Two weeks on the Tiwi Islands

[willem]

Trudi and myself and our youngest son David are going for a two week stint on the Tiwi Islands, working as houseparents at Tiwi College, leaving Friday morning. Should be quite a challenging time! You can read a bit of background info on my website, if you like:

Tiwi College | ThisIsAustralia.com.au (http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/node/32)

Willem

[Top End Rangie]

Way to go mate,it's great to see they finally got that college off the ground.My wife was born and raised on the Tiwi Is.

Even better,another rover man heading to the Top End!

Welcome,and I'm sure you'llfind teachingthere an 'enlightening' experience.:D

[willem]

G'day guys,

Well, we've been here since Friday afternoon, and its now Monday mid morning. Its been a time of learning for this job as house parents! There is so much to learn!

Also had time to do some sightseeing. After lunch on Sunday went for a drive in a Troopy

http://www.australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_troopy_karslake_beach_0509.jpg

- in the back and I've got a sore bum to prove it! - to the Maarten van Delft Reserve on Cape Lavery on Melville Island, in the area generally known as Karslake. Beautiful spot, and the navy thought so too:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_navy_karslake_beach_0509.jpg

This is the place the Dutch landed on the Tiwi Islands in 1705, and that is why this area is known as the Maarten van Delft reserve:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_memorial_karslake_beach_0509.jpg

We then went for a swim at 9 mile hole. But more pics of that later. The kids have started to arrive and I have to go!

Willem

[willem]

On the way home from Karslake we stopped at 9 mile hole for a swim. Beautiful spot! There were lots of very athletic Tiwi kids having a great time:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_9_mile_hole_0509.jpg

Also there was this incredibly dilapidated Hi-Ace which a couple of guys were trying to get started. When they finally succeeded, after pouring copious quantities of petrol down the carburettor, the (extended) Tiwi family left. After an hour or so we were on our way home. We stopped at the Threeways Junction for a photo opportunity of what may be the only bus shelter opened by a Governor General!

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_three_ways_shelter_0509.jpg

And a detail of the plaque:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_three_ways_plaque_0509.jpg


While driving thru the plantation - in the news a bit lately, because it is part of the Great Southern company - we had to slow down because of the wild horses on the road. We stopped for a while and took pictures:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_horses_0509.jpg

These magnificent horses are the descendants of the warhorses that were left on Melville Island after WW11. Though wary they did not appear to be frightened. There was also a mare and a foal:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_horse_foal_0509.jpg

That was almost the end of the drive. I was glad, because Troopies have suspensions made of concrete, and the park benches in the back feel like they are made of concrete with just the slightest padding over it. My bum and my back are still complaining!

Had as look at one of the troopies, which has a V8 diesel. Pulls like a train and just keeps on going, but under the bonnet it makes a P38 look simple! Pics later when it comes back from Nguiu.

The work here at Tiwi College is challenging, to say the least. The kids are lovely once you get to know them, but they all have issues, and it shows. But it is very satisfying work, having a positive input into the lives of troubled kids.

Willem, Trudi and David.

[willem]

G'day guys,

As promised, some pics of the Toyota V8 diesel in a Troopy.

From the right:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tlc_v8_diesel_lhs_0509.jpg


and the front:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tlc_v8_diesel_front_0509.jpg

and the left:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tlc_v8_diesel_rhs_0509.jpg


It makes for a very full engine bay! The intercooler takes up as lot of space. The motor goes well and pulls like a train. The car itself feels like a freight train!

Willem

[willem]

Some of the interesting things ...

Now I'm all in favour of a multiplicity of powerpoints in a house, and there certainly are plenty in the family group homes here.

But in the dunny??!! Every dunny in the house has a double powerpoint. What were they thinking?

Willem

[lardy]

you lucky bugger must be nice doing something positive for the community up there, and if you manage to indoctrinate the kids with the gospal of land rover whilst there all the better.
we could have a generation of first australians bowling round the tiwi islands in landies what could be better.
my brother just spent some time in gove and arnheim land on the community cutting yidaki (didges to us) and going hunting with the locals having flown in from the uk i guess he looked like a snowman in the tropics haha

[JDNSW]

Some of the interesting things ...

Now I'm all in favour of a multiplicity of powerpoints in a house, and there certainly are plenty in the family group homes here.

But in the dunny??!! Every dunny in the house has a double powerpoint. What were they thinking?

Willem

They probably weren't - I assume that some bureaucrat said something like "at least one powerpoint in every room".

It is possible there was some thought given to it, for example, allowing for the possibility of a fan (I assume the houses are not airconditioned and it is a fairly warm climate), but I would not count on it.

John

[willem]

you lucky bugger must be nice doing something positive for the community up there, and if you manage to indoctrinate the kids with the gospal of land rover whilst there all the better.
we could have a generation of first australians bowling round the tiwi islands in landies what could be better.
my brother just spent some time in gove and arnheim land on the community cutting yidaki (didges to us) and going hunting with the locals having flown in from the uk i guess he looked like a snowman in the tropics haha

I think we've probably got a lot more important things to teach than Land Rovers, however good they are. These kids are starting a long way behind the eight ball.

I don't yet know if Trudi and I will be coming up here for a longer stint, but if we do we will be bringing the Rangie. There's not one automatic car on the site! So I'm limited to shank's pony, and with my dicky leg that's a pretty significant limitation. So I'd bring the Rangie for exploring the island and longer transport, and a four wheeled motorbike for around the site.

But its too early to decide yet. We still have our own kids to consider. But both of us are really appreciating the work, even tho its hard work, and pretty challenging at times.

We'll see how it goes.

Willem

[lardy]

you are doing a fantastic thing mate when you consider that the prison i work in is populated by 43% indigenous(compaerd with the population ratio in W.A.) i reckon if you dont get a go in life or shown a bit "how to" or respect for other people or at least an idea of discipline...chances are you are going to end up a bit feral and way would.
And that don't matter what nationality /race you are if you have a blank canvas and don't give it any input it's just a blank canvas ....if the only input is negative then i guess it's not going to be a beautiful portrait are you?...i think you are onto something here guys good onya.
How did you hear about the opportunity ?
And you are probably right about the rangie being a good idea if you stay long term i should imagine it will be heaps more doable for you that way regards andy

[willem]

This place is populated by Troopies, Troopies, and more Troopies. And some Hi-Lux, Nissan Patrols, Pajeros, Navarras, Prados, and a variety of other Japanese jalopies. But then while I was waiting for some of the kids at the shop in Nguiu on Bathurst Island, this pulled up, to show that Land Rovers are not completely unrepresented on the Tiwis:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_land_rover_nguiu_0509.jpg


It was driven by the chap with a long white beard, who looked interesting himself. I would have liked to have had the time to have a chat, but other things were happening which I had to attend to.

It was nice to take a break from the Troopy for a while and drive around in a Prado. The level of comfort is enhanced a little! We had to use vehicles from contacts in Nguiu because the barge which would normally carry the Troopies had broken down, and we had to cross by tinny:

http://australianstory.net.au/TIA/TIA_pics/tc_barge_tinny_0509.jpg


You can see the tinny on the left of the pontoon pier at Nguiu, and the barge on the right. In the background is the inter-islander the Arafura Pearl, which also operates a once weekly service to Darwin. The tinny runs a 60hp Yamaha outboard and fairly moves along, even with a full load.

It was an interesting experience sitting in the courtyard at the shop at Nguiu. Apart from the chap with a cattle prod, whose job seemed to be to break up the fights between the numerous dogs, there were lots of people there. A lot of young children were with grandparents or other older people, which reflects the nature of Tiwi society, that children belong to the clan more than to the family. It also means that they do not always receive the love and protection that children would normally experience in a family with their parents. But more on that in another post.


Willem

[willem]

I have never been stretched as much as I have in the last week and a half working as a house parent here at Tiwi College.

All the boys here in the house have had very difficult lives and have suffered far more trauma than any human being ought to have. That makes looking after them quite challenging - not the least for my own concept of how to deal with people in distress.

If I discipline one of my own kids at home he/ she may not like the discipline as it happens, but interprets it in a context of love in the family. They know that I love them anyway, and that the discipline is an expression of that love, even they may think it unpleasant at the time. I may even make a mistake and discipline them unfairly for what they have done, but they are still in that context of love and feel secure in that.

But for someone who has been traumatised they do not have that context. If from a young age they have been beaten without cause, abused by family members and others, had no one to care for them and guide them, seen extremes of drunken behaviour, then they do not have a context of love. They are always alert, on the defensive, and perceive any 'normal' disciplinary action as an attack on them, and they react against it.

This is not to say that their parents don't love them. It is just that the way the society operates here at present they are unable or unwilling to show it in meaningful ways.

So you have to find different ways of looking after them. Acceptance as part of a group is a very basic human need, and this acceptance is usually found in families. These kids often don't get that, and therefore tend to find it in gangs. But that is not the best place to find it! So one of the very basic things we do is to show the kids that we accept them, even when their behaviour is pretty ordinary.

And its pretty ordinary often! So showing that acceptance of them is hard work at times. But it is so worthwhile! For obvious privacy reasons I can't give you any details, but the behaviours we deal with are at times pretty challenging. But over time you build a trust and the boys begin to change a bit here and there. And then someone comes over and give you a hug just before they go to bed or they come over to give you a high five on the way to school. But the next moment they can be defying you and causing havoc!

But the aim is for long term change, so that the context of the society here changes, and that at some time there will be kids coming to Tiwi College who do not have a traumatic past, because of what their parents have learnt and been modelled here. If Trudi and I can have been a small part in bringing that about it will have been so enormously worthwhile!

Last year when I was here I was talking to a guy from Darwin who was working with similar kids over there teaching them building skills. He is a guy who is noted for the excellent job he does with challenged kids. He was having similar challenges. I asked what was the most important thing he did for the kids he was working with, and he said 'meaningful prayer for each one of them.'. That is true here too. It goes hand in glove with the hard daily work of caring for them and trying to show them through life that they are worthwhile human beings with a huge potential.

I wouldn't dare attempt this on my own with just my own wits to guide me! Its too hard, and these kids are too precious. So daily prayer for each of these boys, and for Trudi and myself, is a basic need. I would appreciate that those of you for whom prayer is meaningful would also remember us and Tiwi College and the Tiwi people in your prayers.

Willem

[willem]

you are doing a fantastic thing mate when you consider that the prison i work in is populated by 43% indigenous(compaerd with the population ratio in W.A.) i reckon if you dont get a go in life or shown a bit "how to" or respect for other people or at least an idea of discipline...chances are you are going to end up a bit feral and way would.
And that don't matter what nationality /race you are if you have a blank canvas and don't give it any input it's just a blank canvas ....if the only input is negative then i guess it's not going to be a beautiful portrait are you?...i think you are onto something here guys good onya.

Thanks for the encouragement, Andy. It is really something, and you are completely right about kids who have had no chance of decent training being disadvantage to everybody else.




How did you hear about the opportunity ?
And you are probably right about the rangie being a good idea if you stay long term i should imagine it will be heaps more doable for you that way regards andy

I first heard about in a notice in our church bulletin in November 07. They needed tradesmen to come up and finish the construction of the College so it could open in February 08. A couple of guys from our church, along with a number of other tradies went up to help. I had a long chat with the CEO of the Tiwi Education Board and began to see the big picture of what the Tiwi islanders were trying to achieve, and when he was in Melbourne a couple of months ago we caught up and we decided that a couple of weeks here to find out if we were suited would be useful so here we are!

One of the interesting things about this whole project is that it is driven by the Tiwi people themselves. It is their college that they envisioned and they are working with to make it happen.

I just get excited by the whole thing and want to do my bit to make it work for them.

Willem

[lardy]

Amazing, thanks for the response by the way.
It's truly inspiring that you have got involved with the college what you do not reap financially i am sure you will reap spiritually.
you must after a long day of being antagonised (if they notice you enough to cause you dramas i think they must like you or at least want to know about you) you must have a sense of achievement, Rome wasn't built in a day and to correct generations of mistrust and abuse within a culture orientated around that style of living,is going to take generations of input to effect a change in thought process, but it has to start somewhere.
I really believe that the potential you guys have there will see(long term) a change, it is a sad state of affairs that all the interventions that the white fella have attempted in the past and present still leads to a massive population of indigenous in the prison system (something is not working obviously) , i think that grass roots early learning could change the potential for these kids and give them a future, some self worth and show them how to be proud of the potential they have and grab a future with both hands.
A friendly word of warning be transparent do not leave yourself open to conjecture,love the work love the kids but be aware one on one situations are fraught with danger as some of your kids have probably had experiences no kid should have ever have and have experiences from adults that could be externalised with a negative result to yourself.
that is written with sinceritey and goodwill with no other agenda but your personal well being regards andy .....keep up the good work