Sport Australia Project #6720

Inspire and empower Indigenous youth in Australia

by Action Change (Formerly GVI Trust)

Project Report | Aug 16, 2016
Stand and Lead Trip to Ballaglen

By Deb Oliver | Project Leader

Getting the hang of the board!

Dear Supporters,

The Stand and Lead trip this July was a great success this year. It was supposed to be a much smaller trip this year due to lack of available funding but that changed after a chance encounter with Teachabout who happened to be in the area at the same time!

Teachabout offered the assistance of five volunteers to assist with the transportation of the kids as well as help us supervise the paddling. This meant that we were able to take more kids with us than we were planning and has also given rise to the potential to develop a wonderful partnership.

On this Desert2Surf (D2S) trip, two adults from the remote Northern Territory of Minyerri travelled to a local billabong, Ballaglen, with 13 children aged 4-16 years, volunteers from Teachabout and our staff, to participate in our annual stand up paddling session with D2S. Of the participants, six children had been on trips with us previously and two of them have even joined us on previous surfing trips down south!

As well as providing great fun and teaching the skills of stand up paddling, the session aimed to build the children's self-confidence, self-esteem and self-belief. In order to model healthy life choices, a healthy lunch and healthy snacks are also provided.

All of the children had a wonderful time learning to paddle, being together in the water and helping each other. The older children all expressed a strong desire to fulfil the D2S requirements in order to participate in future trips. These requirements include regular school attendance and an overall commitment to their education.

It is so wonderful to see the children having fun, being active and starting to believe in themselves and their abilities and getting excited about reaping the rewards from their hard work and commitment to their education.

Thank you for your donations, which made this trip possible!

With Gratitude,

Desert2Surf

Mastering standing up!

All of the participants who joined us this year

Happy faces

Links:

Visit the D2S website

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Jun 1, 2016
Art Exhibition Fundraiser

By Deb Oliver | Founder

Dear Supporter,

In April, we hosted an art exhibition as a fund raising event for our Stand up and Lead trip this year.

It featured original canvases painted by indigenous artists from the Northern Territory in Australia. The canvases were all donated to Desert2Surf for the fundraiser. The donations came from various sources, including the artists themselves, an art dealer in Katherine and friends of Desert2Surf. The exhibition also included some mounted photographs, taken by indigenous youth from the remote Northern Territory Community of Minyerri, which were a part of Desert2Surf’s earlier PhotoVoice Project. Also included in the exhibition were two surfboards, painted with original indigenous designs, from Desert2Surf’s earlier Surfing Deadly Desert Dreams Project.

The exhibition was sponsored by the owners of The Folk Alley Café (Deborah and Shaun) in St Andrews Victoria, who generously donated the gallery space and all the logistics vis a vis the promotion, sales and distribution of artworks after the exhibition closed.

An opening night was held on Saturday 9 April which was very well attended. Attendees were incredibly interested, not only in Desert2Surf but also in The GVI Trust and the way in which it has supported Desert2Surf so strongly over the years.

The absolute highlight of the opening night was the presence of two of Desert2Surf’s previous trip participants – Kahn and Tilesha. Both teenagers wanted to attend the opening to ‘help out’ on the night as a way of showing their appreciation for the many surfing trips they have had with Desert2Surf. Not only did they help with serving food and handing out programs, but Kahn also treated the audience to a fabulous performance on the didgeridoo. Kahn is a student of the world-renown indigenous musician Bart Willoughby (1993 Inaugural Indigenous Aria Australian Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for his Outstanding Contribution to Indigenous Music in Australia, a finalist in the Melbourne Music Prize and in 2014 received an ATSIC – music fellowship through the Australia Council).

By the end of the exhibition period all artworks, except for four photographs, were sold! The photographs are about to be gifted to the photographers, youth from the Minyerri Community. All money raised from the exhibition will go directly into Desert2Surf programs for kids. Specifically, Desert2Surf is still hoping to raise sufficient funds (AU$8,000) for the 2016 Stand and Lead program.

Desert2Surf is incredibly grateful to the people who donated the artworks for the exhibition, the Folk Alley Café for whole-heartedly supporting the exhibition and the people who so generously purchased the artworks.

If you would like to help us make our 2016 Stand up and Lead trip a reality, please consider making a donation.

With Gratitude,

Desert2Surf

Links:

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Mar 14, 2016
Surfing at Point Roadknight

By Deb Oliver | Desrt2Surf Project Co-ordinator

Practicing the technique on the beach

Dear Supporter,

In mid-February the Desert 2 Surf team was lucky enough to be invited to participate in a very special trip.

On this trip Desert2Surf conducted a one-day surfing event at Point Roadknight on Victoria's Surf Coast. The trip included seven participants, four out who surfed on the day, from Homeland Communities connected to the remote Northern Territory community of Utopia. The surfing event with Desert2Surf was organised by the leader of a Northern Territory Government Gardens and Nutrition programme. The Garden's and Nutrition program facilitated a trip to Victoria for participants to view a variety of garden settings aroud Melbourne.

The surfing was fantastic! All four participants got some quality time in the surf and were able to develop their confidence and skills. It was the first time in the sea for all four surfers and they were amazing! Feedback from the Gardens and Nutrition program leader was that the surfing was the highlight of the trip for the young women!

We were incredibly grateful on the day to have the support of four volunteers. This meant there was a one on one interaction and teaching which maximized success for the surfers and provided the opportunity for some great role modelling, especially from the young women volunteers, Jessica and Nicole.

We were able to provide a 'home garden' lunch for the group by serving home-grown and made tomato and zucchini soup. The soup was thoroughly enjoyed by all and the recipe was snapped up by everyone who were keen to grow/ cook it for themselves!

Desert2Surf is hoping that it can continue a relationship with both the Utopia Homelands group and the Gardens and Nutrition program personnel within the Northern Territory government.

With Gratitude,

The Desert 2 Surf team

Look at that smile!

The whole crew!

Links:

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