Currently I am working on an island of the Australian coast. The only way to the island is via plane or barge. I'm working for a group established to service the indigenous people in the communities.
The land here is beautiful and rugged, red dirt, green trees and clear blue waters dotted with black rocks. The main town consists of many houses consisting of only 2 rooms with what appears to be about 10 people per house, although some definitely have less. Local children are always playing on the streets, in their yards or at the beach. School seems to be a distant priority.
The vast majority of the population around the main town of 2000 don’t work. They receive government money via basics card and housing. A lot of time is taken up with the ceremonies surrounding a funeral. The health clinic will close at least the day of the funeral and possibly longer. The local people with jobs will often not come to work for 2 weeks after a ceremony.
No alcohol is allowed here although there has been issues with drugs/alcohol in the past. The local people living in the communities further from town have their food delivered by plane and a large portion of their food is gained from hunting. People often leave these communities in the wet season because of the difficult living conditions. This makes it difficult for anyone to complete a normal school year.
More of the town and surrounding communities will be described in future blogs…
No comments:
Post a Comment