BUSH TECH: How To makE a Solar CookEr

PeoPle working with technology in remote communities

BUSHlIGHT INSTallaTIoN aT IPolEra

THE BIG womBaT l wHo HaS THE kEYS To THE SHED?

NEw maPooN FamIlY PlaCE ProJECT l a HaT FUll oF SEEDS

NUmBEr 35

Bobby Larking and Trevor Scott.

THE BIG

womBaT

Scotdesco is situated on a property called Tjilkaba, about 100 kilometres west of Ceduna on the Great Australian Bight (SA). The name and incorporation of Scotdesco means descendents of Jimmy and Myrtle Scott. About 55 people live at Scotdesco today.

The first person recorded on the West Coast with the Scott name was George Scott. He was a station worker and kangaroo shooter. The Scott family lived at Eucla and Mundrabilla before moving east to White Well, Fowlers Bay and Koonibba in the late 1920s.

The Scott family settled at White Well near the Head of the Bight in the 1930s. The second generation headed by Jimmy Scott worked there and moved around different bores and camping areas whilst they worked. In 1994, the Scott family prepared a community plan to try and get funds to buy Tjilkaba.

If you are driving across the Nullarbor, or along the West Coast of South Australia, look for a community

called Scotdesco where you can stop and have a break from driving with a great cup of espresso coffee

and a view of the Big Wombat.

Our Place Magazine is printed on a 55% recycled paper and BuSh TeChS are printed on a certified green paper. Printed by Colmans Printing using a chemical free plate process and vegetable based inks.

NUmBEr 35 ISSN: 1325–7684

3 buShlife

The BIg WOMBAT The Scotdesco community on the west coast of South Australia have

built a big wombat to encourage people travelling across the Nullarbor to come and experience their arts, crafts and great coffee.

5 NeWS

6 livelihoodS

BuShLIghT INSTALLATION AT IPOLerA Bushlight are working with the community at Ipolera by providing them

with access to reliable energy with the installation of a new Bushlight renewable energy system and provision of a range of Bushlight support services, so the community's business and homeland aspirations can flourish. Story by BeN WALL/MArTeeNA MCKeNZIe

10 opiNioN

WhO hAS The KeYS TO The SheD? In the Northern Territory, the new local government structure

celebrated its first year of operation on 1 July 2009. This article reviews some of the changes. Story by ruTh eLVIN

buSh tech lift-out

• hOW TO MAKe A SOLAr COOKer by DeLIAh NAughTON

12 projectS

The NeW MAPOON fAMILY PLACe PrOJeCT The community of New Mapoon have been involved in designing

their own unique community park. Story by ANDre grANT

15 iNterNatioNal

A hAT fuLL Of SeeDS In Malawi, Australian Volunteers International work on a project based

around women and livelihoods. Story by MAureeN BOYLe

18 movie revieW

SAMPSON AND DeLILAh review by eLLIe reNNIe, courtesy of CrIKeY.COM.Au

our place is published three times a year by the centre for appropriate technology, an indigenous science and technology organisation, which seeks to secure sustainable livelihoods through appropriate technology.

SubScriptioNS: free to people living or working in indigenous communities. tel: (08) 8951 4311 email: ourplace@icat.org.au

opinions expressed in our place are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the cat board or staff.

WarNiNG: this magazine contains images of indigenous and non-indigenous people. caution should be exercised while reading this magazine, as some of these images may be of deceased persons.

our place Number 35, august 2009© centre for appropriate technology inc.32 priest Street, alice Springs Nt 0870 print post: 545270/00016

production/design: colleen danzicediting: metta Young, peter taylor

the production of our place is funded by the department of families, housing, community Services and indigenous affairs.

continues page 4 >

3 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

Batchelor Institute for Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE) and the Centre

for Appropriate Technology (CAT) have partnered together to create the Desert Peoples Centre (DPC).

The DPC will be located at the Desert Knowledge Precinct on the Stuart Highway and both organisations will be moving onto the premises in September 2009.

On the 22 June 2009 the sublease and underlease were signed by DPC and Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA). The Underlease provides a 75 plus 75 year lease for the DPC within the Desert Knowledge Precinct.

The DPC partners (BIITE and CAT) have spent the last 10 years planning and building for this day which provides a unique opportunity to invest in the future of Indigenous education and training as desert peoples confront significant change.

The leases were signed by Harold Furber and James Bray for the DPC and John Huigen for DKA.

cAt contact details at the DPc.

To contact CAT staff after 21 September 2009 phone: 08 8959 6100.

Desert Peoples Centre leases finalised

A community plan was put into operation and the ‘fruits’ of this are evident today.

Tjilkaba means Black Prickle Bush. The property is 25,000 acres with 7,000 acres arable. It is marginal cropping country and today sheep are the main commodity although the community is considering cropping again. Wheat isn’t a reliable crop in this area depending a lot on rainfall and the market to get a good return.

The countryside and surrounds consist mainly of grasslands and Mallee scrub — ideal for hunting kangaroo (marlu), wombat (wardu) and sleepy lizard (gulda).

Essential services and maintenance is ongoing at Scotdesco including

sheds, fences, repairs and upgrading to old and new buildings and the community area.

Various activities are available including silk painting, jewellery making and beautiful Aboriginal art. Some products are available for sale in this setting and other works of art are sold at the Ceduna Arts and Culture Centre.

The community have been thinking about different and creative ways to get jobs for the community and to diversify into business areas. They have a comprehensive business plan which incorporates their pastoral activities and new ideas about how to make a living.

The highway from Ceduna to Perth and Kalgoorlie runs right across

the front of the Tjilkaba property. The community thought ‘if we can get those cars that are passing to stop (about 500 a day), that would supplement our farm income.’

The community decided to build a Big Wombat as an attraction because Tjilkaba is wombat country and was part of the Wirangu people’s staple diet. Scotdesco Espresso Café was set up — serving the best coffee on the West Coast and excellent light meals as well as catering for workshops. They are a regular feature at festivals and events in Ceduna. The community bought a coffee machine and a number of people undertook barista training at Ceduna TAFE.

Many of the women at Scotdesco undertake leadership roles in the community, supported through the Ceduna TAFE campus at Scotdesco. The women are leading projects that build life skills in their community. There is a community lunch program which incorporates vegetables from the thriving community garden. Scotdesco is also about to embark on a horticultural activity. Family based activities are a also strong feature at Scotdesco.

The community’s water supply is quite unique. There is a new rainwater harvesting area with water pumped into an adjacent dam to service each household.

The Wirangu language is captured in a couple of excellent books — available for sale at Scotdesco. There are still two fluent speakers of wirangu language — Doreen and Gladys Miller who have been working with UniSA to keep this ancient language alive.

Scotdesco Community conducts camps and cultural tours for local school students. These have been very successful and more are planned. Whilst this has involved local schools, the community will be seeking to develop partnership so that students in Adelaide can attend.

Look out for Scotdesco — you will see the signs on the highway. n

Cherie Scott and Bobby Larking at Scotdesco espresso.

Indigenous students celebrate achievement and success

Over 140 students from Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education graduated at the 2009 Graduation ceremony at the main

campus in Batchelor, 100km south of Darwin on Thursday June 4. The students received their qualifications in a wide range of study

programs from VET certificates in Spoken and Written English, Carpentry and Media Studies to degrees in Teaching, Nursing and Land Management.

Batchelor Institute Acting Vice-Chancellor, Dr Tony Mordini said ‘We are particularly thrilled that the 2009 ceremony includes the first three graduate from our new Nursing degree that commenced in 2006’.

‘The Institute continues to work with both the Federal and NT Education and Training departments to develop and deliver additional study programs that will assist Indigenous Australians to be qualified to take on more key leadership roles in their communities, especially in the important areas of the delivery of health and education services.

‘Batchelor Institute has a proud history going back over 30 years of delivering training and education programs especially tailored under our both-ways philosophy to successfully bring together western academic principles with traditional knowledge systems,’ Dr Mordini said.

The One Mob dancers from Darwin Correctional Services led the Academic parade at the beginning of the ceremony and all graduates, their families and friends and VIP guests shared in an afternoon tea under the trees at the Graduation area after the ceremony.

For more information on the education and training courses available at the institute freecall 1800 677 095 and talk to an Academic Advisor.

audrey Kitson (centre), accompanied by her son receives her diploma of interpreting from chancellor professor Yvonne cadet-james at the 2009 Graduation ceremony at batchelor campus on june 4.

At the recent Alternative Technology Retailers Association of Australia (ATRAA)

conference Bushlight and Ogden Electrical won the >5kW Stand-alone Renewable Energy System excellence award. The accolade was awarded by an independent panel of judges for Bushlight's Ulpanyali community energy project. The award confirms Bushlight's continued leadership in the design and installation of off-grid RE systems.

Bushlight wins another industry award

4 5 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

“The community have been thinking about different and creative ways to get jobs for the community and to diversify into business areas”

The One Mob Correctional Services dancers lead the Academic parade at the start of the ceremony.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Pictured from left — Jill robinson (Bushlight), herman Malbunka (Traditional Owner), Mavis Malbunka, Terrance Malthouse, Maxine Malbunka and Marteena McKenzie (Bushlight).some of the children at Ipolera — Delisha, gavin and April; Sally Ward (Bushlight) and Mavis Malbunka in an early Community energy Plan meeting.

BeLOW: The new Bushlight renewable energy system installed at Ipolera.

continues page 8 >

mAVis mAlBunkA tAlks ABout iPolerA, tourism Business AnD the Bushlight system

“We first moved back to ipolera 29 years ago. We started off running the stock business. until 1982 ipolera was

owned by the missionaries. they left cattle here, and it was never made clear by the missionaries who should be the owners of the cattle. aboriginal people were learning how to run the cattle business. herman, my husband, was the fourth traditional owner that moved back here from hermannsburg. he was the first one who was told he could run the cattle that was still owned by the missionaries at that time. We had cattle and horses that were left here when the land was given back to aboriginal people. We also had a bore with water, a stock yard that was built by the missionaries, and young people were trained to build those stock yards. herman already had experience doing the stock work and running cattle on a cattle station previously.

We also had experience from when we helped set up a vegie garden at one outstation and helped some people who had been on sorry business who were having trouble moving back to their outstation. herman helped them to put in a water pipe. We also built a vegie garden there, and we learned and practised on other outstations how to run our businesses. the tourism came later.

We also did a bit of work fixing up bores around our area where stock were still around, and fixing up the stock yard in case we could catch some of the stock. there was a bit of struggle with other families who also wanted to run a cattle business. We went quiet for a while and didn’t do any businesses.

the idea for a tourism business came from the idea we got of making friends with white people, and so we can practise english and bring english and our language, arrernte, together. We want to practise to speak in both languages.

in 1986 herman thought maybe we can try doing

Bushlight installation at Ipolera

access to reliable energy services is an important part of life for people living in both urban and remote areas. In towns and cities, reliable electricity is often taken for granted. Residents of many remote communities rely on diesel generators for power which can be expensive to operate and maintain, and pollute the environment with greenhouse gases.In May 2009, a new Bushlight renewable energy system was commissioned at Ipolera outstation, 3 hours west of Alice Springs. The completion of the Bushlight system was an exciting development in

the community, and was the result of many months of meetings and planning. This article tells the Bushlight story and their work with the residents of Ipolera community.

Reliable energy services are central to community’s wellbeing and livelihood and it can enhance people’s health through refrigeration of food and medicine. It allows people to use washing machines and use medical equipment like nebulisers. Social networks and education can be supported through access to internet, radio and television. Lighting at night improves people’s safety and choice of evening activities, including educational and social options. Energy services are needed to conduct business and build local industries to support employment and community growth. Energy is everywhere and behind everything we do.

Without reliable and affordable energy services in remote Indigenous communities, it is difficult for them to be flourish. The provision of reliable and affordable energy allows people to maintain and strengthen the connections to homelands, families, culture and to build on these assets to create a sustainable livelihood for themselves and their community.Bushlight first visited the Ipolera community in March 2006, when they conducted an audit of the available energy services. Ipolera is a vibrant community of around 30 people, who are pursuing a diverse range of activities including; operating a tourism business, participating in art and cultural

continues page 8 >

bushlight is a project of the centre for appropriate technology that has been working with outstation communities since 2002. bushlight has now installed 124 bushlight renewable energy systems and maintain

another 94 non-bushlight solar systems on outstation communities throughout central and Northern australia.

bushlight works to improve community’s energy options through community consultations, education, mapping, design, installation and maintenance of reliable renewable energy systems. bushlight works within a sustainable livelihood framework to build renewable energy systems that are:

demand-led by the community rather than technology driven;•robust enough for local weather conditions;•flexible and scalable to meet changing needs of the community;•promote community and stakeholder participation in design, •construction and maintenance of the system;sustainable in the installation, maintenance and financing •of the system.

6 7 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

mavis malbunka

community member terrance malthouse practises operating the bushlight system with marteena mcKenzie.

top to bottom: april Spencer; community members and bushlight staff get together for lunch under the bough shelter that is used by tourists when visiting ipolera; the new amenities for tourists; marteena mcKenzie explains aspects of the bushlight System using the manual designed for the community’s reference.beloW: ipolera community.

a tourism business. So first we got the family together and talked about it. and all the family agreed that we should do this, as no one else wanted to do it. So we felt safe and strong about how we can run our tourism business.

We talked to some tourism people through Ngurratjuta and the message went out that there was an aboriginal tourism organisation out here. caatia (central australia aboriginal tourism association) became involved to help do the promoting and do the bookings for us. Ngurratjuta was also doing a bit of work for us with the financial side.

We first taught our young people how to clear the area where we have a camp ground. So this would be our tourism area where the tourists can camp here in this area. and what else can we do? We can speak english and we can translate our language to english. No one else could do this. then we thought that maybe camping is not enough for tourists to enjoy, so then we thought we would talk to them about our law, culture and our sacred area. We also brought them into our community and told them about our plans to train our young people in our community about their culture and looking after their community.

the first tourists came in 1987 to 1995, then we stopped for sometime. We were one of the first aboriginal tour operators in our area. We still had cattle but they were getting fewer, as the other family were wanting the cattle for meat. We want to get cattle again. We are now trying to get rid of some of the horses, and just keep a few as stock horses to work with the cattle.

my people didn’t know how to save money. they weren’t told about the future, about how when you run a business, where that money should go. but we keep our money for our safe keeping, for later on. We can keep that money for our business, for infrastructure and for tourism. We taught ourselves how to save that money.

We started our tourism again last year. people from the tourism commission came and asked ‘how would you like to start your tourism business again?’. We said we need more communication and help from you if you really want to see aboriginal people running tourism businesses on their homeland.

i want to be a role model to other aboriginal people to be tour operators. We have tour operator companies that want to bring their groups here and they hand over to us and we do the talking. they do the cooking and invite us to come and have a feed with the tourists. that’s the good communication that aboriginal people will learn, to learn to work with white people. it’s good reconciliation. When people talk about reconciliation, how really are we going to get together to be reconciled? What we are doing now is a good system for that.

i think the bushlight system will help our tourism business. before we had a generator and solar power, but they didn’t work very well. We didn’t have power for the tourists in the toilet or shower. they had to use their torches. So the bushlight supply will give the tourists light in the toilet and shower. We can get a computer, to record everything we have in our community, we can get the internet so we can contact service people easily, and it can help us promote our tourism business around the world.

When i first met the bushlight group i did the training for the community. We got an award for our tourism business in the late 80’s, early 90s. i got an award for being a mentor for training up my young people here in the community for tourism and for the community.

Not only am i going to be doing work for myself but i am going to be out there talking to my young people and explain that you need to learn to be strong to continue. this is your future, that this community is yours, not just mine. the old people must be strong to pass on all we have learned. What we are passing on is our culture. herman and i still keep working and talking to our young people ‘please come and learn’. [our] bushlight [system] will help them to realise that we will have good power systems in our community’. n

activities, being actively involved in conservation of local fauna and flora. The residents knew of CAT’s work, having completed various training courses at CAT in Alice Springs, and expressed a desire to work with Bushlight to improve their energy services.

When Bushlight first met with Ipolera residents, they had an existing hybrid power system with wind, solar and diesel generator components. This was installed in the 1990’s and was in poor condition and not meeting the daily energy needs of the community. The community was mainly relying on the diesel generator to provide power. This was a difficult situation for residents, as they could not afford to run the generator more than four hours a day and the nearest supply of fuel was a 120km round trip away. This resulted in several issues for the community: power was not available to the tourist camping facilities, which limited their use and potential; perishable food could not be adequately stored which led to high wastage costs and lower nutritional values; and the community office could not function properly, because faxes and computers were needed to run the small business and maintain adequate communications. In short, the lack of reliable, 24 hour energy was diminishing Ipolera’s potential and future aspirations.

In early 2008, Bushlight began working with Ipolera community using its Community Energy Planning Model (CEPM). This model describes the way that Bushlight works with communities to ensure residents are well equipped to articulate their energy needs and to make choices about their energy options. The CEP process consists of a series of community meetings between Bushlight staff and residents to determine the energy needs of the community.

CEP meetings are typically a very vibrant affair, with the majority of the residents present, discussing topics central to the successful functioning of their community. The meetings involve an active two-way exchange of information regarding energy supply options and their benefits and limitations. Residents inform Bushlight of their current energy usage, appliance types, patterns of movement, future plans, and anything else connected to energy. Bushlight then brings all this information together into a document that informs the eventual design of the RE system. The CEP process can contribute to the community’s own planning sessions as residents must think about, discuss and map numerous variables affecting their community.

During the CEP meetings, Bushlight works with residents to determine which buildings should be prioritised to be connected to the new system. All five permanently occupied houses were allocated individual ‘energy budgets’ relative to the resident’s needs and aspirations. These energy budgets allow for use of ‘solar friendly’ appliances, such as fridges, freezers, lights and televisions. Reliable power was also provided for the nebuliser machine, which is essential for community residents who suffer from severe asthma. For larger energy hungry appliances, like air conditioners, welders and power tools, the residents are required to use the back-up generator power.

As well as the households in the community, residents told Bushlight that access to energy services for the tourist facilities was very important. As such, several additional buildings were included in the system design, including the bough shelter, ablution block, shower/laundries buildings and the community office. Two new streetlights and numerous external energy efficient floodlights attached to the houses were also installed. The art shed and CDEP training workshop were also connected to the new system. Energy saving measures were incorporated into each building in the community, including energy efficient globes, timers and some appliance replacements.

On the 5th June 2009, Ipolera’s new Bushlight system was commissioned. It comprises of 55 solar panels, 60 gel batteries and a back-up diesel generator. Training residents in system operation, troubleshooting and maintenance began at this time, and will continue every three months for the first year in the operation and maintenance of their new system.

Ipolera now has reliable, 24 hour electricity available to all its residents for their activities today and in the future. The system is fully supported by a regular maintenance regime and is designed to be flexible to the communities needs with capacity for further expansion. Ipolera residents already have plans to expand their tourist enterprise to cater for the ‘self-drive’ market. With a reliable energy supply now established in the community, residents can look forward to a community that supports more permanent residents and their livelihood activities in the future. n

Ben wAll, mArteenA mckenzie

bushlight, alice Springs

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8 9 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

the reform of local government in the Northern Territory was announced in October 2006 by then Minister for Local Government and Housing,

The Hon. Elliot McAdam. Reasons for reform included the burden of increasing administrative expectations on poorly resourced councils and the problems that were already emerging as councils struggled to cope, as well as the enormous turnover in council staff, particularly chief executive officers, which was expensive and disruptive.

By 1 July 2008, all Aboriginal Community Councils in the NT were abolished and replaced by ‘super Shires’ to be governed initially by Shire Managers on advice from Shire Council Committees representing the affected communities and after October 2008 by elected Shire Councils. The shape of the new local government system is as follows: eight large Shires —McDonnell, Central Desert, Barkly, Victoria River-Daly, Roper Gulf, Tiwi Islands, East Arnhem, West Arnhem; three small Shires replacing community government councils for Wagait, Coomalie, and Belyuen in the Top End; and five municipal shires of Alice Springs, Darwin, Palmerston, Litchfield and Katherine.

The reform process was overlapped and at times overtaken in the NT by

the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER or ‘Intervention’), which began on 21 June 2007. Shire Transition Committees, which represented the communities being affected, were asking as many questions of the Australian Government as they were of the NT Government, and the responsibilities of reform were being confused in the process. The Intervention affected the Shires’ initial plans for a workforce based on CDEP by beginning to abolish it. Responsibility for housing repairs and maintenance became muddled with the presence of Intervention teams, with some community-based Housing Managers at the time not knowing who was responsible for what or who should be fixing what and, as a result, little happened at all. The roll-out of income management was also a complex process affecting community residents’ daily lives; amid the clanking and rustle of new four wheel drives and Centrelink paperwork, it was difficult for NT local government officers to be heard.

The speed of the reforms combined with the Intervention meant that many residents of Northern Territory communities were unsure of the new arrangements. It appears to have taken much of the first year of the Shires for the shape of those arrangements to become clear and better understood.

In brief, the new Shires are governed

by a Shire Council, which is composed of representatives from ‘wards’, not specific communities. The Councils can have up to 12 members, including the President. In all Shires except the Barkly Shire, the Council president is elected by the Council. In the Barkly, the President is elected by all voters in the Shire, a process agreed to by Shire residents.

The Shire Councils are advised by Local Boards in each community. The Boards are voluntary, unpaid positions. They are expected to advise the Shire Council on Shire matters, such as the Shire’s service delivery and specific Council projects. Housing allocation, which in many cases had been done by the previous Community Council, is not done by Local Boards, but will be administered by Territory Housing, on advice from what are known as Housing Reference Groups (HRG). The composition of the HRGs is not necessarily the same as the Local Boards. Indeed, housing reform and a shift in tenancy arrangements from community to public housing terms has been a parallel process to restructuring local government, and another source of confusion about responsibilities.

Most large communities have become ‘Shire Service Centres’, administered by a Shire Services Manager who is accountable to the central Shire office and Council, and not to the Local Board. This is a

who has the keys to the shedA yeAr oF locAl goVernment reForm in the northern territory

reflection of one of the underlying principles of the local government reform, which was to centralise administration of services to increase efficiencies and decrease costs across a region.

In its first year, there have been what have been politely called ‘teething problems’. The process of transition has been an enormous one, with changes in practices and processes combining with lack of staffing resources both in central and community offices leading to gaps in services.

The size of the task, particularly in central Australia, where the distances are formidable, has meant that services, such as repairs and maintenance, septic pumpouts or garbage collection, can be interrupted by events as simple as an overworked person in the central office forgetting to pay a bill. The consequences of overstretching limited resources

can have a direct impact on community health and well-being. The community walk out by residents of Ampilatwatja in July 2009, tired of raw sewage on their floors, may have occurred as a result of not knowing who to turn to — local government, Territory Housing or the Australian Government — or frustration at the delays experienced in getting such property repairs attended to.

Centralisation has also meant that it was unclear in the transitional stages who held responsibility for community buildings and assets, so that activities such as training were interrupted as the logistics of who had control of what buildings were clarified, ie establishing who had ‘the keys to the shed’ .

Beyond the issue of assets and financial responsibilities, representation of people’s interests have changed significantly at the

‘local government reform’ is a phrase that can cause communities to shiver even in the middle of summer, as it heralds change, both positive and negative. it can mean change at the most immediate levels of government as it affects us in our daily lives — who represents us on council, who collects the rubbish, who collects rates, who fixes the roads, who has the keys to the machine shed? in recent years, local government changes have affected Queensland, western Australia and the northern territory. they are having a profound effect on how remote indigenous communities are operating when it comes to housing, services and representation. in the northern territory, the new local government structure celebrated its first year of operation on 1 July 2009. this article reviews some of the changes that have occurred.

local level. Rather than a community election for council representatives who are immediately available, the elections for Shire Councils are more complicated and more removed. A complicated voting system has been introduced, a system that appears only to be used in the NT, which involves ‘exhaustive preferential voting in multimember constituencies’ and is difficult for anybody to understand, much less explain. Local government staff had the hard task of trying to convey the new system, and did what they could. The results, however, were also hard to explain, as it appeared that the most popular people were often not elected. A study is being done of how this particular electoral system can distort the vote so that the larger communities may get more representatives (see www.anu.edu.au/caepr/system/files/Seminars/presentations/Sanders_Electoral.pdf).

In the meantime, Shires and residents have learned that their elected representatives on the Shire Council represent the ward in which they are elected, not just their communities. Thus, although the Shire councils may appear powerful due to the areas they cover, there is a potential loss of family and community voice, as neither are now specifically represented on decision-making bodies. On the other hand, because the Shire councils cover large areas, populations and assets, and are predominantly Indigenous, they do have significant potential to establish better and more appropriate service delivery systems to their communities.

The picture painted in this article of a year of local government reform is largely coloured by the confusion of multiple and parallel reforms and associated communication difficulties. However, it is also evident that the new Councils, their staff and the communities are adapting and ‘making the journey together’, as Barkly Shire President Rosalie Kunoth-Monks has often said.

Whether or not the centralisation of assets and representation is a better model of local government is yet to be seen in the NT context — it will take another election cycle, maybe two, and some policy stability at all levels before everyone understands and accepts who has the keys to the shed and why. n

ruth elVin

centre for appropriate technologyalice Springs

refereNceS: mcadam e, the hon. 2006. ‘minister’s Speech’ as minister for lo-cal Government, local Government association of the Northern ter-ritory (lGaNt) conference, 11 october 2006, alice Springs, http://www.localgovernment.nt.gov.au/new/minister/ministers_speech, (accessed 1 may 2008).

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10 11 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

mandingnou apudthama apang

New mapoon Family Place Project

New Mapoon community design their Landscape

Neville and Nandy working with the model. Marg Nandy Neville and Karen after a hard couple of hours of design consultation.

Deep in discussion with Nai Beguta Agama’s day care centre staff.

development the CAT Cairns regional office was invited to project manage the design and construction of the park.

Principal Program Officer, Lisa Hand, who leads the Disability Services Project Team, said the project applies a unique design framework which encourages user participation in all stages of the design, in an effort to remove barriers to play and to create spaces that genuinely reflect communities’ needs.

‘The New Mapoon Community Park and All Abilities Play Space is a project centred on developing a

community place created by local people, for local people,’ Lisa said.

Since February CAT has facilitated a range of design trips to New Mapoon to engage a group of around 40 local people including a couple of classes of school children and a steering committee of local residents to make the final call on decisions.

Steering committee member Leonie Ishmail praised the project,

saying: ‘Being involved in this project has given me and other members of the community a great opportunity to contribute to our children’s future’.

CAT staff Sonja Peter and Andre Grant have used a variety of methods to engage the community, draw out ideas and build ownership in the project. These participatory design tools have been used primarily in small focus group sessions and have involved model building, flashcards and design workbooks, interviews and surveys. However critical to the success of the project has been the relationship and support of a highly

successful local NGO — Nai Beguta Agama —which runs the Childcare centre and a range of community based family services. The result after six months of community participation is a working design the community stands behind and recognises as their own.

The principal designer of the park, Sonja Peter from CAT’s head Office in Alice Springs, said the process

of enabling community members to have a say in the design of their own recreational space was of fundamental importance.

‘By engaging people sooner rather later, we’re ensuring that their ideas and visions form the very foundation of the design,’ Ms Peter said.

More than a playground or a regular community park the resulting design includes an emphasis on

Since February this year the community of New Mapoon (one of five Indigenous communities at the very tip of Cape York Queensland) have

been involved in designing their own very unique community park and

‘all abilities playground’. Funded principally by Disability Services from the Queensland Department of Communities, the project is part of the Queensland All Abilities Playground Project (QAAPP) — enabling participation in play. In September 2007, the Department provided $4.6

million to 16 local councils across the state to develop all abilities play spaces in collaboration with their local communities. New Mapoon is the only Indigenous community to be funded under the program . Due to the Centre for Appropriate Technology’s (CAT) experience in participatory design and

the playground site.

“More than a playground or a regular community park, the resulting design includes an emphasis on depicting the unique local history and

culture in the landscape through the use of mosaic art work.”

continues page 14 >

12 13 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

a HaT FUll oF SEEDS

last year, I lived and worked in a traditional rural village of Malawi called Mua Mission for a period of seven months through Australian Volunteers International. Mua is located in the central region of Malawi and the closest town of Salima is located 60km away. The project

was based around livelihoods and focused on women. Much work had been done with the men in the community over time, with skills such as wood carving taught from the Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art. Funding was granted to the centre to do some work with the women as the money being earned by men in the community from carvings, was not necessarily going to the family.

Malawi is a small landlocked country in Southern Africa that boasts one of the largest inland freshwater lakes in the world, Lake Malawi (previously named Lake Nyasa). The official languages are Chichewa and English, although there are several other languages across the country. Agriculture

is the predominant contributor to the economy with 90% of export revenues coming from this sector. Tobacco accounts for more than half of this export.

One of Malawi’s most pressing environmental issues is deforestation. The mostly rural population of approximately 14,300 people relies almost solely on biomass from forests for their energy needs. The majority of the country is not electrified, with the exception of the major towns of Lilongwe, Blantyre, Zomba and Mzuzu. Even in the towns of Malawi, traditional cooking is still practised using wood or charcoal which is rapidly depleting the forest reserves.

The other significant environmental issue is water pollution from agricultural waste, sewage and industrial waste. Most toilets in Malawi are pit toilets; however composting toilets are becoming more widespread and are being accepted by communities throughout the country. Water Aid in Malawi has been instrumental in gaining the acceptance of composting toilets in communities. >

In a traditional rural village of malawi, maureen Boyle worked with australian Volunteers International on a project

based around women and livelihoods.

depicting the unique local history and culture in the landscape through the use of mosaic art work. The arts components of the project have become central to the design with the use of traditional children’s stories within the landscape as a potentially powerful tool for developmental learning. Furthermore New Mapoon’s unique history, including the community’s forced relocation from the Western Cape, has lead to a desire to depict and represent the past with a view to healing old wounds and bringing the community closer together. The emphasis on the innovative use of mosaic art in the landscape has not gone unnoticed; the project has successfully attracted an additional $50,000 from a highly competitive Arts Queensland grant program for public art installations. This funding will enable the involvement of a renowned Queensland mosaic artist to work with the community to identify the messages and images to be built into the park.

The biggest challenge for this project however still lays ahead — construction. With the sense of ownership in the design comes a desire to own the construction as well. From the beginning of this

project, Neville Reys, project founder and steering committee member has been insistent about the need for the community to control and maximise involvement in the construction.

‘This project can build on the work we did ourselves years ago when we landscaped an adjacent area of parkland’ Neville said, ‘we did this ourselves and it has been a source of pride for our community ever since — so it will be important that this flows on to this project creating a deeper sense of pride in our community through the involvement of our people in construction — especially younger people’.

It is anticipated that the park is likely to be built primarily using local labour as a special initiative of the local Community Development Employment Projects Scheme provider.

With any participatory design, the challenge is in balancing what the community wants with what is possible with available funds. A key challenge with this project has been the lack of financial resources available to the local council. Other councils in Queensland involved in the state wide program have a solid rates base from which they can add funds to their projects — but a remote Indigenous

local shire has no spare funds for such activities, adding additional pressure to the outcomes of the project and need to raise additional funds.

‘It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario — it’s impossible to know exactly what funding is required until the design is completed — yet you don’t want to constrain the community and the design process by not knowing what funding we have available.’ Said Andre Grant project manager at CAT’s Cairns office.

Under instruction from the community and steering committee a major funding application has been prepared and submitted to local mining trust to build the park to the specifications of the community. Several other funding avenues are also being explored by the local council and CAT. With widespread support from a range of government and non government agencies and significant funding already secured, we look forward to the opening of this exciting and unique development in New Mapoon. n

AnDre grAnt

centre for appropriate technologycairns

INTERNATIONAL

14 15 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

feedback session with the ladies at the Council office.

Leonie gets some input from a future play-ground user — her daughter Kytana.

Key decisions and issues are debated by the steering committee.

November to March in Malawi is known as the ‘hunger season’ or njala in Chichewa. This occurs because maize is planted at the first rains in November for harvesting in March and stores of maize from the previous season are starting to run low. Malawians rely almost solely on nsima (cooked maize flour with water) to fulfil their dietary needs. There is a lack of diversity in food crops which lead to this ‘hunger’ each year. Other foods that are commonly eaten in Malawi are goat, chambo (a type of fish from the lake), pumpkin leaves, and other greens with tomato relish.

Everywhere you go in Malawi, in a good crop year, maize can be seen growing in the fields. Maize occupies around 78% of cultivated land in Malawi. There is literally no food waste as being a subsistence way of life, food is completely utilised. In the village of Mua, there is no store as we know it, although there is a market, selling a limited variety of fresh fruit and vegetables and some ‘shops’ selling the basics such as salt, sugar, cooking oil, soap and mobile phone credit.

Clearly there is a need in Malawi to diversify crops and the challenge was to know where to start, given the different cultural context and language barriers. It was necessary as a first step to discuss with the women what their priorities were. The organisation I worked with had a very strong art focus however I was not sure that this was the best place to start for a livelihoods project.

There were reasons behind my reluctance to launch into art projects. Firstly the market in Malawi was flooded with artwork with limited buyers. There is desperation for survival in Malawi that is apparent almost everywhere you go. Unlike Australia, there is no welfare and on every street corner in the towns there is someone trying to sell something. All your shopping can be done sitting on the minibus and I have a list as long as your arm about the array of goods that walk past the windows on any given day at the bus station in Lilongwe, toothbrushes and mirrors included. Secondly, it was obvious that food was quite a big priority in these women’s lives and the need to diversify apparent. The women in the village were the farmers; they were also the collectors of firewood and water amongst other important work for survival.

The women I worked with were not used to someone asking them what they wanted. One of the first things I admitted to the women when I met with them was that I did not have the answers; that they were the ones who already knew what needed to be done in their community. My role was to work with them to discover what this was and to assist them anyway I could to work towards it. But it is a long process and seven months is not enough time to really understand a culture, learn a language and do something of value. I asked my counterpart (a woman from the village of Mua), who I worked closely with over the seven months in Malawi, what would improve her life. Her response was running water and electricity, two basics that many Australians take for granted.

What do we need for a good, healthy and happy life? Clean water, food, basic needs, family, culture and a sense of belonging. Fire was essential for cooking and having light. Finding wood was an issue, so a livelihood option that we looked at was that of briquettes. Briquettes can be made very simply, by hand and without a press from waste paper and some agricultural waste. There were other places in Malawi that implemented briquette making projects. These projects also targeted women as the main beneficiaries; however as an income earner it met with limited success where production levels and profits were small. In addition raw materials were not always easy to come by, hence a transport subsidy was offered for the provision of raw materials, which

ultimately undermined the viability of the briquettes as a business.

Another approach to the issue of limited firewood and deforestation came to me one day as I took a walk to a beautiful red mahogany forest near the village. I went there with the intention of collecting seed capsules for art projects, as art work was still a part of the project. As I was walking to the forest, it was being chopped down with chainsaws to be sold off by the forestry department for export as apparently this particular forest was ready for ‘harvesting’. Red Mahogany trees or mbawa in Chichewa have uses for firewood and timber, the large trees can be used for dugout canoes and they offer much needed shade. These were 100 year old majestic trees, so I was not entirely enthused about this new development.

I came across five Malawian children while I was in the forest and they could see that I was visibly upset. They asked me in Chichewa if someone in my family had died. No, I told them, I was upset about the forest being chopped down and I needed to collect the seeds. They nodded in what appeared to be some sort of understanding at this strange azungu (white person) crying in the forest. One boy then parted the leaves on the ground and started picking up the seeds. Then we all

followed his lead, me and these five Malawian children picking up the seeds from the ground. We filled my hat with seeds and I walked away from

that experience with enormous amounts of hope and a hat full of seeds.

We then started a tree nursery at the centre. I gave the women a scenario of

having to walk further and further for firewood and asked them two questions; what was causing

the problem and what could they do to resolve the problem? The women knew exactly what was causing the problem, which was the uncontrolled use of wood for cooking and charcoal. One of the main solutions that all the women gave to help the situation was to plant various species of trees for firewood, mbawa being one of these.

This is just one example of an approach to livelihood options for Malawi, but there are many more, including the use of Permaculture in villages and schools as a way to diversify crops. The Permaculture Network of Malawi is one organisation, consisting of a few very dedicated people working towards the goal of achieving food security for all Malawians. Ultimately the success of any livelihood projects in Malawi will come down to the individual community, the people in that community and how self sufficient they can be in their own villages and towns. Women will also continue to play a vital role, given their responsibilities as farmers and primary caretakers of the family. n

mAureen Boyle

the centre for appropriate technologyalice Springs

refereNce: cia World factbook — malawi, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mi.html, accessed 28 may 2009.

“What are good livelihood options for places like Malawi? A livelihood has various definitions, but essentially it is the means needed to support life. CAT defines a sustainable livelihood ‘as the range of activities that support improved well being through work, enterprise and trading and that can be maintained into the future.”

UNITED REPUBLIC OFTANZANIA

MOZAMBIQUE

MOZAMBIQUE

ZIMBABWE

ZAMBIA

MALAWI

17 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35 16

Samson and

Delilah, under the stars in alice Springs

the Alice Springs screening of Warwick Thornton’s Samson and Delilah took place under the stars at the

Telegraph Station, curtained only by the Todd River embankment. I was amongst the 4000 people who went to see the film that night (April 17), many of them travelling from remote communities. We formed a jumbling, cramped silhouette, lying across each others’ swags and blankets by necessity. A group of little kids, tchi-tchi, sat up the front, their necks craned backwards and glued to the screen. From out of this mass of people there were two audible audiences, laughing at different moments, yet all in it together. It was an appropriate setting for an extraordinary film — a film that expresses so much about the communication gap at the heart of this country.

Reviews of Samson and Delilah are appearing thick and fast. The public debate has so far centred on the negative portrayal of race relations and life in remote Indigenous communities. Thornton’s film has achieved an important feat — and that’s aside from its

impressive aesthetic and narrative elements. However, there is another, more positive, aspect to this film that deserves some attention: communication and media in Indigenous communities.

I had coincidentally met Warwick Thornton prior to the Alice Springs public screening during a lunch at CAAMA, the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association. Warwick used to be a DJ on CAAMA radio, Australia’s first full-time Aboriginal radio station, with a show called Green Bush (he made a short film with the same name in 2005). Now an esteemed film director, he stood there at lunch in his big hat, laughing with the other DJs about his experiences at the station. I observed how the staff admired his having made it onto the national stage and Warwick’s obvious respect for the organisation. He has skillfully woven that media experience into his debut feature film.

Interestingly, although the theme of communication is at the heart of the film, the two protagonists barely speak. Samson (Rowan McNamara) and Delilah (Marissa Gibson) are teenagers living in a remote

Indigenous community. Their home town is nothing more than a couple of bare concrete houses, a health clinic and a shop. Samson is dealing with boredom through mischievous behaviour and petrol sniffing. He gets around on a wheelchair for fun, symbolising his self-inflicted teenage dysfunction, or possibly a joke on the disadvantage of living in a remote community. By the film’s end the wheelchair has become a more serious sign of rehabilitation where their only chance is each other.

Delilah is different; she cares for her Nana (Mitjili Napanangka Gibson), helping the old woman create artwork and taking her to the health clinic. Samson is in love with the responsible Delilah. He gets out his black marker pen, sniffs it, then writes ‘S 4 D onley ones’ (sic) on the wall. She is drawn to him and yet keeps him at a distance, throwing his mattress over the fence when he tries to move in. Her grandmother approves of the union, cheekily referring to Samson as ‘your husband’ and laughing hysterically at Delilah’s shyness.

The teenagers communicate in Indigenous sign language and

through their actions. Samson throws stones in Delilah’s direction to get her attention. She throws stones at him too, implying ‘Go away’, or ‘Not yet’. A public phone is ringing at the start of the film, but nobody bothers to answer it. The voiceless communication of the characters makes their relationship more compelling.

When things take a turn for the worse, the two are united in their need to leave the community. The film becomes seriously bleak in Alice Springs where poverty, violence and addiction take over. The teenagers’ silence stands in contrast to their new friend, an urban Aboriginal tramp. Gonzo (played by Scott Thornton) talks and sings incessantly, including the Tom Waits lyrics: ‘Lord, I’ve been so good, except for drinking, but I knew that I would’. He implores them to say something if they are going to accept his hospitality under the bridge, in the

dry Todd River bed. Samson finally says his name out loud, a surprising moment which makes you rethink his character entirely.

This exquisite exploration of

interpersonal communication

sits alongside a parallel theme

involving remote Indigenous

media technologies.

I recognised the phone

at the start of the film

as one of the community

telephones constructed by

the Centre for Appropriate

Technology. The tough silver

case encloses a cheap,

easily replaceable receiver,

designed to overcome desert

conditions and solve billing and

maintenance issues.

The day before the Alice film screening, Senator Conroy announced 300 new public phones for remote communities. In his Ministerial press release, he stated that the phones will ‘improve connections to health, education, safety, business and other services as well as provide social and family contact’. When life turns seriously bad for Delilah in Alice Springs she tries to call home but the phone rings out again. The telephone is a symbol of avoidance, an impossible cry for help in a world that has become too hard. Technological solutions alone are not enough.

Intermittently throughout the film we find Samson listening to an Aboriginal radio station, hugging the receiver close to his body. Many non-Indigenous Australians will not know that an extensive system of Aboriginal radio and television exists across the outback, Top End, the Kimberley and Cape York. Eight remote media associations (CAAMA

is one) produce radio and video content, much of it in language. The DJs and video-makers are often trained in their own communities and produce programs on basic equipment, linked via satellite networks. Towards the end of the film, Samson receives a message from home via a DJ dedication, which causes him to squeal with delight. Radio — an obvious passion for Thornton — is depicted as an essential and positive element of life in remote Australia.

That night, under the stars, Samson and Delilah was itself an example of the importance of media that reflects the lives and culture of Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal families had come from all over to see themselves represented, maybe with nowhere to stay afterwards (due to the shortage of temporary accommodation in Alice), just like the two protagonists. The film’s message is that country and family matter most — but that music and media are essential, particularly for young people. As a non-Indigenous viewer, one of the film’s great achievements is that it shows Australia through the eyes of remote people.

And with not one useless or insincere word.

Samson and Delilah won the Audience Award at the 2009 Adelaide Film Festival [and the Camera D'Or award for best first feature film at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival held in May.]

Written and Directed by Warwick Thornton. [Warwick won the Blue Angel Award for Best Director in the Feature Competition at the 17th Art Film Fest Trenčianske Teplice–Trenčín.] n

ellie rennie

research fellow at the institute for Social research, Swinburne university.

article first published by crikey. reprinted with permission. www.crikey.com.au

18 19 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

THE CENTRE FOR APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

TEL: (08) 8951 4311 FAX: (08) 8951 4333

INFO@ICAT.ORG.AU WWW.ICAT.ORG.AU

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The CAT Fire Trailer was developed with the support of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. Copyright and intellectual property contained in this material is the property of Centre for Appropriate Technology Inc (CAT), 32 Priest Street Alice Springs Northern Territory 0870. It may not be reproduced or used for any purpose without written consent of CAT.

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