back to home
Borroloola Workshop '07
Children engaged with the early childhood activities, Borroloola, NT
Download full report“It is time to teach our children” was the sentiment of community members from Borroloola, Barunga and Wugularr in the Northern Territory, who attended the Spirit of Childhood workshop. Amy Friday, a Borroloola elder said “we must teach the children what we have in us before we leave this world - nobody else has the wisdom we have to give them”.
Over 25 community members including elders and senior women from Borroloola spent two days in the FaCSIA funded vibrant and interactive workshop on the 29th and 30th October. The excellent community engagement was thanks to Miriam Charlie from FaCSIA’s Indigenous Leadership Program who brought together key stakeholders from Borroloola involved in early childhood on the 29th and 30th October.
The workshop took participants through a series of experiential learning that focused around strengthening parent child relationships, building parenting skills and understanding the developmental ages and stages of early childhood.
Community consultation began at the beginning of October with Gail Ahkit, from the ICC office in Darwin and Jane Hanckel and Dr Lakshmi Allamsetty, Pediatrician, from the Spirit of Childhood Foundation, meeting with key women from the community.
The program gained the approval of the elders and senior women and provided an ideal forum for communication between different sectors of the community. By the end of the first day participants commented that they felt at one with each other and that they would like to see more forums, workshops and camps. A sense of hope was felt by all.Over forty people participated in the two day workshop.
The workshop touched everyone in an individual and personal way. It brought people together around the common theme - ‘how can we best support our children to produce good outcomes, focusing on early childhood’.
The first day was primarily involved in creating an environment of shared learning. Participants learnt to make a simple doll and a felt ball. The day finished with a summary on how experiences in early childhood have a profound effect on children’s later life.
The morning of second day comprised a group movement activities and hand gestures games led by Michael Kokinos, physiotherapist. This was followed by traditional singing from the women elders from Borroloola and traditional basket weaving by Norma Timothy.
The group discussions in the afternoon were focused on “Creating best outcomes for their children and community” and “Where to from here?”.
The women from Barunga and Wugularr said “Our communities have children of all ages and the things we have learned can help us – as Nannas, Mothers and Aunties – to teach our children new things as they grow. We would like the Spirit of Childhood Programs to come and share skills with all 7 Nyirrangulung communities.
”TIME TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN"
There is a crisis in parenting that is affecting both Indigenous and non Indigenous communities.
Traditional ways of sharing parenting knowledge and skills have been eroded. The increased specialisation of health services in pregnancy and early childhood attend to the physical needs of the child. There is a need to find a way to nurture not only the physical and but also the emotional, social and intellectual needs. Participants in the workshop expressed their beliefs that this can be achieved through strengthening the intergenerational support structures that enables families to share the responsibility of parenting. The message was clear that the communities wanted strong children and that this was possible through a communication between two cultures. The participants expressed their belief of the importance for the children to learn culture, ceremonies, hunting, bush tucker, storytelling, reading and speaking language, singing, dance, handcrafts, arts and music alongside mainstream education.
WHO IS GOING TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN?
Traditionally it is the role of the women to teach these skills in early childhood. They are the ones that prepare the children for the world.
These skills need to passed on to the children in tandem with skills that equip the children for the outside world. It is only with a two way learning between the two cultures, two streams coming together, that will enable the children to be strong so the children can learn to be able to take the outside skills back to the community.
The Spirit of Childhood Programs bring these elements together - an interweaving of the skills and understanding necessary for the current world together with traditional arts, crafts, songs, games and stories.
The Spirit of Childhood Programs are locally and regionally adaptable. They work with the community to create a parent education programs that are applicable to the culture. Each community has strong women. The women from the communities stated that they wanted to work together to ensure their children’s future. They would like the programs to include learning more about good nutrition, good health, personal hygiene, self-esteem and confidence, parent education, higher studies and for children to regularly attend school that include culture and language.
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
The participants expressed that they would like to work together. Program models put forward are for a series of workshops including the training of local parent educators from each language group. During the dry season community leadership, ‘train the trainer’ camps would be held.
Participants stressed that it was important for men to become involved in parenting. The men present indicated that they would like Spirit of Childhood programs for men.
The workshop was an introduction to the Spirit of Childhood Programs. It was successful with significant numbers of people engaged in shared learning - bringing people to work together for the children with a sense of hope.