I have just finished one assessment which I am very pleased about. This particular assessment may have caused me more suffering than any other assessment so it feels good to have it done. Anyway before I start the next one I thought I would do a bit of a post on my experience at Kaltukatjara. Given that the assessment is about the prac I think it may be a good lead in not to mention gives my head a bit of a break.

As mentioned Kaltukatjara, otherwise known as Docker River, is an 8 hour drive from Alice Springs. It was a long drive but a very pituresque one with Uluru and Kata Tjuta on the way. We didn’t stop as I had been there before and felt that unless I was able to fully engage with these places it wasn’t really worth it but it was good to have them part of the journey. It certainly helped me to place myself and get a feel for the land.

When we arrived at Kaltukatjara we went to the coucil offices where we were to be teaching. We spoke to some women who were hanging around there. Helen let them know class was on tommorrow. We drove around to find some of the other women in the class to let them know too. Apparently this works better than timetables. It’s an amazing place. So incredibly beautiful, with it’s red earth and mountains and tress everywhere. However there is also rubbish everywhere and the town is plagued with the many problems that face these communities.

We then went to put our stuff down. I had a lovely little cabin to stay in. Simple but sweet and I could sit on my balocny and watch the sunset over the mountains. It became a special place for me.

The first day of class was pretty daunting. We were teaching the women about the computer. As most people know I am no expert on the computer but most of these women had not even turned one on before so in terms of content I didn’t feel too out of my depth. In every other aspect though I was totally out of my depth. Basically the women would arrive at sometime and then leave at some time and then come back again at some other time and it would go on like that most of the day. They often bought children or pets so as you can imagine it was very differnt to a formal classroom setting that I am used to and I was unsure how to repsond. I went home exhausted and was very grateful for the peace of my balcony.

The next day I at least knew what to expect and when I decided that I wasn’t going to make this look like a normal classroom and that I didn’t really need to either I was able to relax a little. Basically we were there from 9 until 3 and our role was to create a space where they could play around with a computer and that they did. Unlike most other people I have come across with limited computer experience these women had no fear of the machine at all. They would press buttons and click on things and explore. Helen and I would demonstrate diffrent things and offer ideas for things they could do and assist them when needed but basically they just learned what they wanted to. There was plenty of time for chatting and hanging out as well which was great for me as then I too was able to learn. I was suprised at how much they were willing to share with me and they really were so kind to me. Although if I ever made the mistake of actually asking something that would shut down the conversation relatively quickly so I learned not to. The highlight would have to have been when they took us out to the river bed (no water of course) to cook kangaroo tails. They explained what the different parts of the land were and showed me camels footprints and sang songs in Pitjantjara (their language). I managed to pick up a few words but not a lot really. The Australian governement business manager (the person who is in charge of implementing the intervention in this community) came with us as well. I actually truly believe he is a good person who is genuinely trying to build relationship with the people and implement things in the most respectful way possible. I am not saying that this is a good policy and what he is doing should have been done before the whole thing started but given that it is going ahead I am pleased that at least the person on the ground is good.

It was exciting on the last day when they came in and were able to make a poster about themselves even inserting a photo. There certainly seemed to be more response to anything that was visual rather than words. It was also a bit sad to leave. It really was such a short time that of course I was not really able to get to know anyone beyond a superficial level nor even scratch the surface of the many issues facing this community. It really is so very complex and most people here seem to have some very interesting thoughts and ideas and I guess I have some thoughts too. However I am not going to make any comments here as I am afraid I will say something shallow or incorrect or insulting but hopefully we will continue to engage with the issues.