She’s a Mil

One more assessment to go and then uni is over……

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.

This seems like a very strong statement but I am hating study so much right now. I am just so over it and can not seem to get into it at all. It is very sad.

I am getting so much spam comments at the moment. It is really annoying and some a pretty grose too. Anyway just went through and deleted them all and had a bit of a read pf my blog and realised that there are a few post I have made that need updating.

Firstly, the good news. I am going to Alice for my prac, well flying into Alice but will be doing my prac in a remote community somewhere a couple of hours out. Apparently my cooperating teacher is a 60 year old nun which I think is cool. I have booked tickets to for the second week of October. Thankfully I will get to spend the weekends at mum and Keith’s house. Very much looking forward to seeing it and them. I miss them a lot.

Secondly, the bad news. Teresa’s daughter is yet to be reunited with her mother. We were told that she had been found but now nothing has happened. It is a very long and complicated story and I don’t really get any of it at all but it’s pretty dodgy. I am not sure what exactly is going on but Teresa, some of the Ayni volunteers and a lawyer are on to it so I am hoping and praying for some good news soon. It is all so awful.

I have borrowed a book from the library called, “Uses of Blogs” and it is sitting on the table. Many people have walked in and said “Uses of Blogs? Who is reading that?” When I say that it is me most are somewhat surprised.

But alas it is not because I am going to update this blog but because I am doing an assessment on the ways a teacher could use Blogs in language learning. We had to pick some type of IT and I thought blogs might be what I know most about. Not that I know much but hey I have one and read other people and sometimes I even comment.

It is quite interesting. I have learned some things but then I have to talk about how I may use it in my work. Given that what I really want to do is teach in poor communities where most people won’t even have a computer, let alone the internet I am not sure how useful it will be. Then again technology is one of the areas where the gap between rich and poor is growing and maybe if I could teach something it would be helpful.

Last week I was really disappointed as after numerous emails and phone calls I found out that I would not be able to my prac teaching in Alice. I was pretty cranky too as I had emailed my teacher last year saying I wanted to do it and I know I was the first person to do it and then she obviously forgot about me and so others got in. So after I got over it, I decided to try and search other avenues and today there was some hopeful news. My mum and Keith have become friends with one of their neighbours who teaches literacy at Charles Darwin Uni in Alice and he reckons that he or someone else there may be able to take me. I guess I’ll look into that over the next ouple of days and truly find out but if you feel inclined please pray for me.

Well thought I should do a bit of a catch up on how life is going. So it’s going pretty well.

House as always is easy, I mean apart from the fact that we are not able to get an effective system for paying and doing the shopping. I don’t quite understand how five relatively smart people (one of whom is an economist and another who claims to be a genius) can not get something so simple together but we can’t.

Work is busy. I have ten people going through at the moment so that is a lot of work for me but I won’t complain about that. It makes me happy when new friendships start. We had a friendship lunch on the weekend which was fun. I have to say I was somewhat cynical about the whole thing at first, it felt a bit forced but some people do really become very genuine friends. We had two pairs there that had been going for ten years.

Church is very fulfilling. Geoff does such good sermons and the liturgy is really nice. I am also part of small group with people I really like and we have some very stimulating discussions. They have put me one the prayer roster too which I enjoy. Nice to feel like I have something to give and I get some good feedback. That’s good if I ever do want to write this prayer book.

I am excited by the Labor Party’s continuing popularity. Despite coming to the realisation that Kevin may not be the answer to all or problems I am excited about a change and continue to hope in the possibiltiy of a more compassionate Australia.

Marriage is pretty cruisy too at the moment. Martin has particularly impressed me lately with his patientence and kindness and I feel very blessed. We start dance classes tommorrow which I am really looking forward to.

Uni is a bit hectic. I have three things due before the 9th of June so I feeling a little pushed but I should be okay. Then off to Peru on the 21st. We are very excited, was looking through the Lonely Planet the other day which also fueled my excitement.

I haven’t been to Rough Edges for awhile but will be going on Sunday so maybe I will give an update on that sometime soon.

God continues to be very present to me in all these aspects of my life which makes me feel very grateful. It sure makes things more peaceful, more real and more exciting to know that He is always there.

I find negative people so draining.

I am uni at the moment and everyone is so negative. They don’t like the course, they don’t like the teacher, they don’t like the other people in the course, they don’t like Christians, far out some don’t even like migrants. I mean I am struggling this morning with many things about the course and the teacher and yes some people are difficult and hey after reading Howie’s blog I could probably easily say some pretty negative things about Christians too but really. The classroom is just so hard to be in. I can feel the negative energy floating around. I tell you what it is not very conducive to learning.

And here are some photos of La Habana - just because they are cool and I suppose as I have been talking about Cuba.