Rural Health examples
Desert Acrobats
Image:
Saltwater kids meet Desert kids
Young People enjoying what they have learnt from the Desert
Acrobats at Ridell Beach, Broome. Photograph by Michael Hutchinson
On all the remote communities we visited ... Aboriginal youth excelled in physical skills and naturally gifted abilities. By setting achievable challenges the youths were able to feel good about themselves, their abilities, and their potential. We see this aspect of our activities as crucial in the building of self-esteem and having very important flow on effects in schooling.
Aims
Desert Acrobats was set up by the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council (KAMSC). It aims to enhance the emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing of individuals and the communities in which they live. The project promotes and raises self-esteem and confidence in the young people involved.
What the Program does
The Desert Acrobats teaching team drives to remote communities of the Kimberley and spends a week in each community teaching the young people of the community gymnastics, contemporary Aboriginal dance, theatre, sports and performance.
Schools and communities visited in 2000
- Beagle Bay Community School
- Fitzroy Crossing High School
- Fitzroy's outlying communities
- Gibb River Community School
- Mt Barnett Community School
- Bidyadanga Community School
What makes it successful
Marie Cox, Coordinator of the KAMSC Health Promotion Unit, says the positive feedback received from the communities visited by Desert Acrobats is an indicator of the success of the Program.
Children that do not regularly attend school will be present at the time Desert Acrobats arrives in their community. We observe when we next visit the community that the children are anxious to show us what they have learnt and done in our absence.
Difficulties encountered
The Program can only be delivered in the early dry season. When the wet starts, the roads become inaccessible.
Marie Cox adds that, "another difficulty experienced by Desert Acrobats is that two trainees are required at all times as it is hard to deliver the Program with one trainee."
Also, funding has to be applied for each year, as the Program does not receive recurrent funding. Sita Fitzgerald, a project officer for the project, says this "makes it very difficult to plan too much in advance, especially if you have a long term vision and wish to expand."
Funding sources
KAMSC is the main source of funding for the project.
The project also receives financial support from:
- Office of Youth Affairs
- Country Arts
- Gordon Reid Youth Foundation
- National Rural Health Alliance.
William Apparel & Co supplies sports clothing for the project.
