In the first week of the July school holidays, four staff and 16 other team members headed off from Broome for the six-hour journey east to Wangkatjungka. The aim of this Service Learning trip was to help serve the community by offering tutoring to the children at the local primary school.
We joined a number of other schools and universities through the “Teach, Learn and Grow” program to provide support for indigenous children in rural and remote communities. The team were also blessed to share in the NAIDOC week celebrations with the students where they gained a deeper appreciation of Aboriginal culture and people.
Trip reflections
“The school and remote community of Wangkatjungka were extremely welcoming when we arrived and helped make our trip as enjoyable as possible. We are very thankful to Mr Josh and the community’s elders who enabled us to teach the kids, participate in various classroom activities and join in with the community to celebrate NAIDOC week. We are also grateful that Mr Claude invited us onto his block to learn about the culture and history of his ancestors, for the second year in a row. We participated in damper making, learned about bush medicine and created our own tapping stick using metal rods. We were also invited to see the cave paintings created by his ancestors and listen to the stories behind each of them, which no white man had seen or heard before.
Spending time with the kids was a huge highlight for me. On the last day, we cooked bacon and eggs for their breakfast, it was such a blessing to watch how such a small act of kindness was so appreciated by them.
We definitely all came back changed; I for one learned to appreciate our country more and gained a better understanding and respect towards Indigenous people and their culture. I know that if the trip runs again next year, I will be without a doubt signing up again and I encourage everyone to consider it.” – Kate Bourne, Year 11
“Teach Learn Grow is an organisation whose goal is to bridge the education gap between the kids in remote areas compared to the kids going to school in cities. Our Kimberley Trip partnered with Teach Learn Grow which gave us this amazing opportunity to help these kids achieve their goals.
The kids that we met on the trip were all incredible. They captured my heart with their cheeky smiles and bubbly personalities. The relationships that were created between everyone who went on this trip and the kids in the Wangkatjungka community, will last a lifetime and I know I will never forget their happy little faces. What impacted me the most was sitting next to a kid called Joash on one of the bus rides. Over that one hour on the bus, he completely opened up to me and told me about his family and their dreamtime stories.
I will definitely go back next year and cannot wait to see all the kids again. I recommend to everyone to consider going on the Kimberley Impact Trip as it was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had and I shall cherish the memories we created during the trip.” – Chole Resuggan, Year 11
Applications for next year’s Kimberley Impact Trip will be available soon to current Year 10 and 11 students.