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About 9am on Saturday 23rd July Bryce and I (Lorna) drove from Galiwin’ku stopping along the way to visit the communities of Djurrunalpi and Gulumarri and arrived at Gäwa at lunchtime.
The place looked deserted and we drove straight to Gotha’s (Kathy Guthadjaka) house where there were children playing. Bryce had been to Gäwa before and knew where to go.
We had planned to meet up with Marilyn Huddleston and Gotha who are the key people in the school. Unfortunately they had been in Darwin for a conference and had delayed their return to Gäwa. They were to fly back on Saturday but the charter was changed to fly back on Monday. Due to our tight schedule we wouldn’t be able to catch up with them. Colin was busy writing his book and was reluctant to talk to us as he rarely gets an opportunity to do his own work. Due to a variety of reasons – a conference in Darwin, school holidays and a funeral there were few people at Gäwa. The people we caught up with were Colin Baker, Gotha’s husband, Peter Yawunydjurr Munyarryun and Joanne Wirrinywirriny.
Champion: Meredith Gurranggurrang has been nominated to be the champion for Gäwa. At the time of our visit this had not been confirmed with Marilyn Huddleston and Gotha. Gotha had been named as the Champion in the application however Gotha wanted a younger person to take the role. Since our visit to Gäwa in July, Meredith has returned to Gäwa, and after negotiations has agreed to be the Champion. Meredith is currently studying Cert II Indigenous Education Worker.
Building:
The school building was a short distance from Colin’s house. It is a stand alone elevated building. We only had access to the school office which is a very small narrow room with a long narrow desk running along one wall. The room was very tidy being full of books on shelves and filing cabinets.
People
Background:
Gäwa is on northern tip of Elcho Island, about 70kms from the town of Galiwin’ku. Gäwa has been as established and permanently settled homeland for over 20 years. Last year Gäwa suffered significant damage from cyclone Ingrid, and eighteen months later the environment is showing signs of recovery.
We spoke with Colin, he expressed concern that there not enough hours to do the work that needed to be done. He spent a lot of time chopping down trees for the new road which is time consuming and takes away time to do other things. He identified an issue which was signing off CDEP timesheets. For example when CDEP participants are away from their homelands they will not be paid as he will not sign them off as doing their work.
We spoke about the amount of money a person earns on CDEP which about $400 per 40 hour per fortnight. Colin is not available to do more hours outside the set CDEP times. Bryce mentioned that there is talk about a coordinator position.
Managing CDEP is frustrating as some people work too many hours while others do not work. Colin gave us a list of people on CDEP.  Wirrinywirriny and Yawunydjurr in their video editing suitePeter is very adept and confident at using a large SLR camera and converting the images to MAC computer. The Computer and camera belong to Marthakal project Community Services. Peter is employed on CDEP with top up to do the project. He is also expected to do work around Gäwa to fix the road with Colin and pick up the rubbish.
Joanne Wirrinywirriny is articulate in English and is working full time with Marthakal Community Services Project doing community education on sexually transmitted diseases. She would like to do more study and is interested in teaching young people about STD‘s and getting them interested in computer technology. She would also like to research Indigenous knowledge and investigate how best to ensure Yolngu knowledge is maintained.
Joanne is married to Peter and they have four children. Joanne has worked with MSHR doing research projects and was voicing her concern that Yolngu have been working with Balanda researchers who get qualification like PhD’s using Yolŋu knowledges, but Yolŋu don’t get any benefit. This was the reason for wanting to study more and learn how to preserve Yolŋu knowledge. Both Peter and Joanne want to use computer technology to record buŋgul for Yolŋu family and then for small cost (to pay for production and DVD) sell to family for $15.00. Not for profit to anyone else but family. Joanne and Peter’s house is set up for Peter to use the computer (it is in their bedroom) and they need to have a cable from the school to their house to access internet via phone line. Joanne is keen to talk with the school about this.
Joanne wants to learn to type to write reports and to format reports. The only way Joanne can access the internet is by turning the school generator on. There are two generators at Gäwa, one belonging to the school and the other to the community.
Aspirations:
Colin is writing a book and would like to become computer literate to be able to use the internet to find information. I suspect he would also like to have the assistance of a computer technician such as Help Desk to ring when he has trouble locating items using the internet and for troubleshooting in general.
Peter and Joanne are very interested in having access to the internet from their home in order to access training to increase their knowledge and skill of video editing and image manipulation. Currently they have a reasonable grasp of most software on their computer. If they get stuck they ring Trevor Barrara who lives in Galiwin’ku for assistance.
Skills:
Gotha recently bought her own computer, and has spent considerable time developing her IT skills, including using word processors, sound software, video editing software. Meredith has access to the school computers and is determined to assist other Gäwa residents how to use computers in ways that will assist them live on their country.
Business:
The school where Meredith works operates a shop. There is an eftpos machine and computers. The students run the shop in collaboration with the teacher. Everyone at Gäwa is pleased with the learning that accompanies the real skills developed and the enthusiasm of the students.
Technology:
Colin opened the school office for us but was unable to open other buildings. So we were unable to do a full audit of other e-learning related equipment. Colin said he is not computer literate and was unable to tell us the location of the modem and if there was a satellite dish. There was one on the school building prior to the cyclone which got taken down but hasn’t been re-installed. In the school office there was phone/fax, Eftpos machine, a cash machine.
I was unable to have a good look at what was available in terms of computer hardware and software in Gäwa as most people were away for either school holidays or funeral, however it seems that the school has a number of computers, both laptops and desktops, apples and PCS, and there are a few other laptops scattered through the community.
Peter is using a g4 apple Mac laptop to edit short films which they are making for a project being run through Anne Lowell and Marthakal HRC. They also had a high definition digital video camera and some sound equipment all set up as a semi-professional editing suite.
Wireless internet is accessible in the kitchen area through a satellite connection which is maintained by the school, and during school term there is tendency for the generator to be running 24hrs a day to provide power to run air conditioners for the visiting school teachers.
Although Shepherdson College are hoping to work with us to set up Mapuru properly and looking to Donydji and other communities under their homeland programs, they no longer have much to do with Gäwa as Gäwa school is now funded through the NT Christian Schools Association.
Collaborations:
Marthakal Homeland Resource Centre (MHRC)
NT Christian Schools Association (NTCSA)
Achievements:
Meredith has begun assisting Gäwa residents enrol for internet banking. She is also teaching other residents how to turn on a computer, use a mouse and log on to internet banking with their respective banks and credit unions.
Actions:
1. Develop comprehensive checklists to record learner progress and post on the Resources tab of the website.
2. Assist Meredith to obtain an ABN so she can invoice the CDU for her teaching.
E-learning:
Continue to foster and assist Gäwa residents to use computers and the internet for banking purposes, including checking balances.
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