Quickword Podcast EP7: July 2024
Hi, and welcome to another episode of Quickword, where we give you the headline features from our newsletter.
This newsletter aims to connect and inform people that work with people about different health related campaigns, events, and resources in an uplifting and positive way.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands that were never ceded, that we live, work, and record upon.
We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and to those who may be visiting our website or listening to our podcasts today.
My name is Jennifer Farinella, and I'll be talking you through what you will find in this month's Quickword.
Let's dive in.
Quickword starts with Q.
This month's quote is
"The land is my mother. Like a human mother, the land gives us protection, enjoyment and provides our needs, economic, social and religious. We have a human relationship with the land. Mother, daughter, son. When the land is taken from us or destroyed, we feel hurt because we belong to the land and we are part of it."
This quote is by Dr. Reverend Gondarra, OAM, who has spent most of the 78 years of his life fighting for the freedom and justice of his people.
This month's Useful Fact
Behind every Indigenous statistic there is a child, a family and a community story. Australia's First Peoples are thought to be the longest living culture in the world.
Theirs is a story of connection to land, sea and winds, to song lines and stories across nations and generations. It is this culture with strengths, grounded in resilience and generations of knowledge, sharing their offers, the opportunity to build a better future. The deep history of colonization and dispossession has had disastrous effects on generations of indigenous communities.
The Seedling Group is committed to working with Indigenous communities on projects to build capacity and hope by the people, for the people. Their book, Cultural Safety in Trauma Informed Practice from a First Nations perspective, provides an accessible resource for conducting culturally safe and trauma informed practice with First Nations people in Australia.
Designed by and for Australian Indigenous peoples, it explores psychological trauma and healing and the clinical and cultural implications of the impacts of colonization through an Indigenous lens. It is a companion for anyone who works or will work with families and communities.
Find out more at theseedlinggroup.org
This month's Instagram Highlight
The 2024 Surfboard Competition will launch during NAIDOC week. Congratulations to last year's winner, Jordan from Yuin country in the Shoalhaven, winner of the 2023 surfboard by Indigenous artist, Zach Bennett Brooke from Saltwater Dreamtime. Jordan said it's even more beautiful in real life and we 100 percent agree.
Check out previous board winners and follow us on Instagram to access posts like this one.
This month's Campaigns and Events
From the outside, it appears to onlookers. To be a typical city bus, one wrapped in breathtaking Aboriginal artwork, but step inside and you'll quickly find that this bus takes you on a journey that is anything but typical.
The bus, a mobile education centre conceptualised and built by the Kinchella Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation, in partnership with bus operator CDC New South Wales Australia, is part of the not for profit's unique survivor led approach to Reconciliation and healing. Affectionately nicknamed Benny, the bus provides a unique interactive space and experience for people to learn about the Stolen Generations and their connection to the Kinchilla Aboriginal Boys Training Home.
A home run for over 50 years, from 1924 to 1970, to house Aboriginal boys forcibly removed from their families Featuring part of the original wrought iron gate from the Kinchella Boys home, the Mobile Education Centre contains an interior exhibition that records the moving and often difficult memories and stories of its stolen generation's survivors in a powerful historical record.
The back half of the bus has been converted into a cinema, with an audiovisual system and seats to show an animated film about the realities of life growing up at Kinchella Boys Home. Find out more at kinchellaboyshome.org.au
This month's Know Your Websites
WellMob brings together online resources made by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Here you will find websites, apps, podcasts, videos, helplines, social media and online programs, all with a focus on social and emotional well being.
Wellmob is for all frontline health and well being workers, including community health and well being workers, mental health workers, family support and education and youth services.
Workers can feel confident to share any online well being resources they find with their clients and customers. There are also training resources to support your work in the community and resources to help you look after yourselves. Wellmob is a safe online place for our communities to access all kinds of digital well being resources.
Find out more at wellmob.org.au
This month's Who Are?
Djirra is a place where culture is shared and celebrated, and where practical support is available to all Aboriginal women, and particularly to Aboriginal people who are currently experiencing family voilence or have in the past. As most of their contact is with women, the work they do is predominantly designed by and for Aboriginal women.
They are an Aboriginal community controlled organization governed by an Aboriginal board of directors who are elected by their members. Djirra is the Woiwurrung word for the reed used by Wurundjeri women for basket weaving. Traditionally, when women gathered to weave, important talks took place and problems were solved.
Djirra symbolises Aboriginal women today, still coming together to share their stories, support each other and find solutions. Find out more at Djirra.org.au
This month's On The Blog
Aboriginal comedy, condoms and surfboards. In the spirit of NAIDOC and celebrating successful Aboriginal led programs, we would like to introduce or reintroduce you to Take Blaktion.
Take Blaktion is a NSW Health flagship sexual health promotion program for Aboriginal people. The Take Blaktion program uses comedy sketch videos featuring high profile Aboriginal ambassadors to engage Aboriginal young people with culturally appropriate sexual health messaging. Comedy has a long history with an Aboriginal media and Take Blaktion leverages uniquely Aboriginal humour to circumvent shame associated with sexual health.
Take Blaktion is a great resource for individuals, communities, families and workers.
Find out more at takeblacktion.playsafe.health.nsw.gov.au
This month's Resource
The following resource is by Leah Manaema Avene, (she/them). Leah is a mother, musician, therapist, broadcaster, facilitator, researcher and educator.
Leah's bloodlines have been shaped by the Pacific Ocean and the islands of Tuvalu, through her father's line and the landscapes of Ireland through her mother's. Leah was raised on unceded Kulin Nation's land, along the coastline of Waddawurrung and Wathaurong country, south coast of Victoria. Leah's work focuses on nurturing the strengths of culture, ancestry, land, body, community, and deeply shared values to transform harmful power dynamics in bodies, relationships, and systems.
Relational cheat codes for community care. A cheat code is a term used in gaming, meaning access to a shortcut, a special power, protection or to access advanced levels. Relational cheat codes are a way of giving each other shortcuts to communal strength and safety. In communities of resistance, we can prepare ourselves for the fatigue, frustration, and distress that is an inevitable part of our work together. Making time to share our relational cheat codes with each other is a loving investment in the relational space in and around the community. Sharing relational cheat codes means that we are giving people permission in advance to respond to us in supportive ways that we have preemptively asked for.
This doesn't guarantee peace, but it does help us become more aware of our humanity and how we might respond to the humanity of others.
Nurture.
Let people around you know what grounds you, nourishes you and keeps you steady. Can you high five, hype me when you notice that I? Please encourage me to. Remind me that I am.
Caution.
Let people around you know some early warning signs of fatigue, burnout or dysregulation. If I'm not eating, please remind me. If you notice me stuck on my phone, can you interrupt me by? Interrupt.
Give trusted people permission to lovingly interrupt you if you lose your patience or are lost in distress or reactivity.
If I've lost my way, can you remind me of the story from my grandmother? In my language, this phrase means enough. Can you please say this to me if I've gone too far? [00:10:00] I can't really hear or talk when I've lost my temper. If you've noticed I'm in that state, can you bring me a cup of ice water and take me somewhere quiet?
Can you read me this note to self if I'm letting my routine go?
See more of Leah's work at Co Cultural Communication, which is land based approaches to anti oppressive strategy, cross cultural communication, and relational design at coculture communication.com
This month's Diary Dates
For all our upcoming webinar dates, check our website where you can register for free and also complete free online modules on sexual and reproductive health in your own time.
You can read our monthly blog, find the map which shows you where to access free condoms at services, who are part of the Condom Dispenser Project in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven and order a free bag of 144 condoms now with lube as well from PlaySafe, NSW Health Australia.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Caddyshack's Quickword.
We hope you learned something, found a useful link, or can pass it on to a colleague, friend, or family member. You can find all the details on our homepage on the web at caddyshackproject.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or check out our On The Couch podcast series.
Until next time, peace, love, and protection.