Aboriginal Children’s Day – Fish Community Solutions Fundraising Consultancy and Social Enterprise

According to the Closing the Gap report, in 2017, the national school attendance rate was 83.2 per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. This compares to an attendance rate for non-Indigenous students of 93.0 per cent, resulting in a gap of almost 10 percentage points. This attendance rate drops as low as 64.6% in very remote areas across Australia.

To combat this challenge, a charity in Western Australia is using netball to produce some stellar results in getting young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls to attend school.

Shooting Stars operates in regional and remote areas offering a netball skills program to young girls. The program has a clear focus on education and wellbeing sessions. Each term there are special excursions offered as a reward for all the hard work the students put into their education, behaviour and looking out for one another. Primary and Secondary students are rewarded an appropriate age trip in mind to somewhere in their region

The goals of the program are to:

Lead innovation across all areas of the organisation, and throughout program delivery
Promote growth and engagement in local communities
Empower young women with a sense of self and connectedness to culture
Maintain an ongoing connection to netball and sport

The program has eight teams across the state including; Carnarvon Breakers, Derby Storm, Halls Creek Starlets, Leonara Lightning, Mullewa Magic, Meekatharra Queens, Narrogin Wheatbelt Warriors and Laverton.

Shooting Stars works with the local community, schools and service providers to affect change to the lives of more than 350 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students thus far. 25% of the girls have improved their attendance term on term and 50% are maintaining an average 80% attendance rate.

Now that school attendance has been improving, Shooting Stars aim is to grow the number of young girls support to 1,000 by 2021, with consideration to develop and expand into other states.

This week, on August 4^th, was National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, a national day dedicated to celebrating our children. So, this Thank You Thursday, we give thanks to the team at Shooting Stars for all they’re doing to improve educational outcomes for girls across Western Australia.

See you in the pond,

The Fish Chick.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day is celebrated on 4th August. It’s an opportunity for all Australians to show their support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, as well as learn about the crucial impact that culture, family and community play in the life of every child.

Malpa is a charity that is doing just that. Through their health leadership program called Young Doctors, Malpa is training Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal young people to be health ambassadors for their communities. Designed and run by local Elders, along with respected community members and supported by health workers, this program teaches hygiene, health literacy, nutrition, and wellbeing as well as identity.

The Ngangkari, being the traditional Aboriginal healers in Central Australia, have been passing on their skills to the young for thousands of years. These skills are deeply embedded in Indigenous culture and life and now the idea has been given a new injection of life with the Young Doctors project.

As the young people become health leaders and peers to their younger community members, it is not only creating a stronger group of people but, is opening up career pathways to better health. In each of the areas the local language is used, and over a fun packed but structured program these communities are taught traditional and contemporary ways by respected members and Elders and as a result the Young Doctors are becoming health ambassadors.

The importance of hand hygiene, cleaning noses, washing, keeping the house and community clean as well as bush medicine etc. is learned by the Young Doctors. Malpa CEO, Don Palmer says:

“The whole idea is to equip kids on how to teach their brothers and sisters a healthier lifestyle.”

Some outcomes for the young doctors who have participated in this project include:
• 98% were found to be happy to go to school since becoming Young Doctors
• 100% thought about working in a job after completing school
• 100% reported knowing more about Aboriginal culture
• 3 in 5 enjoyed learning from their Elders and Aboriginal community leaders

With professionals such as doctors and dentists right across the country teaching children about having a good healthy lifestyle, the benefits about Indigenous issues are being learned; and the friendships made are about reconciliation and recognition between communities.

This Thank You Thursday, we say thank you to the team at Malpa and everyone involved in delivering the Young Doctors project.

See you in the pond,

The Fish Chick.

Tag: Aboriginal Children’s Day

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