icv newsletter may 2009
description
Transcript of icv newsletter may 2009
IN THIS ISSUE
> Tackling heart disease in remote NT
> Dreaming of two sheds and a couple of dongason
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May 2009
CEO’S MESSAGE
We do things with people, not to them
and not for them
HEART TO HEART
Collaboration in Santa Teresa to
get every child’s heart okay
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EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS A SHED
A Noongar community helps realise
its cultural and economic hopes
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ICV HUMAN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BUILDING BLOCKS
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2 ICV NEWS
May 2009 ICV News
Front Cover: Dianne Bruce and
Rhys Ulamari, Santa Teresa.
Photograph: ICV
Artwork: Rowena Lynch, acrylic
dot painting 2009, Santa Teresa.
Copyright 2009 Indigenous
Community Volunteers
ABN 900 9312 3418
Editor: Toni Hassan
This newsletter is printed on
Australian made, recycled paper.
If you would like to be included
on or removed from our mailing
list please contact the editor
by email or call 02 6122 6444.
Indigenous Community
Volunteers (ICV) is a
not-for-profit, non-government
organisation promoting human
and community development
through volunteers.
OUR PURPOSE Indigenous Community Volunteers exists to provide
opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people to develop human and community capacity in order
to improve their quality-of-life, health, social and economic
wellbeing and participation in Australian society.
OUR VISION An Australia where all Australians live in harmony and
where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share
the same rights, respect and access to opportunities
and rewards, and where their culture is valued and
recognised as an asset to Australian society.
OUR CORE VALUES The spirit of ICV’s Core Values applies to all our
interactions—within and outside our organisation.
> Honesty, Integrity, Trust and Respect
> Look, Listen, Learn and Respond
> Flexibility
> Mutual Reciprocity
> Community Development
> Invitation
> Best Practice and High Quality
> Volunteer Support
Contents
3
Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV) is in an
independent, non-profit organisation that provides
direct, practical and participatory development with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across our
vast continent.
We have a mandate to do so. In fact, we have a strong
moral obligation to act, and wisely invest monies
that have been entrusted to us to assist Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Australians achieve
locally-driven outcomes.
ICV is, first and foremost, a human and community
development organisation that uses volunteers who
engage in creative and diverse projects to achieve
the goals and aspirations of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander individuals, families and communities
we serve.
We do things with people, not to them and not for
them. Our work is collaborative, proactive, evidence-
based and committed to listening and learning at the
grassroots. We provide choices to Indigenous people.
They remain in control throughout a project.
ICV draws on the strengths of communities, not
their deficits. A big part of that is respecting the
dignity of individuals and their culture and entering
into partnerships based on mutual reciprocity.
Reconciliation is central, with projects that contribute
to the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Australians.
There is an overwhelming case for work of this kind.
Past practice has fallen short. Disadvantage remains
at chronic, or, some cases, worsening levels.
I don’t need to bombard you with statistics that
highlight the gulf between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous Australians in terms of health and
education. However, a fact that still bites into my
heart is that if you are born in Australia and you
are Aboriginal, you are three times more likely to
die before the age of one. If you are Aboriginal and
born in the city, you are five times more likely to die
before reaching the age of one. Every such statistic
is a story, a tragic and preventable one.
In one of the world’s wealthiest countries, there is
no reason why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children cannot reach their full human potential
through improved health and school systems.
Except a lack of will, collaboration and imagination.
Founded in 2000, ICV has evolved into a robust
organisation that supports staff and volunteers to
act as advocates and change agents of community
development in the field.
There have been countless positive results. The
number of projects we support has steadily risen and,
in general, an increasing number of volunteers—from
all walks of life—have gone away feeling that they
have got more out of the project than they put in.
ICV is committed to better measuring our success
and capturing the experiences of participants as we
expect more quality engagement with communities
we work in.
A new outcome performance measurement system
is being trialed and will be implemented from
July 1, 2009.
As we grow our funding sources outside of the
Commonwealth Government, ICV also intends to
increase its visibility and work in urban Australia where
most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live.
This is exciting, as is every project ICV is part of.
We are targeting our investments to make a bigger
difference to the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people, and will strive to continue to do so,
making a tangible contribution to closing the gap
in every sense.
Gregory Andrews, CEO
May 2009
“ A fact that still bites into my heart is that
if you are born in Australia and you are
Aboriginal, you are three times more likely to
die before the age of one. Every such statistic
is a story, a tragic and preventable one.”
Strengthening partnerships
CEO’s message
4 ICV NEWS
School student, Ryhs Ulamari, with
radiopgrapher and ICV volunteer,
Dianne Bruce, performing an
ultrasound to examine the heart
called an echocardiogram.
ICV is helping prevent heart disease among
children in remote Central Australia
Heart to Heart
Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV) is a partner
with the Menzies School of Health Research in a
project in central Australia with Arrernte people that
will prolong and save lives.
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), a disease prevalent in
developing countries, is a serious problem for young
Indigenous people. It is a disease of disadvantage that
causes early death.
Central Australia has the highest rates of RHD in the
world. Indigenous children aged 5-14 years of age
account for over 50% of new cases.
The Menzies School of Health Research, a highly-
regarded, Aboriginal focused health organisation
based in Darwin, is being supported by ICV to check
the hearts of school children in Santa Teresa, a small
community 80 kilometres from Alice Springs.
“We don’t normally have the same opportunities as
people in the big cities. It’s very hard for families to
travel in to town,” said Imelda Palmer, the Deputy
Principal of Santa Teresa Community School.
“Our children are very lucky that the Menzies School
of Health and ICV have brought this opportunity to
us here,” she said.
ICV contributed to the project by sending radiographer
Dianne Bruce to Santa Teresa from Melbourne. She
underwent training in cross cultural awareness, ICV’s
principles and community development model.
“The complications of rheumatic heart disease on
children can be devastating. It makes it very difficult
for kids to concentrate and learn in the classroom,”
said John Reid, Central Australia Research Assistant
with the Menzies School of Health Research.
“As an educator and a former teacher I’m delighted
that we are working to find out how big the problem
of RHD is in the Northern Territory. Early detection
will mean that we can treat children and give them an
opportunity to thrive and live a healthy life,” John said.
Santa Teresa, known in the traditional language as
Ltyentye Apurte, is one of many communities that
the Menzies School of Health Research is hoping to
reach in the Northern Territory with its preventive
Rheumatic Heart Screening Project.
Research Study Coordinator with the Menzies School
of Health Research, Loraine Kelpie, knows that
every poor statistic represents lost human potential.
“The most important thing is changing policy and
procedures to identity problems early. This is a disease
of poverty that can be eradicated,” Loraine said.
RHD is the result of repeated and prolonged attacks
of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) causing worsening and
permanent heart valve damage.
ARF is caused by a reaction to a group A Streptococcus
bacteria infection of the throat, or possibly the skin,
when it is left untreated, and usually results in lasting
damage to the valves of the heart. It is a very painful
condition, requiring hospitalisation.
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Unlike all other heart diseases, RHD is easily
preventable with screening and penicillin injections.
The high rates of ARF and RHD in Aboriginal
populations are not due to any inherent susceptibility
or ethnicity, but are related to overcrowding and
continuing poor living conditions—just as similarly
high rates of ARF were recorded in non-Indigenous
people in Melbourne during the depression years.
The Santa Teresa project is different from ICV’s past
ways of working because the health research school
initiated the three-way partnership between Menzies,
the Santa Teresa Community School and ICV.
ICV Chief Executive Officer, Gregory Andrews, said
it represented the strategic direction ICV is heading
in. Stakeholders, such as health providers and
researchers, in addition to Indigenous individuals
and communities, can proactively approach ICV to
partner with it on development projects that improve
Indigenous wellbeing and help to close the gap on
Indigenous disadvantage.
“ICV plans to support the Menzies School of Health
Research with more volunteers to screen thousands
of children in other remote communities. It has
enormous potential.”
Yuendumu, one of the largest Aboriginal communities
in Central Australia, is one community earmarked for
support in the future.
Imelda Palmer, the Deputy Principal of Santa Teresa
Community School, said her community is enthusiastic
about what the local project can deliver:
“The school is very happy to cooperate. There has been
strong support for this project from the families. We
have about 130 kids here and we want them to grow
up strong and healthy and have a good future,”
Imelda said.
There is recognition of the project in the wider
community. Josie Golder Palmer, the caretaker of
Santa Teresa’s church (famous for its mural interior
combining Christian symbolism and spirituality with
Aboriginal spirituality and art practice) said the RHD
project is vital.
“We are proud of our ancestry and cultural heritage
and care deeply about our children’s futures,” she said.
“ The complications of rheumatic heart
disease can be devastating. Early detection
will mean that we can treat children and
give them an opportunity to thrive and
live a healthy life.”
John Reid, Central australia Research Assistant, Menzies School of Health Research.
“ It’s very hard for families to travel into
town. A real advantage of the project is
that it has brought the service out here.”
Imelda Palmer, Deputy Principal, Santa Teresa Community School with volunteer Dianne Bruce.
“ Menzies is very pleased to be working
in partnership with ICV on this project.”
John Reid, Central australia Research Assistant, Rheumatic Heart Disease Project, Menzies School of Health Research, with ICV CEO, Gregory Andrews.
Josie Palmer and ICV Regional Coordinator, Bob
Durnan inside the Santa Teresa church. Santa Teresa
is one of many Central Australian communities
where rates of RHD are unacceptably high.
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ICV NEWS6
While it’s said that ‘every bloke needs a shed’, a couple
of sheds and demountable cabins known as ‘dongas’
built in regional Western Australia have brought a
community together, and strengthened economic and
social development at Coobabla Farm, two hours east
of Perth.
“The final building inspection was a triumphant
occasion as the community’s dreams took shape,” said
Robert Vincent, a volunteer with ICV on the project.
Coobabla Farm is a 650 hectare mixed farming property
purchased with the assistance of the Indigenous Land
Corporation (ILC) for the Woolah Wah Land Aboriginal
Corporation (WWLAC) as a land base for the Coobabla
Farm community and its future generations.
WWLAC wanted to improve accommodation and build
a workshop and multi-purpose cultural centre. It used
Indigenous Community Volunteers and funding from
ILC to make it happen.
ICV senior project officer, Doyen Radcliffe, facilitated
a planning workshop with WWLAC. That workshop
paved the way for ICV’s involvement.
Retired engineer and teacher Robert Vincent, 67, was
one of two ICV volunteers who spent a couple of
months at Coobabla Farm working with Community
Development Employment Program (CDEP) employees
and the wider community. Robert coordinated the
construction of a 6x12 metre shed to provide workshop
space and a 12x12 metre shed that now acts as the
community’s new Cultural Centre.
Nevell Hungerford, a volunteer with an agriculture
background from Queensland, helped survey and
prepare the site for the two new sheds and oversaw
the construction of a breeze-way between two portable
buildings or ‘dongas’. The dongas were installed in
order to house city-based family members who want
a break and reconnect with family and country.
Cultural and economic hopes
of a Noongar community in
Western Australia were realised
with a local shed construction
crew, practical support from ICV
volunteers and collaboration with
the Indigenous Land Corporation.
SHED DREAMING IN THE WEST
“ It was a project that allowed members
of the community to get first-hand
experience on a project that was not
only for them, but built by them.“
Left to Right: ICV’s Doyen Radcliffe, ILC’s project
officer, Kylie Tame, Elder Denis Hayward and ICV
volunteer, Robert Vincent. The project represented
a unique partnership between the Indigenous
Land Corporation, the Woolah Wah Corporation
and Indigenous Community Volunteers.
Levi installing a roller door.
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Woolah Wah Aboriginal Corporation senior Elder,
chairperson and property caretaker, Denis Hayward,
was also instrumental, as was his son, Hedley and the
ILC project advisor Kylie Tame.
“Everyone got on very well, despite our disparate ages
and stages in life. While I drove the technical and
teaching aspects of the project, the rest was left to
elder, Denis, who kept things rolling,” said Robert.
It was a project that allowed members of the
community to get first-hand experience on a project
that was not only for them, but built by them.
While the community realised a dream, Robert utilised
his considerable experience in engineering and project
supervision. In the absence of detailed drawings he
consulted the team and made practical changes to
make the sheds more user-friendly.
“The young blokes were strong and they were careful.
They had had safety training and were attentive when
shown things. I could rely on them to do things well,”
said Robert.
Their schedule was tight but flexible. Team members
prepared the slabs, installed the framework, had
drawings approved by council, obtained quotes and
grasped the intricacies of what was required with
what everyone had.
“There were no dramas. We solved problems on the
spot. We built what the community wanted with the
materials we had: supplies provided by ILC and other
recycled farm materials,” he said.
Robert is a keen traveler of Celtic background who has
worked overseas over many years. He grew up in rural
Victoria enjoying the bush.
“Where I grew up there were no Aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander people around. Being at Coobabla was
refreshing. I felt comfortable there.
“It was wonderful sharing the aspirations of Coobabla
residents and to make some small contribution,”
he added.
“We constantly sought better ways to perform tasks.
In all, it was a respectful learning environment where
two catchphrases applied, ‘If you haven’t made a
mistake, you haven’t made anything; just figure out
how to fix it’, and ‘By the end of the day you will be
an expert, so give it a go’.”
Elder Denis Hayward said he was happy with the
process, and specially pleased that it helped his
grandsons, Lindsay and Levi, learn new skills.
Denis chuckled, “It has been a good learning
experience. The boys now go into town bragging how
they helped build the sheds! It is good to see the boys
have ownership of something they helped build.”
Denis continues to keep in touch with Robert as
a friend.
“ It was wonderful sharing the aspirations
of Coobabla residents and to make some
small contribution.”
Robert Vincent, volunteer
“ It is good to see the boys have ownership
of something they helped build.”
Denis Hayward, Woolah Wah Aboriginal Corporation senior Elder.
Left: An assessor gives the construction the thumps up.
Right: In the thick of it: Eric, Levi and Lindsay.
Community Elder Denis Hayward as the team
mixes and positions the cement fill.Ph
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8 ICV NEWS
What is Human and Community Development?ICV’s key building blocks
Thank youICV receives generous funding from the Commonwealth
Government, Shell Australia, National Australia Bank,
ENI Australia and the Western Australian Government.
We receive in-kind support from Acton Corporate Partners,
AusAID, Australian Business Volunteers, Engineers
Without Borders, Ernst & Young, and Icelab Pty Ltd.
ICV welcomes enquiries from organisations who
would like to become partners.