|
| |
BEACONS OF HOPE
Four months into Operation Outreach, once troubled communities are now feeling the benefits of Norforce’s presence. Words and photos by Gnr Shannon Joyce.
Edition 1175, September 20, 2007 |
| |
|
 |
|
| Reaching out: Five-year-old Peter and nine-year-olds Nicholas and Nerissa enjoy the company of Norforce signaller LCpl David Sharples during a community engagement activity in the indigenous community of Palumpa in the Northern Territory. |
|
| |
 |
| All the frills: Eva, 11, displays the distinct Norforce badge featuring a frill-necked lizard that was given to her during a community engagement activity. |
|
| |
 |
| Welcome to Wadeye: Maj Chris Delaney, Commander of Norforce troops in Wadeye, addresses government health teams on their arrival in the community. |
|
| |
 |
| A home among the gun trees: Cpl Christie Eglington, 2HSB, chats with locals on their front porch in Wadeye. |
|
From a casual chat in the street to the kick of a football down the oval, just hanging around town with the soldiers from Norforce seems to brighten the spirits of kids in indigenous communities across the Northern Territory.
The unit’s special standing in indigenous communities shines like a beacon of hope as the Government charts a course of intervention to improve the quality of life for Aborigines in the NT.
The arrival of a Norforce contingent at the troubled community of Wadeye last month to provide logistical support for Government health teams setting up in the local primary school has been met by a good level of trust from local elders.
In a community that has faced so much despair by the emergence of a welfare culture and seasonal isolation that sometimes draws bored local youth to antisocial behaviour, a change is on the way, and it’s already happening from the inside-out.
Norforce’s reputation in Wadeye is such that the unit’s depot has sat untouched for many years through riots that have left vehicles torched and signs of officialdom vandalised.
Old tensions between the seven major Aboriginal clans who were brought to live together in Wadeye by Catholic missionaries in 1937 has boiled to the surface on occasion, to the detriment of the community as a whole.
The Commander of the Norforce contingent at Wadeye, Maj Chris Delaney, has been travelling to the community for 17 years as crown prosecutor, defence counsel for Northern Australia Aboriginal Legal Aid and Norforce liaison officer.
He has worked over the years to help with the situation in Wadeye, and said for the community and others like it to be successful, they needed self-sufficiency and for individuals to take control of their lives.
“With the strong presence Norforce and the Army Cadets have in Wadeye, we’re stimulating a movement in the young to traditional values and education,” Maj Delaney said.
“There are potential community leaders coming through junior ranks, and with a high school now constructed and other local enterprises emerging, there’s no stopping the progression in Wadeye.”
With the support of Defence personnel familiar with local issues, the unit’s active presence in the community has eased parental apprehension about the health examinations carried out on their children.
An Army medic from 2HSB, Pte Kyle Potter, has been travelling as part of Operation Outreach through a number of remote indigenous communities across the NT, and said it was a very different situation to other places, such as Pakistan, where he had deployed to provide assistance.
“There’s no natural disaster here, but a lot of people are suffering through what they have had to accept as a normal way of life,” Pte Potter said.
“The health teams I’ve worked with are doing their best to identify ill-health or abuse on a case-by-case basis, but there are also broader changes occurring to things such as welfare, that need time to work before any outward signs of improvement are seen.
“Hanging out with the Norforce boys and learning about the different communities has been an experience. You don’t often see a military so warmly accepted by its community.”
Norforce’s role in Wadeye in the past has included mentoring during school activities, through joint efforts with the Australian Army Cadets.
One of the cadets, 12-year-old Julia, has been a regular at the Norforce depot in the afternoons, with a keenness surpassing her peers.
One evening, a couple of Aboriginal kids appear by the depot’s fence-line, calling to Julia for juice-poppers or biscuits.
When asked why they are out so late, Julia said, “They don’t have parents here – they live in the long grass.”
Empowering local kids such as Julia will make a positive impact on the community for the future.
Role models, learning valuable life skills and becoming modern citizens based on traditional values is part of Norforce’s association throughout the NT and Kimberley regions.
As the effect of Operation Outreach stretches deep into Arnhem Land, the continual engagement of locals and the promotion of Norforce ideals with the young will continue to offer a way to build a strong future. |
|
