Travelling north

Having taught in suburban Melbourne for nearly 10 years, MIRIAM FISH went north and west in search of new experiences.

Balgo Hills, also known as Wirrimanu, is an Aboriginal community on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in WA. It is 285km, of dirt road, to the nearest town at Halls Creek. This means that for most of the wet season the road out is impassable. In this remote setting is Luurnpa Catholic School where I have been teaching Year 2/3 for nearly a year. Teaching and living in this environment has offered major challenges both professionally and personally.

People constantly ask ‘Why are you doing this?’ And sometimes I do wonder. Why did I give up the ordered, comfortable and predictable life I was used to and immerse myself in another culture, where the lives, values and thinking are so different to that with which I am familiar?

One of my reasons for coming to Balgo was to try and gain some understanding of the Aboriginal culture here. This takes time and is dependent on forming relationships with the people in the community. This cannot be forced but seems to happen gradually.

Personally the idea of moving out of my ‘comfort zone’ was a challenge or adventure I had often considered. I knew it would test my ability to adapt to a new environment outside the usual network of family and friends.

I was surprised then to find a new support system emerge amongst my colleagues. They are my base both within the school and wider community. The reality of isolation, I believe, is that you can live anywhere if you have good people with you, who offer friendship and support one another. This is certainly the case at Luurnpa School, where many of us are on a similar journey, looking to experience life in another culture.

One of the benefits of being here is the spontaneous socialising. There is no need to book three weeks in advance to have a cup of tea with a friend. We often take advantage of the beautiful lookout, known as The Pound, where the red ridges rise out of the desert. It is a great place for a BBQ at sunset. It’s amazing how quickly you can fall in love with the desert and appreciate the beauty of its vastness.

Teaching here is a daily adventure. I never know what will happen from day to day as the unexpected regularly occurs. It has been a very steep learning curve, full of trials and tribulations. I brought with me ten years’ experience teaching in suburban schools in Melbourne, but nothing prepared me for the reality here.

I’ve had to learn to run with what’s happening in the school or community and that all my best-laid plans and timetables can be changed at any moment, depending on the needs of the community. I’ve had to modify and trial many strategies to cater for the local cultural values, including different parenting and learning styles.

There are also the expectations of others to contend with such. Government agencies, such as the Department of Education, expect that we will reach this or that benchmark by a certain time. They fail to under-stand the reality of life here. The students have many challenges facing them in their daily lives. Often they may be hungry, tired or have difficulty hearing. Furthermore English is their second, third or sometimes fourth language and English is the language mostly used for teaching.

The children here are wonderful students who surprise me with their openness and affectionate nature. To see them achieve and succeed from day to day is what keeps me here. Some days may be difficult but I try to recall the small successes and continue to persevere.

After nearly a year here it has not been a hard decision to remain. I’ve only just scratched the surface of my teaching and living experience in Balgo. Although it’s difficult at times to be away from family and friends. The phone and email have become very important to me. I know I am fulfilling one of my dreams and it’s very satisfying to feel that I am meant to be here, at least for the time being. I feel that in staying here for another year I will be able to give back to the community something of what I have learnt this year.

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