Tour 8 to Wadeye saw a fantastic team of ten working closely with the school leaders and staff to deliver a fun and successful program.  The already-heavy Top End heat meant that the group worked more in the classroom than on the playing fields – that is, except for our swimmers, Linley and Danni, who spent the majority of their two days in the pool!  Pruney and sunburnt, the smiles never left their faces and the kids had a ball, getting one-on-one instruction from two World Champion swimmers. 

The music team, Adam and Glenn, were again at their best, delivering a brilliant song written with the OLSH kids, along with a video clip. The students were enthusiastic after initial bouts of shyness, and many worked hard to learn the song and produce some terrific CD artwork. A special presentation of the song and video was held at the ‘arena’, and both were received with thunderous applause.

Katrina brought along a treasure trove of art supplies that had students and teachers diving into all the art activities. The t-shirt painting focussed on positive messages about family, self and culture, producing some sensational wearable art; other activities combined story-reading with a creative project linked to the story, with one young class (and both teacher’s aides) producing some  beautifully unique royal headgear!  In just a few days, there were shirts, murals, paintings and crowns adorning many of the classrooms, all proudly displaying some fantastic creativity and positive messages.

When he wasn’t working in the classroom with literacy programs, art and other lessons, Glenn Manton held a special ‘talk’ with a group of young men who are known to be ‘gang’ leaders in the community…while Glenn is known for his terrific speaking, he found that this time, listening was the most important thing he could do. (See Glenn’s reflections, ‘Wadeye People’.)  Glenn and Mel also made a special trip to Kuy outstation, where approximately 15 kids attend the school on the beach.  Talk about million dollar views!  Bree, who teaches grades 1-12 at the Kuy school, allowed us to accompany her on her 45-minute journey to the outstation and to participate in her morning lessons.  We each took a group and did literacy-focussed activities – quite a challenge with so many different ages, but Bree seemed to effortlessly manage it all. 

The week would not have been successfull without the invaluable work of our team support, Carly and Leigh, both of whom were tireless and committed to doing anything and everything. Carly was a huge hit with the girls, who were constantly wanting to play with her blonde locks, and Leigh became one of the kids, participating in everything and joining a busload of students on an excursion to a local waterhole. 

Special mention must be made of Kate Humphris from ABC Darwin, who joined us as a reporter but ended becoming just as much a part of the team as any of us.  When she wasn't glued to her laptop meeting deadlines, she was joining in and assisting the team wherever and whenever she could, and we greatly appreciate all her work.  Check out her stories at:   http://www.abc.net.au/nt/stories/s2060132.htm  

The energy and passion of the school leaders and staff were inspirational, to say the least.  With many of them running on very little sleep (due to the all-night noise of local gang activity), they continued to deliver their lessons with dedication and enthusiasm, welcoming all of us into their classrooms and allowing us to engage in the lessons.  We cannot thank them enough for their outstanding welcome and efforts to include us, and we truly look forward to returning to Wadeye and OLSH next year.

Tour Reflections -  Carly Barry-Jones

What can I say, taking part on a Red Dust Tour was by far one of the best and most exciting things I've ever done.  I left Sydney not really knowing what to expect.  We were heading up to Wadeye in the Northern Territory, which was by far the smallest and remote town I personally had ever been to.  We arrived in Wadeye on Sunday afternoon, and after settling into our accommodation (the local high school) we met with the local Principal who invited us to the Sunday evening Church service.  I found this Church service to be particularly interesting as there was such a strong aboriginal influence in the design of the church, which is obviously never seen in your average Catholic church!  We had the pleasure of meeting Sister Emmanual, an incredible 91 year old Nun, who made her first  trip to Wadeye in 1947, she returned backwards and forwards from Darwin several times, and has lived in Wadeye full time since 1988!!   After the service we went to the kitchen area of the school to prepare our dinner, and were given a brief cultural orientation by the team.

Monday morning commenced with us attending the school staff meeting and being introduced to the teachers.  We received a warm welcome from all the staff, and discussed what our plans would be for the week.  I was lucky enough to be able to help out some of the role models in a wide range of classes, ranging from Music with Adam & Glen, Sports with Glen Manton, Linley Frame & Danni Miatke, and Art with Katrina Manton.  We also helped out the teachers with their literacy program.  We worked with a wide age range of kids, from pre-school to high school.
I don't think I have ever met such a fantastic group of kids!  I think one of the many highlights for me would have definitely have been in the music class when one of the young boys sang the entire ACDC classic, TNT!  I also developed a massive soft spot for the young girls out there, who insisted I bring extra hair elastics with me each day so they could plait my hair during morning tea and lunch, they were always so bright, happy and full of chat, and with the cheekiest sense of humour!  I was also really amazed at how talented these kids are, not only with their sports, but also academically and also with their art.  I saw what I would definitely rate as the best aboriginal painting that I have ever seen, and this was done by a year 9 art student as a school project.  I really hope that one day, these kids get an opportunity to fulfil their maximum potential!

I found the teachers out there to be truly inspiring.  Their hardwork, dedication and commitment to the children is unbelieveable, especially because they do deal with some difficult and confronting situations.  They were also so welcoming to us, and made sure that we had something to do every night we were there.  Monday night, they took us to the beach (although no swimming due to crocodiles), Tuesday they invited us to a bbq and Wednesday, we were taken on a drive around to different families in the local community in search of art, followed by a game of mixed netball in their local rec centre.

I had so many wonderful experiences on my trip, that I could just keep writing and filling page after page.  On a personal growth level, this is by far the most rewarding thing I have ever done, it has taught me to be more patient, understanding and a lot less materialistic.  I don't think that you can go on a Red Dust Tour, and not be affected in some way. I am looking forward to catching up with some of the other participants from my tour and other Red Dust Tours in the not to distant future.