Opinion & Commentary
Progress is possible in remote Aboriginal lands
IF you follow the coverage of indigenous affairs, you could be forgiven for getting the impression that all remote communities are dysfunctional and change is impossible. However, the experience of the Centre for Independent Studies in Baniyala, a small Aboriginal community in East Arnhem Land, proves that with genuine commitment and engagement, it is possible to make a real difference.
Three things are needed for change: a committed person to work with the community; technical expertise and practical knowledge; and people in the community willing to put in the effort.
For too long, the "established orthodoxy" in indigenous affairs has treated Aborigines as subjects, doing everything for them and not expecting much in return.
This has infantilised indigenous people and taken away their sense of responsibility and self-reliance. Despite their lack of formal education, remote indigenous people are not "stupid". They know what needs to change in their communities but rarely have the skills to do so themselves.
When the leader of Baniyala, Djambawa Marawillia, approached the CIS for help in 2004, he emphasised that the community was not asking for charity but for help so their children could receive a proper education and be able to work with their minds as well as their hands.
The CIS approached a group of Sydney Rotarians to provide the practical support the Baniyala community needed.
When the Rotarians first visited Baniyala, they found startling evidence of the utter devastation wrought by separate policies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders -- what Northern Territory MLA Alison Anderson calls "an experiment with human lives costing billions of dollars".
The school building was a shambles and covered with graffiti. Scrap paper was strewn all over the two classrooms and there was no sign of books, pens or pencils. An English-speaking teacher visited the community for only a few hours, maybe once or twice a week. The rest of the time, the school was run by an indigenous teacher and teaching aides who had received minimal training many years earlier. Without ongoing training and professional development, their English literacy and numeracy skills had deteriorated.
When 29 of the school's children aged 5 to 17 were tested for literacy, none was reading beyond Year 1 level; their numeracy skills were the same. For years, the community had been trying to persuade the NT Department of Education to provide a full-time resident teacher so their children could be taught English, basic literacy and numeracy, but to no avail.
The elders of the community told the Rotarians they wanted their people to be able to earn decent incomes and for their children to be educated in English to a mainstream standard so they could get jobs when they grew up.
They also wanted proper health and dental services, and better houses with bathrooms and kitchens.
Discussions between the community and the Rotarians led to a five-year step-by-step support plan, with the Rotarians agreeing to find the financial support if the community could provide the labour. The first activity carried out was the construction of an art centre by the community's young men so artists had a place to store their materials and work, and a women's centre to provide a space for a pre-school and community gatherings.
When construction on the arts and women's centres started, it soon became evident that the Baniyala workers did not know how to use a tape measure, divide a number in two, or use simple construction tools such as hammers. But the Rotarians persisted and the two buildings were built by the end of the 2006 dry season.
The skills the workers acquired and the pride in their work was the beginning of the transformation of Baniyala.
As a result of the community's unremitting concern for the education of their children and with support of the Rotarians, in 2010, the NT Department of Education built a proper school and two new three-bedroom houses for teachers. A dedicated husband-and-wife (principal and primary teacher) team have transformed learning for the children at Baniyala. The improvements in the school saw it receive "Highly Commended for Excellence in Improving School Attendance" in the NT 2012 Smart Schools Awards.
Since problems with education in Baniyala have now mostly been addressed, the Rotarians have turned their attention to establishing private housing and tourism in the community. Two fully equipped two-bedroom transportable houses were built last year. These two-bedroom houses cost $150,000 each, compared with a minimum cost of $450,000 for a publicly funded house.
After several years of preparatory discussions with commercial tour operators, a number of tour groups visited Baniyala for the first time last year. Baniyala men and women act as guides and commercial earnings are flowing back to these individuals and to the wider community.
As the Baniyala experience highlights, real change is possible if community members participate in the change process. What some people view as impossible is possible provided you have the will and the skill.
Sara Hudson is a research fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies. She wrote the forward for Wesley Aird and Ron Staples's Sustainability of Indigenous Communities, available via cis.org.au.
