iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

[Peter Lister]

Maybe we should discuss this gift-giving before we jump straight in ??

As some of you may have gathered from my post yesterday, I'd rather see us giving skills for better financial management and resposibilities than being just another group that hands out dollars. If you grow up in a welfare environment you're gonna be stuck in it - especially if you are not being taught the skills to get out of it. Asking others for help all the time doesn't help you find a way to solve the problem 'cos it will just crop up again and again.

Maybe there should be a fund - but then how will the funds be distrubuted - what becomes a "worthy" cause - if the funds are low, how can "we" (whoever is making the jusdgement) decide whether a flight to a funeral is worth more or less than dental work - and if forum members start putting money into such a fund then surely they'll want a say in how those dollars are spent.

This sort of thing can make people feel very awkward - especially when we know nothing of what forum members already are involved in and committed too.

More discussion ??????

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Bita

[ididjaustralia]

Yup, definitely more discussion needed, thanks Peter! I know there are several people here very keen to help out, but I've been holding back from responding or accepting funds because more thought needs to be put into this before we jump in. The posts in this section are more of my feeling of helplessness when confronted with needs in communities. I sure would like to help, and have many times with 'handouts' though I do like to tie in the giving with reciprocity and responsibility. So where do we start?

Guan

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[ididjaustralia]

Ok, I suppose I'll start off seeing I created this section...

First thing first, giving is not something that is peculiar. It happens in every part of the world and touches every imaginable sort of person. It might be in a form of money, a research grant, clothes, winnings in lottery, or an organ like a heart or kidney.

And because most of us here - perhaps all? - are members of the First World and live in relative prosperity, wouldn't it be on our conscience if we ignored those in need? We all have computers or access to computers, surely a mark of affluence, and we indulge in blowing through hollowed pieces of wood in our spare time. Those not as lucky as us don't have the luxury of leisure and would probably be ploughing fields as we speak, or working in sweat-shops, or picking through a mountain of rubbish trying to salvage things that could be used, eaten or sold.

So one issue is the distribution and balance of the world's wealth.

Bita brings up a very good point, that of dependency on handouts or welfare and how this can have a devastating effect on people who are already devasted. Noel Pearson, Trudgen et. al talk about this welfare mentality as evidence of laziness or lack of responsibility amongst Aboriginal people. But I think we need to pause for a moment and look at this more closely because we really don't know that this is a case of cause-and-effect, or even if welfare dependency exists at all. For example, I know of Yolngu who were born into welfare, but have shown every bit of enthusiasm when it comes to work and have real jobs.

Anyway, this is just to start the ball rolling. Looking forward to more discussion!

Guan

[kdidj]

This is an interesting subject and something to think about. One point of interest is that most of the well-wishers in the West have little or no experience of life in Arnhem Land and, although giving generously to a cause they believe in, may be subject to romanticised ideals when it comes to what is actually going on in the towns and outstations in the Top End. Paying for dental work for one woman might make you feel happy but what real impact will it have upon others in similar situations?

State Welfare exists already in this area and is meant to cover the basic living costs, but how can we decide that we can fund a flight to a funeral for one person or teeth for another? I don't feel we're in a position to do so. I understand the situation you're in Guan, where you're bombarded with familial (and sometime not familial) obligations or requests for money for this and that - the societal views of money and ownership have a large part to play here - but it would be far better for the communities themselves to generate a fund to cover such things, perhaps through the art centres or through travelling troupes - something we all appreciate and can support without being put in the awkward position of supplying handouts to a select few.

Anyway, those are just my immediate thoughts. Your comments are welcome.

Kyle

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[Peter Lister]

I've been waiting for the usual flurry of discussions but it's not happening - this is telling I think.

There are many facets to this situation as we're probably all aware but not much is being said - part of the "awkwardness" I mentioned earlier. I dont mind saying it though - bringing it out in the open will hopefully generate more discussion and we'll resolve this. It's a lot more fun talking about some playing style or technique than discussing depressing issues...

I imagine some forum members are here for more than just a chat about trad didj and boosting their egos - they're here because they do care about people in the North and in gaining more knowledge about their lives there they may be able to improve things for them in an indirect way. I'm sure some here believe they are already doing this by using iDIDJ in its' advocacy role as in indirect method of feeding resources to communities. Buying an instrument from iDIDJ means money is going to someone in a community and I suspect a good deal more than would go to a maker if that instrument were purchased via a lot of other suppliers. Regardless if the detail we know the money is going to someone in a community in Arnhem Land. Many organizations do this sort of thing - Oxfam for example and others that have a wider scope like Amnesty International (I've just done some festive season shopping via Amnesty for this very reason).

Of course many are happy to do this and for government agencies to handout money in whatever manner is deemed possible because of all the ills we have done to these people. Maybe we should do this - how do you repair what horrors some of these people have suffered - but does it really help ? I suspect that depends upon how the money is used - who gets hold of it once it gets to the person who needs it. We can give money to someone on a city street who says they need it for food but they are likely going to spend it on alcohol.....it's the same in communities - who is really benefitting ??

So, you might ask what happens to all this money people receive as handouts ? Well, everything is more expenive in Arnhem Land - fuel, food, ammunition for hunting - everything. We know that people often need to catch light aircraft to other centres for ceremony and they will normally take family with them so of course these things are expensive. There is the ceremonial exchange of items and that involves more money but there are times where there is still money that is left over and that's money that people should be learning how to manage - to help reduce the stress that comes with an expensive one cannot afford.

Anyone who has been in a community in the North knows that a lot of money changes hands during card games - more money than I have ever had. I'm not criticizing this because as westerners we have pretty severe gambling problems ourselves and we can't sort that out and when I see people playing cards like this they're laughing and joking - it adds so much lightness to their lives, but I also know that there must be people thinking - why isn't this money being used to develop better resources in the community ??

I suspect that if we fixed some of the problems mentioned in my previous long-winded post that gave people greater independence and control over their lives then they wouldn't be gambling so much and some of this money would be going to develop community initiatives where all would benefit.

I know the problems like dental work and funerals are immediate but if we don't provide the means whereby people can plan for these times then these times will always exist. Communities need to be given the resources they request, the training and employment needed to run these resources and then they can climb out of the mire. It's a longer time frame but it has to start sometime. This is where I find it diffcult to swallow the current governments' intervention 'cos it's not doing anything along these lines from what I can tell- it might help those who are already capable - those who are wise to how the system works and don't need financial or health support but there are so many people with inadequate housing and health care for whom this will not provide any help....

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Bita

[martin]

"I know the problems like dental work and funerals are immediate but if we don't provide the means whereby people can plan for these times then these times will always exist. Communities need to be given the resources they request, the training and employment needed to run these resources and then they can climb out of the mire. It's a longer time frame but it has to start sometime. This is where I find it diffcult to swallow the current governments' intervention 'cos it's not doing anything along these lines from what I can tell- it might help those who are already capable - those who are wise to how the system works and don't need financial or health support but there are so many people with inadequate housing and health care for whom this will not provide any help...."

Meditating on all written, and especially this final phrase of Bita. Are there at least some examples, maybe on a smaller scale, in which some sort of help - "to climb out of the mire" - has been given and that has worked in a successful manner. From what I understand, missionaries may have done some of this but at the large cost of forcing dramatic displacement of people and change of lifestyle to such an extent that the good being done on one hand appeared to be countered by many negative effects on the other. .

The other comment of Bita that is worth thinking about, and which is apparently never present in any government type intervention (as these are always designed around election time scales..), is "It's a longer time frame but it has to start sometime.". As we all know the important things in such situations is to begin the process, even on a small scale, but successful way. I agree that some handouts may also be a good thing, but I also believe that they should form only part of a positive change in todays situation.

Martin

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[Peter Lister]

Well I know John Greatorex was working on a project that would assist yolngu in having greater financial independence some years ago. He setup a system at a remote homeland (can't for the lifeof me recall the name - Guan will surely know) for internet access and trained yolngu in using it and I believe it was very successful - they were running small enterprises....

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Bita

[danielsaan]

Peter Lister wrote:

Well I know John Greatorex was working on a project that would assist yolngu in having greater financial independence some years ago. He setup a system at a remote homeland (can't for the lifeof me recall the name - Guan will surely know) for internet access and trained yolngu in using it and I believe it was very successful - they were running small enterprises....

Peter,

Are you talking about this one? http://www.cdu.edu.au/centres/ik/ikhome.html - IKRMNA?
An interesting project that i enjoyed hearing about! There is a database that can be downloaded somewhere on there for storing local knowledge - bloody facinating!

Dan

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Danyu

[Peter Lister]

I'm pretty sure it was at Mapuru - the name just wouldn't come to me the other day, sorry.

There's some info here about the homeland;

http://www.arnhemweavers.com.au/tours-info.htm

and a report with details about how it all started and John's involvement here;

http://www.arnhemweavers.com.au/coopmedia/HF_website_MapuruRpt.pdf

I assume it's still going strong and you can see how a little change can bring about real empowerment, pride and initiative...

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Bita

[Yirrkala Arts]

I'm with Mista Lista. I could walk outside my front door and shout that there's white people on the internet ready to give money to individual Yolngu who want (need?) something, and probably have 50 people within earshot come running, but it wouldn't really help anything. The fundamental needs are education, capacity building, etc. Teach a man to fish and all that. Ironically, Yolngu are deadly fishermen but many are killing themselves with an expensive foreign diet they don't understand. Sorry Yirrininba, but I'd rather outsiders help fund programs to teach your grandchildren to brush their teeth and eat healthier. Their ancestors had perfect teeth despite never having heard of a toothbrush, but now it's hard to find Yolngu over 25 years old with a full set.

These health issues however are better suited to government and school programs and I don't know how forum members here would support that. Hopefully this intervention nonsense can at least help with some of those issues, along with a new healthy living program Yirrkala started before the intervention.

If on the other hand people on this forum do want to directly support Yolngu employment and cultural maintenance, I can certainly provide a channel for that! Maybe in a separate thread...

[flyangler18]

Quote:

The fundamental needs are education, capacity building, etc.

I agree with you, Randy. These are the fundamental issues that can make the rest of the 'personal' issues easier to deal with, both on an individual and systemaic level.

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[ididjaustralia]

Well, good news, all 3 cases resolved

The thing I was dreading was that we'd go nowhere with endless round-about discussion. On issues that are as complex as this, no consensus can ever be reached I think so I went ahead and did what I felt was best and took advice from the few with direct involvement in the philanthropy field. A huge thank you to those who messaged me or sent me emails... the support is much appreciated and the families are no doubt grateful for the help.

With the level of interest demonstrated, there are plans now to establish a non-profit charitable arm, iDIDJ Community! More news as developments take place...

I'll write a bit more when I get back to the office... I have an interstate meeting tomorrow for 2 days and will be back on Thursday. I'd like to sum up the public comments received and put together a short response.

Thanks again everyone, this is a very exciting thing happening!

Guan

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[IPlayDidgeridoo]

Very Cool, Guan

Søren Dahl

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