Editors • Denis Brosnan & Rebecca McEwen Smith • Volume 9 • Issue 2
Charity Begins At Home
N ews
C r o m w e l l
C o l l e g e
Within The University of Queensland
SEPTEMBER 2009
Eve York and her Elcho Island family I have recently set-up a charity with a friend, Alice, who studies Aboriginal Law at Charles Darwin University. The charity, Improving Indigenous Health and Education (IIHE), aims to do just that. Alice and I met in 2006, in Townsville, where we both did voluntary work for 6 months at a school, Shalom Christian College. This is a boarding school for Indigenous children from all across Australia broadly covering the Central Desert, Cape York, Kimberley, Arnhem Land, Torres Strait and central Queensland regions. At the school I had an immediate connection with one young girl, Merinda, who was from Elcho Island. It is hard to explain, but from the beginning it was as if I’d always known her. So I would spend the majority of my time hanging out with her. Merinda always called me ‘yapa’. I never really knew what it meant – but went with it. In my second term at the school, one of the new boys called me ‘yapa’. Everyone got really angry at him because he didn’t have the right to – I was pretty confused. That’s when I first found out ‘yapa’ meant sister and Merinda had adopted me as her sister. A few weeks later, her grandparents and immediate family, about twenty people, flew to Townsville to meet me. When I met them I was completely accepted as part of the family, and I was given my adopted name, ‘Merote’. My grandma had made me necklaces that were from shells, shark tooth, and parrot feather, from Elcho Island – these would bring me good luck. Since leaving Shalom I have kept in close contact with Merinda and her family. Over Easter this year, (two and a half years later) I went to Elcho Island to visit my adopted family. In setting up this charity, Alice and I would like our first project to give back to Elcho Island. Elcho Island is a remote Aboriginal community located in the Arafura Sea off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. The island has a breathtaking landscape ranging from tropical rainforests and sandy beaches to mangroves, tidal creeks, and large cliffs. Approximately 550km northeast of Darwin, it is home to the YolnguMatha people and their rich and beguiling culture. The island consists of one main town settlement, originally a mission, Galiwinku (the second largest Aboriginal community in terms of concentrated population in the Northern Territory), and approximately ten outstations located throughout.
o Island Typical house on Elch
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A Magazine for Old Collegians, Friends of Cromwell, Current Residents and their Families
What’s I nside
From the Principal
3
Ongoing Maintenance
4
Fuelling Up .....
5
Master Plan
6
Celebrating 60 Years
7-10
Chit Chat Round-up
11-12
It’s a Long Way to Longreach Africa Bound
13 14-15