair for lice on Saturday, as I do every week and there was nothing there. Phew!! That’s the downside to working with children; a constant paranoia concerning even the slightest head itch!

Cheers Frena. Thanks

(Nice drawing though)

The past few weeks has seen a strong haze surrounding Balgo as large controlled burns occur around the Kimberley. The smoke looks like storm clouds and every morning I wake up thinking we’re back in the wet season. Yesterday though there were definite rain clouds in the sky. I asked the kids today if they thought it would rain, because they’re just so in touch with the weather almost always their analysis of the clouds is accurate. They all said yes, but Antonio went one step further to look at me with big brown eyes and in a super serious voice say ‘You know what Steph? I’m like a dog. I can SMELL the rain!’ It was the cutest thing ever!! However unfortunately they were all wrong; no precipitation all day! No matter, the clouds today signaled the return of the wet, my absolute favourite part of the Kimberley. Roll on the thunderstorms, monsoons and refreshing rain!

We made masks this morning in Primary C. While the surrounding area looked like a bomb had hit it after the activity had ended, the results were quite spectacular. I made my own at recess to use as a demonstration when I showed the students what we were doing and admit I may have gotten a little too into it. We were making a bird, therefore involving a beak, painting to develop a feathered apperace (the whole morning I could be heard going 'and dab everyone, dab with your brush!') and using actual synthetic feathers to really prove it was a bird. The students haven't yet finished but mine is below, along with some excellent painting designs.

Mine!

You know it's awesome!!!

By Frena

By Kiara

By Rachel

On Friday the Rugby World Cup begins so I'm expecting not to see Henry, Ale or anyone originally from over east for the next month. Pretty certain they'll be sleeping in the Foxtel room in swags which means a house to myself! Woo :)

Uno, Due Tre, Quattro, CINQUE!!

Another month has passed, another week has flown by and once again I'm getting you up to speed with all the incredibly fast coming Balgo news. Talking about news, I'm finally going to be up to speed with a current affairs thanks to an unstable but watchable TV connection in House 13 so get ready for some in depth political analysis and future conversations if I ever bump into any of you!

The thing I loved the most this week was turning a few of my Primary C students into little Italians during Maths time, teaching them how to count to twenty in that tongue. While they didn't remember it all, they absolutely cracked up when I said the number five - cinque. It was probably the way I said it, because it's a bit of a personal joke at home but even now, a Hi Five is called a Hi Cinque and Danielle especially will just look at me, go 'Cinqueeeee', laugh and walk off. It's HILARIOUS! I love it!!

Yesterday we had a Trachoma screening in Balgo. Trachoma is an infectious eye disease that if left untreated can go on to cause serious blindness. Because of the close quarters many of the kids live in, it's incredibly prevalent and can be spread through a household in a matter of days. I remember learning about Trachoma in Year 11 History - all the migrants entering America had their eyes checked for the bacteria (white dots on the eye lids indicate the disease) and were barred entry if they tested positive. This led me to believe it was somewhat eradicated in the world but unfortunately not. The thing I don't understand is that just one dose of medicine treats the illness and yet it is so common in Aboriginal communities which is really very sad. A lot of our kids were treated, however fortunately what we called 'The Magic Number' was not reached. When a certain percentage of cases are discovered during a screening (for example 10% of the students) EVERYONE has to be treated, regardless of whether you have it or don't. In this 'Magic Number' case, you don't even need to be tested to be treated! With the amount of cases found, I think it's worthwhile just getting a quick eye test at the clinic just to be safe!

Every Thursday afternoon, Primary C go on a walk through the community and learn about something different. Yesterday we went looking for bush food we could find around the place and swapped roles; the kids were the teachers and the teachers were taught everything. We began looking at 'Mudywah', a type of solidified tree sap that is quite sweet to eat. The kids enjoyed finding the biggest amounts and giving them to Camille, Jenny and I. They also found a type of 'bush soap' that when mixed with water, makes a foam that can be used to wash ones hands with. Without the water though it was VERY sticky and a nuisance on the hands. We crossed Balgo, going from Gahli camp to a bit of scrub behind the Art Centre where a number of bush food trees are. Crossing the oval however, Shonielle let out a startled cry and called me over, sounding panicky. I soon realised her panicked cry was one of extreme excitement; she had found a tiny bit of grass on the oval!! It was a huge hit amongst all the kids who marvelled at the tiny amount of green growing in an ocean of red dirt. Over at the Art Centre we found Bush tomatoes and some 'sugar' on trees which looked kind of like white fairy floss sticking to the trees. It's amazing how much eatable stuff there is around Balgo and how much the kids know about everything. People get so worried that the Aboriginal culture isn't getting passed down to younger generations but here in Balgo, it's the kids that most enjoy telling us the stories of the land, the ways of the community and the types of things you can eat. It's really promising to see here.

Julian looking for Madywah

Sharelle

The kids got stickers and tatoos from the Trachoma people and decorated their faces. She looks lovely with gold stars and lovehearts!

Danielle (cheeky) and Frena

Checking out the bush food

Renelle

(trying to get her tatoos to stick on her face)

Julian and Danielle

(I LOVE Julians face!)

GRASS!

Shonielle and the grass

Frena and a bush tomato

Vin and Judy left this afternoon, heading through Kununurra, Darwin and Brisbane back to Victoria. They will be surely missed however have made the community a better place just for being here. We had a number of farewells for them over the past few days. The first was last Friday night for dinner, the second was on Wednesday night when I gave them their scarves (they LOVED them!), and the third was last night at Boystown with a big shared meal. I suppose that's why it hadn't hit me that hey were leaving; there was always another time I could say goodbye! But farewelling them at the airstrip was a bit sad and we will all miss them terribly. However they told me there is NO way I could pass through Melbourne without popping in to say hi and I know they'll be through Perth sometime in the near future so our paths will cross again!

We're SO classy!!

Super fancy scarves

Dinner at Boystown

Leesa, Father John, Judy, Cassie, Vin and I

The whole farewell process was quite interesting as it also showed the whole mail loading and unloading actions. Basically, you get given the new mail, sign that into your possession, hand over the outgoing bag, sign that out and then it all gets loaded on the plane at the back. It was quite an interesting process and I see why the mail landing is a bit of a headache for Brother Michael, the Luurnpa postie. It's also interesting to see who is getting off and on the plane, coming and going and we said hi to a few familiar faces coming back to Balgo this afternoon.

Another one to add to the list. You know you're in Balgo when a thorny devil is a pet. That's right! I was walking out of the shop today and past a car when a hand with a thorny thing on it was thrust out of the window with a cute little 'Look here' trailing behind it. Daniel's little son had found a thorny devil and was planning on keeping it as a pet. It was very, VERY funky looking and super cool. And no, I did not have my camera on me! Dammitt!