our place magazine, 33, centre for appropriate technology au

8/9/2019 Our Place Magazine, 33, Centre for Appropriate Technology AU

1/11BUSH TECHS: maintenance o standalone renewable energy systems l water treatment

PeoPle working with technology in remote communities

Number 33

PY Ku Ntwork

Wunan Construction

& Maintnanc

Rural lctrifcation

in India

Rcycling in Lajamanu

Bentinck

bathroomblitz


2/11

INTRODUCTION

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KEVIN:Dodnun is on the Gibb Riverroad, about 600 kilometres out o Derby,thats the largest town near us, and is 300kilometres rom Wyndum.

Tere is about 2040 people here duringthe wet season, mostly amilies. I havebeen here or about ve years.

Weve got dierent groups, mainlyNarrogin tribe, with all the amiliesmixed together. Tey used to all live intents here when we were kids.

We used to go on the mail plane orschool and come back on mail plane orschool holidays.

ADRIAN:How many houses do youhave there now?

KEVIN:Tere are three old ones thatare just or anybody who comes workinghere, like Kardiya, (that is white peoplehere) they camp in them. But there areabout eight liveable houses, one big

shed, the service station and engineroom.

ADRIAN: In the engine room thereare a number o diesel generators

which provide electricity or thecommunity. When I spoke with Kevin,the community were using the smallgenerator, as there were only about tenpeople in the community at that time.But when all the other amilies comeback or ceremonies, the population oDodnun increases to over 40 peopleand Kevin has to start up the largestgenerator.

KEVIN:Tere are three o them there,unit one, unit two, unit three. Te biggestone is unit three, the smallest one isthe unit one which I am running nowbecause there are only about 10 people

here.

ADRIAN:Apparently you need to checkthe ow meters too. What kind o metersare they?

KEVIN:Tere is a ow meter or thetank to the engine and that just shows

you how many litres go in per day. Everyday I check the litres o uel. Tis engineis pretty good it doesnt use very much,the small one anyway. But during the

wet season when everybody comes backor ceremony and things, more and morepeople are here. Ten the big one goeson and that chews more uel, because Isuppose, everybodys got more ridgesand air conditioners going.

ADRIAN:When its ceremony time andyou get more people there, tell me howbusy it is and what happens then?

KEVIN:All the amilies come, and theirextended amilies join them, so with alarger number o people here there ismore pull on the old engine or uel, butluckily the truck comes beore all thathappens.

ADRIAN:What truck is that?

KEVIN:Te shell truck that lls all thetanks up. So its good when it comesand that generator room will run duringChristmas and the New Year and rightthrough until about July.

ADRIAN:How oten does that tankervisit your community?

KEVIN:wice a year. At the beginningo the year then at the end o November.I check the main tank and check the

NUMbeR 33

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Kevin Fletcher: Essential ServicesOfcer, Dodnune p ou P r s 13, 2008.

5 news

7 Projects

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10 livelihoods

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12 technology

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bush tech lit-outs

Maintenance of standalone Renewable Energy systems Water treatment

14 education and training

Wunan Construction and Maintenanceth wu cu m u

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16 international

Rural electrifcation in Indiamh tuk v vv h upp u i.

19 book review

Beyond Humbug:Transforming Government Engagement WithIndigenous Australia. rv ruh ev

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Our Placeissn: 13257684

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Kvin Fltcr:essntial Srvics Ofcr, Dodnuneditd transcript o Our Plac Radio Sgmnt 13, 2008

Intrviw y Adrian Saw

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BUSHLIFE 3

16


3/11

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Bushlight recently celebrated a signicant achievement; theproject has now worked with 100 small, remote communitiesproviding them with access to reliable energy services, manyor the rst time. o mark this milestone, Bushlight organisedthree separate events that were hosted by outstation communitiesBushlight has worked with in the past; one at Kapalga (inthe Northern erritorys Kakadu region), one at Kulpa (nearCoen on Cape York) and one at Chile Creek (on the DampierPeninsula north o Broome).

In addition to the community residents and local traditionalowners who attended each event, other guests included residentso nearby communities, sta rom local service providers,representatives rom a range o local, State and AustralianGovernment Agencies, state utilities and a range o otherinterested individuals and organisations.

Community residents played a key role at each event, in one

case welcoming the guests with a traditional dance. Guests wereable to hear rst hand rom community residents about theirexperiences o lie in their communities beore the installationo the Bushlight system, and ater. Each event also providedBushlight with an opportunity to explain h ow the communityplanning process is acilitated, how community inormation istaken into account in the renewable energy system design processand the role o ongoing support provided to each community toensure the reliability o the energy services.

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he Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre is a $3.1 millioninitiative o Desert Knowledge Australia, unded through theAustralian Governments Renewable Remote Power GenerationProgram, designed to showcase and demonstrate a range o solarpower technologies in commercial-scale installations.

Te Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre is part othe Desert Knowledge Precinct, South Stuart Highway, AliceSprings.

Te Federal Minister or the Environment, Te Hon PeterGarrett AM MP ofcially opened the Centre on October 1st2008. Representatives o the Northern erritory Governmentand the board o Desert Knowledge Australia a lso played a rolein the opening ceremony.

Tese installations will enable meaningul and accuratecomparisons o technology perormance in an arid environment.

A range o dierent manuacturers and suppliers aredemonstrating their technologies at the site.

While some o the technologies have been widely usedwithin Australia, many o the installations use technologies thatare new to Australia. Dierent mounting technologies are alsodemonstrated.

Te Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre will alsoplay an important role in public education o the benets andcapabilities o solar electricity generation. Te Centre will beopen to the public, and a range o interpretive displays will allowschool children, tourists and the local community to learn aboutand explore the dierences between the technologies.

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As part o CAs on-going involvement in developingrobust and appropriate technology products orIndigenous communities and organisations, a new range oproducts is emerging outdoor re protection devices.

Te initiators o this development were the sta andresidents o the Kaltukatjara Aged Care Facility at DockerRiver in response to a tragedy that occurred in July 2007, whena ragile elderly lady rolled into her outdoor camp re andreceived atal burns.

CA's Proje cts and Regional Services eam was knownto the CEO, sta and residents o the Kaltukatjara Aged CareFacility through a major up-grade o the acility that CAproject managed. Te Project Brie given to CA sta rom theCEO was to explore ideas and produce a design or a devicethat would prevent or reduce the risk o such an accidentoccurring again.

More recently CA sta were contacted by FrontierServices Respite and Carelink Centre as they wished toprovide a remote like environment or the provision o respitecare in Alice Springs and wanted to provide a re or culturalreasons which would be sae or clients to use.

Sta rom CA had completed some sketches o reprotection guards in anticipation o what may be required atDocker River, and these were shown to the sta o FrontierServices. A sketch was selected, which is now known as theFlying Saucer Camp Fire Guard. Quotes were sought or theabrication o a prototype, and Frontier Services unded theabrication.

BUSHLIFE NEWS

u p 6 >

The Hon PeterGarrett AM MPopens the DKASolar Centre.

Community residents at Kapalga welcome guests to Bushlightcelebrations with a traditional dance.

5

ther engines where the slide tray is ornything dripping, or or vibrations romhe engine that will loosen the nuts onhe old diesel. So I check i there a re any

aks and just make sure all the uel isecure. Teyve never ailed me, I supposeecause i you look ater them well, i you

maintain them properly and keep an eyen them, they wont ail you.

Te main thing to do every day is too check the engine, check the uel dip,l, temperature, pressure, and make sures all running and the electricity is not

etting used up everywhere around theommunity, with lights let on that are not

meant to be on when nobodys there. So Ist switch them all o.

DRIAN:When I rang you yesterdaymorning, you sounded pretty busy, what

ere you doing then?

EVIN: [laughing] I was doing a tractoryre, changing that horrible thing! And itsretty hard with only one bloke doing it.

Yeah, I was getting the old tractorunning and cleaning up around theinic, theres a small clinic here or all thed people.

DRIAN:o help maintain the waterupply, Kevin has to complete a number tasks to look ater the bore and theater tank at Dodnun. From washing the

olar panels, keeping the bore pumpingater, maintaining the main water tank,hecking the ow metres and even cuttinghe grass around the water tank. Tey

may seem as minor tasks, but theyre verymportant things to do to keep the waterupply running rom the water tank.

EVIN:Teres one big one [water tank],hats real good there are no problemsith it. It has never ailed me and theaters real good. Tey reckon its the bestater in this area. Youd think it came out the ridge.

ADRIAN:What is required to maintainthe water rom the bore?

KEVIN:Tere are two big solar panels

there the little electric one and theresan ordinary little water pump that youhand crank. Te little hand crank one is

just or emergencies or or during thewet when its overcast and the solar onedoesnt run well. I wash the panels nowand then because a lot o dust and grimebuilds up on it and then I check the waterow metre again on the big tank here or

water and make sure the gates are locked.I also cut the grass around it because allthe res come rom that direction and yougot to keep cutting the grass because recan get real close.

ADRIAN:As the Essential ServicesOfcer at Dodnun, Kevin would also liketo see young people in his community geta good education and training. He knowshe can show them the hands on stu o

what to do around the community tokeep essential services going, but he wantsthem to understand how important it is tohave good literacy and numeracy skills.

KEVIN: I can tell the young people herea certain amount, I can show them handson stu, but give me something to trainthem with, you know, the literacy parto it. Because they need to be able to doaddition and read and write as well. Youngpeople are pretty good and they will workor you or a while and they are learning,but sometimes they seem to get bored andgo away to Derby.

ADRIAN:One o the biggest problemsthey have in the Kimberly is black soil.Approximately six years ago we reportedrom the Kimberly how black soil has tobe compacted and raised o the ground

with gravel, to enable vehicles to go inand out o these remote communities.As Kevin explains, during the wet season

vehicles get bogged and quite oten itsdifcult to get essential supplies intoDodnun.

KEVIN:Teres big black soil at whenyou come in on the road, its about 30kmand it gets really mushy, so youre slidingand get bogged. Nothing can come in,nothing essential anyway, like suppliesand uel i you really need it and evensometimes the plane wont land. MtElizabeth station isnt not too ar romhere you see.

ADRIAN: I did a story on black soilin the Kimberly some time ago andapparently youve got to compact thatblack soil to make it strong?

KEVIN:Yeah, but you got to make sure

you rise it up o the ground with thegravel, so by the time the wet comes itdrops down a couple o inches. Some-times they pack the soil good but at timesthey dont and thats when it get difcultto get in and out o Dodnun. When itdoes rain really hard during the wet, youcant do much anyway.

ADRIAN:Some nal words rom Kevinabout how he enjoys his job and why hethinks its important that he is employedin his community as the Essential ServicesOfcer.

KEVIN: I a white person was doing myjob, you have got to nd accommodationor them and then you have to make surethey have a vehicle. And they end upleaving because they get sick o the joband they only last about one year beorethey take o and look or a better job,or they are missing their amily. But i

youre here all the time and your amilyis here, youre not going to take oanywhere.

ADRIAN: So its been a good decisionto employ you as the Essential ServicesOfcer or consistency in the job?

KEVIN:Yeah and everybody knows meand theyve only got me to blame. [laughs]

Tey cant go and growl at the white ella.Its good here with my amily, my

riends. My people are good.My job keeps me busy, because doing

that work or the community keeps yourbrain going, dealing with numbers and

with water ow and all. And as long aseverything is running well then all theoldies are happy and they tell you they rehappy. When everything runs smoothlyeveryones happy. n


4/11

Recently, the new MacDonnell Shire (Docker River), alongwith the Department o Health and Ageing contacted CAgain and in the interim have ordered two more Flying Saucer

Camp Fire Guards or the Docker River Kaltukatjara AgedCare Facility, which have been delivered.

Further to the Flying Saucer Camp Fire Guards, theDocker River Kaltukatjara Aged Care Facility have given aevised Project Brie to CA sta, or a cool-to-the-touch re

ox with a ue or use under a verandah or shelter. Tey willund the design and abrication o a prototype re box alreadyubbed the Pizza Oven. CA sta are currently working onhis project and a prototype will be manuactured soon.

Recently the Flying Saucer Camp Fire Guard attracted thettention o the ABC New Inventors show, and they lmedhe device with Marc Seidel rom CA and two old men (ac-ors) rom Hermannsburg, who acted out the saety aspects ohe camp re guard. An inormation segment will be shown onhe ABC New Inventors program early next year.

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tpn September 2008, eight students rom the Centre or

Appropriate echnologys (CA) echnical Studies GroupAutomotive and Atwork courses went on a eld trip to Adelaide.

Te students visited Birdwood Motor Museum, Mawsonakes University, CMV trucks, Australian echnical College,auondie College and the South Australian Museum.Te students enjoyed seeing the Birdwood Motor Museum

ith vehicles ranging rom the 19th to the 21st century, and aide range o automotive products rom various national and

nternational sources .At CMV rucks students gained insight in the automotive

ade o truck servicing. CMV oers an apprenticeship programnhouse where apprentices nally progress to the adjacentorkshop to put their training to the test.Te CA students enjoyed talking with a CMV trainer and

is students, discussing issues and barriers around training.At Mawson Lakes University the students visited

he Mechanical Engineering, Mathematical Science andnvironmental Studies acilities and met the lecturers.Te students ound Mechanical Engineering very interesting.

Tey were inormed that students at the school had built carsom scratch to the nished product, and participated in amulated race. Te winner o this race gets a nished car thatas the highest mark or the best mechanical engineering, uelonsumption, speed and aesthetics.

Students also enjoyed the Mathematical science acultyhere they had lecturers discussing and demonstrating robotics,

and were shown model helicopters and robotic arms. Tevisit gave the students real insight into University lie. In theEnvironmental Studies section, some students were braveenough to hold the pet python!

In Port Adelaide the group visited the Indigenous collegeauondie.

auondie runs courses in Business, Community Services,Visual Art, Inormation echnology, Horticulture, Hospitalityand ourism.

Te students elt a denite similarity between this collegeand CA and thought a college like this would work well inAlice Springs.

Te group also visited one o the Australian echnicalColleges in Adelaide (AC).

Te principal objective o the AC is to address the currentand uture skills needs o the Australian economy throughachievement in a number o key areas, such as: promoting prideand excellence in trade skills training or young people, providingskills and education in a exible learning environment, industry-led governing body or each AC to set out the strategicdirections and perormance objectives to provide trade training

that is relevant to industr y.An AC student picks a trade o his/her choice, does the

apprenticeship and then leaves with a ull qualication and aYear 12 Certicate.

Te group was keen to see the workshops and hear abouturther opportunities ater graduation. Students also commentedthat the workshop acilities were like a hotel room in theBahamas.

Visiting the South Australian museum was a highlight orthe group. Tey enjoyed seeing the Indigenous section andlearning about stories rom the past. Te Arican animals section

was popular as some o the members o the group had never seenanything like this beore.

A couple o hours was spent looking at Indigenoustechnology rom the South Australia region and across Australia.

Te group was impressed with the museums large variety oexhibits and especially the auto museum, which created a lot odiscussion because o its connection with Indigenous people.

Te group gained great insight rom this trip into whattrades are available to students. Previously students have nothad the benet o exposure to the variety o workshops that areactually available. Tese eld trips give them the opportunity tosee what options are available interstate, as options tend to belimited in Alice Springs.

Te CMV trucks, Mawson Lakes, auondie College, andAustralian echnical Colleges expressed enjoyment at the visitrom the CA students, and stated that they would welcome

visits by CA students on an annual basis.

u p 8 >

CAT students and staff with faculty members at MawsonLakes University's Indigenous Students Services ofce.

NEWS 7PROJECTS

Bentinck Island is quite alarge island (14,000 ha) inthe Gul o CarpentariaQLD. Te island (part o the

Wellesley group) sits about50 nautical miles south o

the larger Mornington Island and is thehomelands o the Kaiadilt People whomaintain a small community on theeastern tip.

Some elderly ladies live permanentlyon Bentinck, and are visited regularlyby extended amily. Te ladies run asuccessul art enterprise. However mostBentinck people live on Mornington.

Trough a larger project supportingthe homelands on Bentinck Island theCentre or Appropriate echnology(CA) has been working closely withthe Kaiadilt to improve inrastructuremanagement and maintenance.

During a visit to Bentinck theladies pointed out that they needed anamenities block or a couple o dongerson the island and that way young menand amilies could come as stay and havetheir own space. While exploring theisland CA sta noted the abundance odisused building material everythingrom roong iron to composting toilet

units! Everything you needed to buildan amenities block even the kitchensink. All we needed was some knowhowto design the building rom material that

was around, and some expertise to helpthe Kaiadilt to build it.

CA Cairns sta put the challengeto Engineers Without Borders (EWB),a non-prot group starting to workmore with Indigenous communitiesin Australia. EWB jumped at theopportunity and within no time had ateam o eager engineering, architectureand construction students lined up torun the project. Te enthusiasm was

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5/11

PROJECTS PROJECTS 9

inectious. Ater talks with all theBentinck mob on Mornington a teamo Kaiadilt ellas was put together tohelp out while the EWB team got to

work raising money and support.Te project began to take shape

EWB and CA managed to getunding rom ANZ, while the studentsthemselves raised money rom ARUPand a couple o construction companiesin Brisbane. Proessional engineersand construction supervisors were alsorecruited to help rom the QueenslandUniversity o echnology (QU), ARUPand Baulderstone.

In June three EWB people came toBentinck or a qu ick scoping trip. Wehad a great time measuring materials,preparing drawings and hanging out withthe all the ladies. Drawings were made,plans developed and equipment (donatedrom various large construction sites inBrisbane) reighted up on the barge. Teconstruction trip was taking shape.

Finally on the 27th September (witha small sponsorship rom MacAir) theEWB team arrived on Mornington Island

with CA ready to head over to Bentinckon the Volunteer Marine Rescue boat thenext day. Ater a busy day organising all the

workers rom Mornington, six volunteerson the rescue boat and ten Kaiadilt ellas intwo tinnies began the three hours crossing toBentinck with Gooy (Gerald Loogatha) andVanlee at the helms choosing to navigate bythe stars and crossing in the pitch black o amoonless night.

Te next day is was straight into work

digging holes or ootings, gathering steel orrames, welding, cutting and manuacturingthe building rom scratch. Te next two

weeks involved many late nights digging,concreting, roong, welding, grinding andmidnight shing. Everyone mucked in young

and old even Chookie (the chairman o theKaiadilt Aboriginal Corporation) was gettingdirty digging holes. ony Escott and Vanleeproved to be indispensable in manuacturingand welding together the steel structures othe buildings. Te team even managed to xthe broken down backhoe with a new radiatorrom Cairns and a cannibalised water pump.

All went so well that hal way through,when the team o volunteers swapped overwith a new team, Gerald decided to head backover to Mornington to pick u p some moreellas to help out. Te smooth ride was over the next day an air and sea search was on asseven ellas drited across the gul with a blownoutboard piston but luckily there wereeventually ound sailing towards Little AllenIsland under the propulsion o the ooringpulled up or a sail. Not to be dissuaded, theellas were straight into work the next day witha determination to nish the project.

Despite all the drama a couple o days laterthere was a short pause to celebrate the news;received in a phone call on the roo at night(one o the ew places we could get a signal),that ony became the proud ather to a new

young ella Maclean.Finally, ater 2 weeks o sweat and h ard

work, laughs and late night shing trips, thebuilding was nished with a last nal push lateinto the last night. It was a magical moment

when at 10:30pm the last o the steps up to the

toilet block were cemented in. Everyonesigned their name or tagged the cement.

With a ew nal touches the next morningthere was little time or celebration as therescue boat arrived to whisk the entire

weary team back to Mornington.

CA and EWB would like to thankthe Kaiadilt people or doing so much tohelp make the project work especially withthe challenges o transport, uel and ood in particular thanks to ony Escott andVanlee or spending so much time as ourexpert welders, and thanks to Gerald orbringing so many ellas over while r iskinglie and tinnie. Tanks also to Neville orhis energy getting everyone motivated,Chookie or organising his mob, Carlaor the awesome ood, David or pushingthrough with some truly hard digging,Pigman or his delicate and expert backhoemastery, Percy, Herbert, BJ, Watson andAnthony or their muscle and shingskills and all the kids or their en thusiasmand entertainment. Finally Eunice or thedamper and opening the shop on demand,and Carl and or his patience with usbreaking and xing the islands machinery!

Tanks also go out to MorningtonShire or supporting us and doing with outsome o their key workers or the periodo the project and the Volunteer MarineRescue crew or giving up your time tobring us over and back and or theoccasional live marine rescue.

While this project achieved manythings in terms o creating the buildingrom limited resources it also achievea range o other important outcomes

or all involved. CA andEWB, demonstrated apartnership or developmentin situations where accessto the necessary skills andexpertise required would not

have been available throughconventional avenues.

Te dynamics and roleso each party rom theKaiadilt Corporation to EWB,commercial engineering andconstruction rms, the twoBrisbane universities and CAare particularly important. Eachplayed its part according to itsexpertise but also in supportingeach other in a successulpartnership model. From aneducational point o v iew, itdemonstrated that a Universitypartnership can bring powerulreal world, transormative learningexperiences or students that area highly valuable commodity oruniversities.

And nally it demonstrated thatwith the right approach, intentionsand good will there are many thingsthe community can achieve with theappropriate support rom externalorganisations. We look orward to thenext project! n

ANDRe GRANT

The Centre for Appropriate Technology

Cairns


6/11

PYKu's are a network oRural ransaction Centres

which provide I acilitiesocused on the provision ogovernment or other services.

Te Network o purposeuilt one stop shop new buildings willso provide ofce and administrative

upport acilities or visitors to APYommunities. In the long-term theentres could manage new and/or existingvernight visitors accommodationn some locations and oer videoonerencing acilities and online banking.

Te PY Ku Network was endorsedy COAG, the Council o Australian

Governments, as an Indigenous rialnitiative in September 2003, to deliverrange o essential government andommercial services in one o Australias

most remote regions via on-the-job

training and employment o localAboriginal people (Anangu). Te Networkhas been in the planning or over six

years and has recently started operationscurrently employing around twelve part-time Anangu sta.

Te length o time required to roll outthis initiative underlines the importanceo eective community engagementprocesses and co-ordination betweengovernment departments.

Te roll out across the Lands o thePY Ku Network is being managed byPY Media (Pitjantjatjara YankunytjatjaraMedia Corporation), an Anangu ownedand managed media organisation, whichis recognised nationally as a leader inthe delivery and management o remotecommunications and associated servicedelivery and training to Aboriginalpeoples. PY Media has developed

innovative technological solutions orAnangu communities in a way that aimsto provide maximum social, cultural,employment and economic benets toAnangu and to be embraced as part o theAnangu way o lie.

o date six purpose built PY KuCentres have been located across the APYLands in the communities o Iwantja(Indulkana), Mimili, Kaltjiti (Fregon),Amata, Pipalyatjara/ Kalka and Watarru.Centrelink services are operating throughthe PY Ku Network and a range o newSA Government services includingmotor vehicle and rearms registrationand licensing, nes payments, births,deaths and marriage certicates andgeneral inormation is planned. Te PYKu Network initiative has undergoneextensive community consultation andplanning, has Anangu endorsement

PY Ku Ntwork

and universal community support andrequires the active cooperation andinvolvement o all levels o government.

Anangu see the PY Ku Network asa means to improving sel-governance as

well as getting better services or desertpeople, according to Mr Ronnie Brumby,the Chair o PY Media. Based on oursuccessul experiences to date we arelooking orward to seeing more essentialservices being introduced. PY Ku centres

are doing more than just providingservices they also aim to be providingskills, training and real jobs in remoteareas. PY Media is strongly committedto the development o an Aboriginal(Anangu) workorce throughout the PYKu Network according to the GeneralManager o PY Media, Peg Nicholls.

As part o the work o the DesertKnowledge Co-operative ResearchCentres Core Project 5: Desert Servicesthat Work Demand Responsive Servicesto Desert Settlements, University o SouthAustralia academic Deirdre edmanson,

with the support o specialist researcherMurray Muirhead, are undertakinga participatory action research basedevaluation o the introduction o thePY Ku Network across the APY Landsin South Australia, in partnership withPY Media and key PY Ku stakeholders.

Tis research orms part o the overallDKCRC Core Project 5 which is

working in our regions across our

dierent jurisdictions: Western Australia,Queensland, South Australia andNorthern erritory to analyse theservice delivery system, identiy criticalissues and strategies that provide leverageor change, design technology-basedmodels and service delivery models withthe potential to improve the system, andthen trialling, monitoring and ev aluatingtheir success to gain inormation about

what works and why.

By tackling problems at theinterace between demand and supplyo services to desert settlements, thisDKCRC research is seeking to identiy

ways to improve consumer accessto services in desert communitiesand to achieve better outcomes orservice providers. CP5 is workingacross the many levels o the servicesystem rom heads o governmentsto end consumers, including people

working in state governmentdepartments, regional ofces, privatesectors providers, and Aboriginalorganisations. In the APY Lands,Deirdre and Murray are workingclosely with community partners PYMedia and other key stakeholdersas well as visiting communities andinterviewing Anangu leaders, workersand consumers to capture the PYKu story as it unolds. Tey arealso working closely with Anangusta and co-researchers to video the

introduction o the PY Ku centresand aim to record the aspirations oAnangu or their new PY KU network,identiying what it provides by way obetter service access and what Ananguconsumers would like to see these newCentres provide into the uture.

Steve Fisher, DK CRCs teamleader or Desert Services that Workproject says that: One o the mostexciting things is the way the transactioncentres will also be used to link up withrelatives and business partners. Forexample were exploring how video-linksat the PY Ku Centres can enable peopleto keep in touch with kids who are awayat school and enable virtual meetings.n

DeIRDRe TeDMANSON

University of South Australia

and Desert Knowledge CRC

The PY Ku Network initiative has undergone

extensive community consultation and planning,

has Anangu endorsement and universal community

support and requires the active cooperation and

involvement of all levels of government.

PY Ku Ntwork is an xciting initiativ to ring togtr a rang o rsourcs, srvics and

unding rom govrnmnt and non-govrnmnt organisations to dlivr improvd and incrasd

rvics to t APY Lands and link srvic dlivry wit training and mploymnt opportunitis

or Anangu.

Murray Muirhead,

Christine de Rose

(supervisor o

the Indulkana PY

Ku), and Deirdre

Tedmanson

and outside the

Indulkana PY Ku.

LIVELIHOODS LIVELIHOODS 11

Customer utilising the Centrelink Hotline

Sta at work in the Kaltjiti (Fregon)PY Ku sta area

Customers receiving over-the-counterservices at Kaltjiti

Filing in the sta area


7/11

Robert George ispassionate aboutimproving the look oLajamanu community.RG, as he preers to beknown, is responsible or

managing the waste recycling acility atLajamanu. Community members collectaluminium cans and plastic drink bottlesthen take them to RG who crushes thecontainers to be taken to either Darwinor Katherine or recycling.

When you consider that humansgenerate approximately 1.62 tonne(1,620kg) o waste per person per year1,it is easy to imagine how big a concern

waste management is or many remoteAboriginal communities throughout theNorthern erritory. As landll sites ll,more and more land is required or wastemanagement. Te Lajamanu ContainerDeposit Scheme has helped to reducethe amount o litter on the communitystreets, and the total amount being placedinto the landll site.

It is good to see recycling strategiesbeing implemented in Northern

erritory communities. Methods toreduce the impact on community landllsites include reducing the amount o

waste products entering the communityand reusing products and containersor other purposes. For example, cartyres could be used to enhance the looko garden beds, or reusing dierentmaterials or arts and crats projects. Tethird strategy is recycling products suchas aluminium cans and plastic containers.

Tis is exactly what Lajamanucommunity in the anami Desert havebeen doing or the past 12 months.Recycling is a great way to reducethe amount o waste going into thecommunity landll site. Te Lajamanucommunity also benets rom the projectnancially due to the small rewardbeing oered by the L ajamanu ProgressAssociation/Store (PA/S). Te PA/Splaced an additional 10c ee on top o th ecost or cans and bottles o sot drink.

Tis ee has since been reduced to 5c as aresult o price rises. When residents returnempty aluminium cans and plastic bottles,they receive the small reund.

Funding or the Container DepositScheme was provided by the NDepartment o Natural Resources,Environment, the Arts and Sport(NREtAS). Tese unds helped topurchase capital equipmentand support rom the Centreor Appropriate echnology(CA). As well as monitoringthe project, CA also organisedor provided training to RG andother community members who

were directly involved with therecycling.

Te Container DepositScheme is operated roma shed that houses a newbaling machine provided byNREtAS, and purchased romAdelaide. Since it was delivered,there have been over 96,000aluminium cans and plasticbottles returned to the recyclingshed. RG and his colleagueRalph Dixon then crush theitems and place them on pallets to beremoved rom the community.

Te aluminium cans are taken toKatherine or recycling, and the plastic istransported to Darwin. From Darwin theplastic containers are sent overseas wherethey are cut into small chips. Recycledplastic is used to make a huge range oitems such as the polyester shirts andother clothes most people wear.

Te recycling process includes sortingthe plastic containers according to their

resin identication code. Tis code can beound on the bottom o the container andincludes a recycling symbol consisting othree arrows in a triangular shape with anumber inside (Fig. 4).

Some items that can be recycled withtheir code number and recycling symbol2

RG said, the whole community ishappy with the project and how it makes

the community clean. Jim Butler, ProgressAssociation and Store Manager, addedthat visitors to Lajamanu have noticed agradual change over the past year and heoten hears comments on the cleanlinesso the community.

Te new Central Desert Shire andthe Lajamanu Local Advisory Board arealso keen to work together and developother waste management strategies. Tereare plans to cordon o sections o the

waste landll or other items that can be

recycled such as batteries, rubber tyres andold washing machines. Tere are manyitems that can be recycled or reused ratherthan being thrown into the landll site.

Te Container Deposit Scheme hasbeen hailed a success by all those whohave participated. Te benets includeextra pocket money or communitymembers, particularly school children whohave been the main recyclers. Lajamanuis a much tidier community and has beenrewarded by winning the ChairmansPrize at the N Melaleuca Awards inApril 2008. RG also attended the N

idy owns ceremony in Novemberwhere he presented a short video, whichCA helped to organise, o the Laj amanurecycling project. Lajamanu was awardeda prize or the Best Community Storebecause o their assistance with therecycling project. Tese awards areencouraging or the Lajamanu communityto continue with recycling and other wastemanagement ventures that will benet thecommunity well into the uture. n

JAMeS NeWMAN

Centre for Appropriate Technology

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TECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGY 13

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8/11

Trough various projects, WCM aims to create a sustainablecommercial housing business to address the housing shortage in the EastKimberley and has built our houses in 11 months, three o which areused as Stepping Stone accommodation, called Pindan Place.

Pindan Placeis used as part o Wunans stepping stone accommoda-tion strategy. Te stepping stone accommodation concept sees a goodhome as a key or young people to establish a successul uture. A goodhome is used to both support and reward people who take responsibilityor themselves and their amily through work and education.

Wunan Construction and Maintenances primary commercial servicesinclude:

New housing construction;Housing renovations and upgrades;Routine repairs & maintenance; andNon-routine repairs & maintenance.

WCM provides a structured model or young Aboriginal people togain skills or lie, work and the building sector and as a result build apool o competent local people working in the housing sector, upgradesand repairs and maintenance, and provide an alternative local capacity

to contribute to better value in building services or Aboriginal housing,including new housing,.

Wunan Foundation CEO, Mr Ralph Addis, explains that beoretheir involvement with the business many o the participants were eitherunemployed or on CDEP, a kind o Aboriginal work-or-the-doleprogram that has become a dead-end destination or too many youngpeople in the region, despite huge demand rom employers.

And or most Aboriginal people in Kununurra, public housing is theonly long-term accommodation option. Many households experiencesignicant overcrowding that can lead to social problems. Tese presenta debilitating barrier to those young people trying to break the cycle o

welare dependency.He explains that the building business is about much more than just

getting a job. It is about learning the lie skills and work skills so the guyscan make better choices about the lie they want, or themselves andtheir amilies.

Whilst the program aims to provide opportunity and help buildcapacity, at the end o the day, the success o the business is about givingthese young blokes a ghting chance o breaking the cycle o dependencyand taking control o th eir own utures. Addis says.

Importantly the development has provided realemployment opportunities or 11 young Aboriginal men.

Manager o Wunan Construction and Maintenance,Jim Penrose has been with the team or 15 monthswhere he started on the ground with the young men,as one o the qualied builders, providing mentoringand support to them throughout their traineeships andapprenticeships.

I am very proud o the boys and its good to see howconscientious they are, said Mr Penrose.

Critical success actors have beenthe consistency and nature o work,quality o building supervisors andAboriginal mentoring, development andmaintenance o a working team culture,establishment o clear expectationsand incentives around desired workbehaviours, and access to WunanAccommodation.

Aaron Grifths, a young Aboriginalman rom Halls Creek who movedto Kununurra with his partner and

young daughter is now a second year

apprentice with WCM and has been employedwith WCM since its establishment.

My main goal is to nish my trade andstart my own business, said Mr Grifths.

Looking orward Wunan Constructionand Maintenance is ocused on supportingour rainees and Apprentices to movethrough their studies and obtain ormalbuilding qualications; and pursuing businessopportunities across the East Kimberley,including Halls Creek and other remotecommunities.

And that wont happen unless these youngpeople understand that their lie is theirresponsibility, no-one elses, Addis adds.

Over the past year WCM has built acredible reputation in the building industryin the East Kimberley and has since ormeda second team to assist in carrying outbuilding, construction and maintenanceprojects in Halls Creek and surrounding

communities while continuing to recruitmore young Aboriginal trainees rom theEast Kimberley. n

MICheLLe MARTIN

Wunan Foundation

Kununurra

Wunan Foundation Inc was originally

stalisd as a community drivn initiativ

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Indignous popl in t east Kimrly,

ATSIC Wunan Rgional Council.

T purpos o t Foundation is to uild

up capacity to sustain innovativ and

progrssiv programs or improving

socio-conomic outcoms or Indignous

popl in t east Kimrly.

REFLECTING ON OUR WORKEDUCATION AND TRAINING 15EDUCATION AND TRAINING

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9/11

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INTERNATIONAL 17INTERNATIONAL

People in rural Indian villagesrely on traditional biomassuels (energy derived romplants and animals) andhuman eort or the bulko their basic energy needs.

Tese include cooking, drawing waterand the processing o grains (hullingand grinding). Te use o kerosene andcandles or lighting is also ver y commonand accrues signicant expenditure(upwards o 13 days o individualincome per month per household).

With regards to electricity supply, itis estimated that somewhere between115,000 to 150,000 villages are currentlyunconnected to a main electricity grid,

with only a very small number o villages(3368 villages, 830 hamlets) with access

to electricity through decentralised villageenergy systems. Tere are an estimated586,000 villages in total in India.

Since independence, India hasstruggled to establish energy securityin many o its rural areas. In its eortsto do so, however, it has explored the

whole gamut o options available andthrough this has managed to establishlocal industries in both centralised and

decentralised power production anddistribution technologies. Renewableenergy (RE) in all its orms has been oneo the great beneciaries o this inclusiveapproach and a long history o research,development and dissemination o REtechnologies now exists in the country.

Interestingly, while environmentalconcerns do play a role in the th inkingbehind the support given to REtechnologies (more and more so intodays climate) the RE sector in Indiais driven largely by energy securityand diversity concerns rather thanenvironmental concerns. India currentlyimports approximately 70% o its oiland has a real interest in diversiying itsavailable uel base. As such RE is ableto maintain and even expand its role

in national energ y policy. Te status oRE technologies is widely appreciatedand accepted as a viable and necessarycomponent o the overall nationalstrategy or developing energy security.

Te lack o access to electricityservices limits peoples opportunities todevelop new and existing livelihoodsand income generation activities, and soby extension, the development o local

markets and economies. Poor to beginwith, these villages remain in a precariousposition, highly vulnerable to naturaland economic disasters and lacking thecapacities to improve their lot. Te useo inefcient and polluting technologiessuch as traditional chulha (cookstoves)and kerosene (or lighting), also havegrave impacts on peoples health and theirability to partake in productive activities,particularly women and girl-children.

While the lack o access to modernenergy services continues to be a criticaldimension o rural povert y, a number oother signicant actors also continueto be o great import, including: lack oaccess to clean drinking water (with theresultant morbidity this brings); lack oeducation; lack o access to sufcient

health services and awareness o healthrelated issues. Te underdevelopment olocal rural markets and economies andlow levels o cash in these are a primeeect o these conditions. Tese issuesare also interrelated. For example, thetime spent having to collect wood andother biomass and cart water resultin a reduction in the abilities o ruralpeople, especially women and children, to

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10/11

By Michael Dillon and Neil Westbury Seaview Press 2007 243 pages

Beyond Humbughas receivedconsiderable attention since it waspublished early in 2008, due largelyto the authors assertion that remoteAustralia is a ailed state. It is writtenby two highly experienced policymakersin Indigenous Aairs; Michael Dillon

and Neil Westbury, who have workedwith N Governments and the currentAustralian Government. Despite thecomplexity o many o the books ideas,it has a relatively straightorward, non-academic style that clearly describesmany o the issues acing remoteIndigenous Australia.

Te ailed state thesis, namely thatLack o government engagement inremote Australia might legitimatelybe conceptualised as akin to a ailedstate (p47), is based on work by theUS Brookings Institution. It suggeststhat particular levels o low income,low security/high violence rates,

low development in literacy and lieexpectancy, and weak governance are allindicators o a ailed state. Te authorspoint out that Australia is willing to help

with such states overseas, but needs torecognise the state o its own remotebackyard. Te ailed state is analysedparticularly in relation to its impact onnational security, which is threatenedby the lack o attention to the needs ocitizens living in remote areas.

More broadly, Dillon and Westbury

also assess the policy implications o theincreasing populations and movementpeople in remote Indigenous Australia;the actors constraining eectiveimplementation o government policies,such as short timelines, limited cross-cultural experience and institutionalparalysis; the success o the N Parkssettlement in relation to native titleclaims; town tenure reorms; anddeveloping an eective public housingramework. Tey provide some largescale suggestions or undamentalreorm including carving out a remoteAustralia jurisdiction to overcomecurrent ederal-state issues; sustained

engagement and investment to replaceintervention; the development o anIndigenous Reorm Commission toovercome the impact o electoral cycles:and more involvement rom the privatesector.

In short, Beyond Humbugis aprovocative book that challengesthe status quo rom a position oconsiderable experience and passion orsustained change in remote IndigenousAustralia.

beYOND hUMbUG: Transorming govrnmntngagmnt wit Indignous Australia Rviw y Rut elvin

attend school or participate in educationprograms. Consequently, reducing thetime spent on the drudgery o such tasks(through piped water supply to housesand more efcient stoves) can lead toimprovements in the capacity o womento undertake other activities, both socialand directly productive.

Womens existing productiveactivities can also be made more eective.ime spent manually milling grains ortravelling to local milling stations can bere-directed to other purposes.

Tere is at present a large gap in theeconomic growth rates between urbanand rural areas (respectively around15% to 24% p.a). Currently, annualeconomic growth in the country sits atapproximately 9%. Te boom the Indianeconomy is currently experiencing (andhas or the past 5 years or more) has,however, only been able to reduce the rateo poverty at less than 1% per annum.

Te issue o rural energy insecurityis not new and has been subject to amassive amount o work over the pastour decades by scientists, technologyR&D institutions, NGOs andcommunity organisations and state andnational government, with support rominternational unding and developmentagencies. Tese eorts have ocussedon specic problems, ie developmento biogas units and disseminationunder a biogas programme. Many

such programmes exist, one or eachtechnology/problem, with little orno integration between them and attimes conicting or at least contendinginterests. Some o these programmeshave proven successul, though nonehave been consistently successul acrossall the states. Te success actor seemsto depend (among other things) onstrong individual leadership by localorganisations or state departments. Tescattered and questionably sustainablesuccess experienced reects a numbero critical ailures at both the policy andimplementation level. Arguably, one othe biggest o these was the ocus ontechnical solutions as opposed to a widereort to build the economic capacitieso target communities. Insufcientongoing support also aected the long-term sustainability o many o theseprogrammes.

Te rural energy scenario in Indiatoday is characterised by extensive,unmet demand or improved energyservices, a lack o clear and consistentlong-term rural energy policy, a history oinnovation in renewable energy solutionsbut a ailure to bring many o these tocommercialisation, and highly centralisedelectrication programmes, administeredby either the Ministry o Power(MoP), or the Ministry or New andRenewable Energy (MNRE). Remote

village electrication takes place today

either under the auspices o the MoPadministered Rajiv Gandhi GrameenVidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) scheme,or through one o MNREs variousprogrammes (the Village Energy SecurityProgramme (VESP) and Remote VillageElectrication programme (RVE) beingtwo). Other such work is also undertakenby individual organisations using undssourced rom elsewhere. Tere are islandso success but as yet no clearly replicable,

widely applicable model or the successuldelivery o sustainable renewable energyservices in remote communities.

O those villages without access toelectricity, many thousands are too remoteor grid electricity to ever be a technicallyor economically easible option. For thesecommunities, access to reliable energyservices is hampered by their remotenessrom established electricity grids, high in-situ costs o conventional uels, low levelso education, poor socio-economic status,and limited, oten non-existent accessto service networks. For these villagesto be electried, the only solution is astandalone (distributed generation) powersystem. In this context, RE technologiesoer remote communities theopportunity to generate their own energy

without the prohibitive ongoing costs andaccess difculties associated with ossiluels. o date, however, a widely replicablemodel or the delivery o appropriatecapacity renewable energy services has

not been established and RE in generalhas not been sufciently demonstrated asa reliable and cost eective solution ormeeting a communitys energy needs.

A urther aspect o the problem is

that most Government sponsored remotevillage electrication models now inplace in India are supply driven andseek to meet only one aspect o peoplesneeds (usually domestic) and ail toaccount or the ull range o livelihoodsrelated energy needs. Te largest o these,the MoP administered RGGVY orinstance, commits only to the provision ohousehold lighting.

In India a variety o RE technologiesand implementation models have beendeveloped and deployed by variousorganisations, businesses and government,catering to the wide range o social andgeographic environments present in theun-electried regions o the country. Asignicant body o experience has beenbuilt up rom this work. However, noone model has yet been widely replicated,and a number o key challengescontinue to ace the RE Industry inIndia. Tey include the sheer scale orural energy poverty and the associatedelectrication program, energy systemcomponent and system reliability, the

complexity o community energy needs(a mix o domestic and local economicdevelopment) and the development andapplication o appropriate technical andtraining standards.

Many challenges remain, however,work continues apace to nd thenecessary solutions and this may beacilitated by the new National ActionPlan on Climate Change and anincreased ocus on citizen rights to accessenergy as enshrined in the ElectricityAct o 2003. Ultimately, a coordinatedand holistic approach that rames energyaccess as a core component or improvingrural livelihoods rather than merelysupplying rural lighting will be critical.n

MIChAeL TUCKWeLL

The Centre for Appropriate Technology

Alice Springs

Photography by Michael Tuckwell.

INTERNATIONAL 19REVIEW

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11/11

CAAMA 8KIN FM (100.5 FM),Alice Springs

Radio Larrakia (93.7 FM),

Darwin

Walpiri Media, Yuendumu

Nggaayatjarra Media, Wingellina

Mulba Radio, Port Hedland

6GME (99.7 FM), Broome

6FX (936 AM), Fitzroy Crossing

6PRK (98.1 FM), Halls Creek

6WR (693 AM), Kununurra

3CR (855 AM), Melbourne

3KND, Melbourne

Gadigal Inormation Service

(93.7 FM), Sydney

4AAA (98.9 FM), Brisbane

4CLM (98.7 FM), Cairns

4K1G (107.1 FM), Townsville 4MOB (100.9 FM), Mt Isa

5UV Radio Adelaide (101.5),

Adelaide

5UMA (89.1 FM), Port Augusta

5NPY Media Umuwa (101.3

FM), Pitjatjantjara Lands

RIBS stations in the Top End

via TEABBA (Top End Aboriginal

Bush Broadcasting Association);

in the Pilbara and Kimberley via

PAKAM (Pilbara and Kimberley

Aboriginal Media Association);

in the Torres Strait Islands on

Moa Island, Yam Island and via

TSIMA (TSI Media Association).

o P r

a t

s i.

Tune into

Our Place RadioWITHADRIAN SHAW

32 pest Steet, Alce Sgs nT 0870

po BoX 8044, Alce Sgs nT 0871

phe: 08 8951 4311 fax: 08 8951 4333

Emal: @cat.g.au vst www.cat.g.au

our place magazine, 33, centre for appropriate technology au

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