Hunter!

Hello! Well, as promised, I'll now share with you one of the exciting things that happened whilst we were living out in the bush...

On the third day of camp, the third group of campers arrived at the campsite where myself and Lotte (the other gappie who came on camp with me) were staying at. Now, not that I had my favourites or anything, but I really connected with this beautiful group of young people. This probably occurred for several reasons, including the fact that we had a day and a half together as opposed to only one day. This particular group was 15 large, and within this there were three boys-Dylan (who is in one of the classes I assist with and was mentioned in a previous blog), Stevo (who is in the same class) and Anthony-who were the only Indigenous students. Even though they were boisterous, loud and attention seeking most of the time, they were very quiet and reserved around the white kids. Easy to understand if you're outnumbered like that though.

On the forth day, in the morning, we all went for an explore down the gorge that we were camped near. I know right now that I am going to fail terribly at attempting to describe the mysterious and overwhelming beauty of this place. Totally ancient, yet with an atmosphere of something just being created the day before, this place is entrancing. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't a significant place for the Aborigines when they lived here. Apparently there was some Aboriginal art on one of the gorge walls, but the area was too massive and we couldn't find it. The gorge was littered with gigantic boulders that looked as though they'd been tumbled there by a giant, the river was fresh and cool, there were several swimming holes, sandy banks, jagged rocks, little frogs, goannas, massive fishes in the water, spiders, and I even found a crab shell! The walls of the gorge were sheer, the sky was opened up above us and we were totally isolated.

In the photo above, i was trying to capture the clear, perfectly blue, hot sky. Never a cloud in the sky out in the bush! I don't think I saw one all week!

So anyway, I'll put up some more photos of the gorge another time, and now I'll get on with the story...

So as I said before, the Indigenous kids seemed a little shy. But by the forth day, they had gained a lot more confidence and were mucking around with the others. In comparison to the three boys, the rest of us white fellas looked totally incompetent in the natural environment. We would gingerly climb over the rocks whilst Dylan would leap like a wild cat from boulder to boulder, and never did his feet fail him. He then showed us how to catch the little frogs by trapping them in his hand on the rocks, and would entertain us by throwing them in the water for the fish to gobble (although I put on a casual face, I was internally horrified-I love frogs!). So already I was really impressed by the boys' ability and knowledge about how to survive in the bush, and yet the real fun hadn't even begun!

As I was on my way down one of the rocks, I came across Dylan and Anthony under an overhang, and beside them lying on the ground was a dead goanna!! I was like "Dylan, did you kill that goanna?" and he said very matter of factly "yeah miss!" I found out that he had spotted the lizard, carved his own spear from a stick and thrown it, only to aim true right through its throat! I asked him if he was going to eat it, and he replied "I only kill what I'm going to eat miss!"

Thus the group clambered over the rocks back to the camp, where Dylan proceeded to cut out the organs of the goanna (if you want to be grossed out, read this sentence, if you don't, skip to the next paragraph...the heart was still beating 20 minutes after it had died)

Dylan new exactly what to do-he cooked and cut the goanna for us all and shared it with everyone (gonna tastes like tough chicken!). He knew how to remove the yucky tasting bits, he new how to stitch it up, he new how to place it in the coals, he new how to cut up the cooked meat. Such knowledge!

Check out the photos! I love the fact that Dylan the hunter has his frowning, serious face on!

It was a very special occasion for all of the group. it was very special that Dylan shared the meat with all of us, but that's the Aboriginal way. What belongs to one person belongs to the whole family.

It was also special because it gave us a chance to reflect on where our food comes from. The group leader, Nick, took the opportunity to remind us that we must always respect the life that is sacrificed for us to live (remind you of something else?) In our culture, it's so convenient to grab some meat out of the fridge, and we often don't think about the process behind where our food comes from, and we don't acknowledge the animal that had life. It's easier to only think of the end product, and probably more comfortable.

So that was an account of one of the things that really inspired me out in the bush. We often forget how intelligent Aboriginal people are, and we think that our way is somehow more superior. Silly us, I couldn't even catch a baby frog!!!

I'll share some more of the camp adventures next time, there are a lot of thoughts and experiences that I want to write about for you!

I hope you're all going really well, wherever you are and whatever things you are doing!

Home again

Yes, I'm home again...well I actually got back on Friday arvo, but have not had time to sit down and blog until now!

What can I say about camp...it was incredible and exciting and i learnt a bit more about life and faith and people. I think for a little while I was really out of my depth with a few things and I was feeling really challenged and a bit confused, but I got through it and things are better now!

Just to summarise what I was doing-
-50 kids, split into four camping groups. I spent about a day with each group.
-Most of the kids were white, and about one third of them were Indigenous
-We were camping on a block of privately owned land that is closed to the public, and Kormilda's year 9 camp is the only time that humans enter the area! So totally untouched and wild as you can get! God's garden with as little interferance as possible!
-I was there as a support to the outdoor ed teachers, so pretty much I helped out with the rock climbing, did odd jobs and spent most of my time getting to know the kids and being a big kid myself!

Over the next few days I'll write more about the things that happened over the camp and how I felt, but for now I think I'll have to call it a night!

And thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has been keeping in touch! I'd love to hear about all the news from down south, and about what all of you guys are up to in your busy lives!! :)

Prayer Point

Hello everyone!

Very exciting news; tomorrow I shall be leaving to embark on a year 9 camp for the week! :) We'll be heading out bush to a private block of land that is normally closed to the public, so it shall be untouched and as wild as you can get! I'm sure there will be a lot of nature on display!

The kids are divided up into several groups, and each day they travel to a new campsite. I will be situated at a particular camp location, and will be there to greet each group as they come along and then hang out with them for the day. I'm looking forward to it, because it will be a great opportunity to get to know the whole year level.

I am feeling very excited and a little apprehensive, and I thought that this might be something good to pray about for me if you want to. I hope that this next week will be a time when myself and the students can learn to trust each other, get to know one another and share stories. I'm sure it will be a great time of learning and growth for me, but I really want to commit this next five days to God and to serve Him in all that I do. So pray that I'll stay committed and focused on God's work, and that he would do things through me.

So I won't be blogging this week, and I won't be able to email or call anyone. But as soon as I get back I will be able to write all about the week!

Teaching

Today was my first day of real work at the school! :) I helped out with several classes, but in particular I want to tell you about my double maths lesson with the Indigenous kids. It was a very small group of just 7 students, all of them in the middle school and all with extremely low literacy levels. Out of the group, only two were girls.

I'm finding that the Indigenous girls are very shy and closed-this is because of a few things, like culture and simply because of the fact that they are in a completely new situation which must be overwhelming and scary at times. One minute they'll be chatting to me just fine, and then the next day they'll completely shut off from me.

The boys in this particular maths class, however, were a totally different story! I particularly got along well with one boy, I would guess he would be about 14 years old, and oh my goodness is he a misfit! Wandering around the class as the teacher tried to take the lesson, picking up things, putting things in his pocket, swearing, hiding in the cupboard, you name it! But deep down he's a beautiful kid, really genuine and quite polite (would you believe)-as soon as I walked into the class he boldly approached me straight away, shook my hand and introduced himself to me!!

I think that from today's maths lesson, I've learnt a lot about classroom management! Instead of getting frustrated at kids when they muck up, you've gotta let them be kids, play the game and just get on with it without letting them get you worked up. The Indigenous kids won't respect you if all you do is yell at them.

I will now be working with this class almost everyday this week, which I am very excited about! I've fallen in love with the kids, they make me laugh and they're so affectionate! I think it'll be hard not to kidnap Dylan!! (I'm sure you'll hear more about his exploits in coming weeks!)

So that was my first day of classroom assisting, it was a very positive experience, and it has also really showed me just how important education is in empowering Indigenous people to lead the way for their people.

Ten Canoes

Yesterday the German gappies and myself sat down to watch an Australian movie called "Ten Canoes." To summarise it, it's a story that is set in Australia during pre-invasion times, and follows a particular tribe as they try to work out who has kidnapped one of their warrior's wives. It is a very beautiful film, both in story line and visually.

For me it was a real eye opener into the way that life was for Indigenous people before white man stepped onto this land. It actually really surprised me, because after watching the movie I realised that I'd had a misconception of the Aboriginal culture stuck in my head all my life. And I thought that I was doing ok! However, after watching the film, my touristy and stereotypical idea of Indigenous people was exposed. I had no idea of what it was really like.

I think the issue is that in Australia, there aren't enough opportunities for us to learn about how things were. So much of what is Aboriginal has been used for tourism and commercial use that we have somehow diminished their great culture. Put this together with the lack of Indigenous studies in high schools and in some unis, and you can understand why white people are ignorant. If all we have is a pretty, tame, attractive, watered down version of Aboriginal culture, then how are we to ever know or understand the tragic loss and sadness that is still going on within this land?

Maybe people have some comments on this? Is there anyone else who, like me, feels like they've missed out on learning about and understanding the past? Ignorance shouldn't be an excuse anymore!

I definitely recommend Ten Canoes to all Australians! It does make you quite sad and maybe even a little disepowered when you start to consider just how much of their way of life was stolen from them, but I would prefer to face these sorts of things rather then pretend not to care.

Sunset encounters

Just the other night, myself, the other gappies and a few of the teachers travelled down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was magnificent, the beach was crowded with tourists, the sounds of the market drifted over us and watching the sun sink into the ocean was definitely worth the drive.

As we were standing on the sand watching the sun disappear, I happened to glance over to my left, only to see a familiar face from Melbourne. I did a bit of a double take, not really believing my eyes, and sure enough it was a friend from one of my old congregations, who is now a minister. It was such a coincidence! Him being a minister and all, we had a really good, inspiring conversation :) It was a really affirming and encouraging moment for me, to know that even in a city on the other side of the country, where I feel like my whole world is completely upside down, home can still reach me! It actually made me realise that no matter how lost I might feel (although I certainly don't feel lost), God always has a way of moving people and giving you little signs that He's got things under control. From my point of view, Darwin seems a long way from home, but from God's point of view, the world's quite small. It's pretty good knowing that I've got God taking care of me. He's so much bigger then I can comprehend, and there are patterns and rhythms that He has that I can't even see. But small instances like the other day really show me that I don't have to worry or stress about where I'm going or what I'm doing. I suppose there are probably a lot of times where I miss these signs or ignore them, but once you acknowledge things like that, you start to sense God being present in the things around you in a very tangible way.

Arrival!!

Hi guys! I'm so sorry that I have been so slack with my blogging-sorting out the Internet has been a bit of an issue, and I've been feeling very frustrated at my inability to write emails!

So, I've arrived safe and sound in Darwin! What can I tell you about Darwin...the vegetation is exceptionally green, because Darwin astonishingly has no water restrictions, and they spend all night sprinkling their gardens and trees! There are a lot of Indigenous people walking around, which at first was very strange to me, but I've become accustomed to it now. There are lots of Indigenous paintings around as well. When we went for a drive down to the wharf, there was a giant cylinder covered in a beautiful design. I hope it was painted by an Indigenous person, and not a white person. Also, I feel as though this place is more honest then other cities. It's kind of weird, I'll try and explain. Here, you can't get away from nature, unlike in Melbourne where I think we supress the natural world a bit with our fancy buildings. Darwin has a definite country/tropical atmosphere to it, and the people don't bother dressing up fancy, because it's too hot! You also can't swim in the beaches because of the crocs and jellyfish. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but this place has a more real feeling to it; the people seem to embrace nature a bit more, rather then trying to fight it.

About my room...I'm sleeping in a room in the boarding quarters with another Aussie from Brisbane, the floor is made from orange tiles, there's a tiny fridge that we manage to squeeze our food into (although we discovered that the ants can get in if they're really hungry!!!), the window next to the door is broken so that if you lock your keys inside the room, you can open the door from the outside (which makes me a bit dubious about leaving my laptop inside!!) there are two fans...and that's about it! Very simple, but I am loving my new life! It's kind of fun living out of my bag and being independent, it's forced me to keep my bag neat and tidy, because otherwise I can't find what I need! We share a bathroom and shower room with another guy from the uk, and we find geckos and frogs jumping around the walls in the night time! :) The showers are prison style-the doors only just reach above my head and anyone taller then me has to bend over to get the water on their hair!!

About the school...term doesn't start until Tuesday, and so far I haven't worked out my timetable. This is what I am most excited about, and I can't wait to get started! I am really looking forward to meeting the kids, hanging out with them and getting to know them! At night times it's fun to walk around the school in my bare feet and just think and pray about things, and I'm really thankful for these quiet times for reflection and challenge.

About the people...apart from the gappies from Brisbane and the uk, there are also two girls from Germany, who are simply gorgeous. They're sitting beside me on the other computers right now talking to their friends on skype in German! The five of us chill out together, plus there's two student teachers form Ballarat here and another new teacher called Nick who is in the next room from from me. All together we're a pretty cool gang! It's like having my own family over here, we've really clicked!

So that's the description of Darwin for you! I'm not sure if you're bored of reading, congratulations if you've reached this far! And THANK YOU to those of you who have txted or sent emails or rung or left comments, I've really appreciated the contact, and knowing that I have a community and home of people who love me and who I love back is really keeping me going!

Life has a different rhythm over here, although I expect things will get busier next week! I promise I'll blog really soon!

Love you all and miss you all heaps!