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Edition No. 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100
If these conditions are not being fulfilled the whole operation would close down even before the year 2004 is finished. This resolution has been conveyed to Wandalgu staff and the Primary students’ parents The Catholic Education Office have initiated moves to close the Primary School in December and to find alternative employment opportunities for their people. Judging by the number of applications at hand, we anticipate that 4 student houses will remain open through 2004 for Secondary boys and girls. We ask for your prayers that the Lord may guide us through this difficult time and help us to make the right decisions at every juncture so that His will be done.
BACK AT WANDALGU I returned once more from Subiaco on Saturday, 22 November, to have another try at working with staff and children here. The time with the St, John of God Sisters in the Villa has helped me greatly to improve my mobility and working capacity but some difficulties remain. My sister Barbara came once more from Delmenhorst in Germany to help me for a few weeks whilst I’m settling in. She is wonderful, and so are a number of co-workers here who really care and enable me to carry on with my ministry in a limited way and also attend therapy sessions in Morawa and Geraldton. Thanks to all of them and also to the many people near and far away who prayed for me and/or encouraged me with their lovely letters and get-well wishes. My path of recovery has been a painfully slow but smooth one. I really have not suffered any severe setbacks since the initial incident, like further strokes, bad falls or infections. The good Lord has looked after me on this long journey and must still have some more work for me in store. I can assure the Aboriginal people that I will be around to help steering Wandalgu Hostel into a new direction.
A GOOD HARVEST After poor harvests in 2000 and 2001 and no harvest at all in 2003, we are happy to announce that this year we’re having a bumper harvest. Throughout the growing season we always had just enough rain to keep the crops alive and growing. At present, Maurice and Marinus are bringing in the crop from the last big paddock. Br John, unfortunately, missed most of the action because he was called to his sister Mary who died of cancer a week ago. May she rest in peace. Please praise the Lord with us for his goodness. He has blessed the farmers in our district with a good result of their labour.
STAFF CHANGES There were so many staff changes that I found it hard in hospital to keep up with all the developments at home. When I returned I saw the changes that had happened. The community was sad to farewell Leonie Boddington who had been a good house parent for the Senior Primary girls. Thank you, Leonie, for sharing your creative talents with students and staff! You know how to make a celebration colourful. Nicole Egan, daughter of Gavin Egan, came to look after the Junior Primary girls for a few weeks. Thank you, Nicole! Unfortunately, I never got to know you. Brenda Conochie had joined our staff in third term as Homework Tutor but when there was a need for a house parent for the Junior Primary girls she agreed to take on this position for the rest of the year. She is doing wonderful work with these lovely children. Thank you, Brenda! Elsie Egan had to go home to Morawa for health reasons. Working with this group of young men who could have been her grandsons – two of them actually were - was getting too much for her. From then on Alan had to be father and mother. Thank you, Elsie, for the wonderful influence you had on our Senior students! About the time when Irmi Eberl left us after her one year’s service, two new volunteers arrived from Germany to help us out. Agnes Wolko settled in well as house parent for the Senior Primary girls. Frank Gerling is able to put his computer skills to work and quickly learned to give a hand in the bakery and pottery. Welcome to you both. We hope you enjoy your time at Wandalgu. And thank you, Irmi, for persevering in your work for the whole year!
CHRISTIAN INITIATION On the Sunday before my return, the Wandalgu community had a wonderful celebration with our Bishop Justin Bianchini. Eight young people received from his hands the Sacrament of Confirmation and were sealed with the Holy Spirit. They were the students Bernadette Yambo, Venetta Yanawana, Ronald Yanawana, Sherona Boona, Bianca Boona, Ricky Butt, and Carl Williams, and the staff member Michael O’Dene. Two of these young people also received the Sacraments of Baptism and First Holy Communion during this splendid celebration, namely Michael O’Dene and Bernadette Yambo. More than in previous years, the whole community had been involved in the preparation for the Sacraments. Vin Russell, Maria Rohr and Phil Turner gave the formal instructions and also guided the Sponsors in their ministry of accompanying the candidates on their journey of faith development. The candidates responded well to these efforts and their sincere faith and radiant joy could be felt during and after the reception of the Sacraments. May God bless all who were involved in this ministry. Fr Gerhard Christoph
Notes from staff GOOD BYE FROM JACINTA MONGOO I have been at Wandalgu for 4 years. I first worked in the kitchen. Then there was a need for a house parent in the Junior High Girls’ house; so I moved there for one year, I enjoyed working in both of these areas but now I am sad to cut ties. I say goodbye to everyone and especially to "my" girls Phynea and Sherona who will move up to the Senior house next year; I will miss you both. You have been so good! It was a very hard decision for me to leave Wandalgu as I love working out here in this environment. But you never know what the future holds. I will be moving to Perth for doing some studies. I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support over the years including those people are no longer here, like Fr Ray. A big thank you to Fr Gerhard, Aunty Colleen, Melissa (my reliever) Kyung and Kang and all other staff. I’m sure I will visit you next year to see everyone as I am not that
far away.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, RYAN (Alan Egan) Ryan Egan is my grandson and I’m proud of him. He has been a model student throughout his 12-year student career at Wandalgu and highly respected member in his group. Ryan commenced school at Wandalgu in 1987 and graduated from Morawa District High School in November this year (2003). Throughout these 12 years he has been a boarder of Wandalgu Hostel and to my knowledge he has never been in any serious trouble. He has been actively involved in many programs offered here. He excelled in all areas of sport. During his time at Wandalgu, Ryan also was a lead dancer in the Ross Boddington dance group and helped instructing the younger dancers. Ryan carried out his work experience here on the farm with Br John and Maurice. They always were pleased with his effort. In the Senior Boys’ house Ryan was always prepared to help others. He earned the respect of his fellow students. As his house parent I was able to rely on him. He listens to me. In the holidays Ryan always wanted to be with me and he helped me with all the projects I was doing. We came very close and I will miss him now. His fellow students also were sad to see him go. A couple of days after graduation, Ryan gained employment with the Cana CBH. His supervisor is very pleased with his attitude and the way he works. This augurs well for his life as an adult and his future employment. God bless you, Ryan!
WELL DONE, WILLY Rebecca Drage (Willy) graduated from year 12 on 31 October .She came to the Hostel in 2002 and can look back to many achievements during the two years at Wandalgu. She was a good student and attended the Aspire Breakfast for high achievers in Perth last year. She was a nominee in this year’s Bundiyarra Youth Awards. Willy was a pleasant girl to have around. She was always joking and had everybody laughing. She just had such a beautiful outgoing nature, Now she is missed by all the girls in our group.
HOMEWORK TUITION (Brenda Conochie) After teaching for a term at Morawa DHS and getting to know some of our Wandalgu students there, I arrived in July this year as a tutor under the Aboriginal Tutoring Assistance Scheme. I settled into the gracious old Orana house, with its lovely native garden. Spring soon arrived with a blaze of colour - gorgeous wattles, pink and yellow everlastings, Geraldton waxes, and many flowers new to me, plus the many birds and lizards who live amongst them. I’ve been learning heaps about the non-human inhabitants of this place from Brother Wim who shares his delight in Creation and vast knowledge of this patch of it so generously. My role here is to help students with their more challenging homework and to boost their literacy and numeracy skills. Routine homework is still done in normal homework times under the supervision of houseparents. I liaise regularly with staff at Morawa DHS. Solid teamwork is needed between myself, houseparents, teachers and of course the students (!) to make sure required homework is done and handed in. Now that exams aren’t used so much at school, homework assignments count a lot towards final school results, which determine whether students can get into the training and employment of their choice. We acquired 8 hand-me-down computers from the armed forces, via Morawa DHS and Catholic Ed., and Kang, Irmi, Frank and I programmed them. We have set them up in the Youth Centre on some lovely new purple computer desks (courtesy of Fr Gerhard). Students do assignments on them and learn and practice a variety of computer skills - PowerPoint, Excel, Paint, as well as word-processing. We are very grateful for the very handy printer/scanner/copier machine bought for us by Fr Gerhard. Word-processing boosts writing skills because students can make improvements without the old demoralizing ‘crossing out’. They learn to cut and paste to put their thoughts in the best order. Spell Check means that students can focus on the bigger picture of what they are saying instead of panicking about poor spelling. Although we haven’t got Internet in our computer rooms students enjoy using the Encarta CD ROM encyclopaedia which is like a mini Internet and contains little recordings of famous speeches. Students heard speeches by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, when they were doing assignments on them. Students are encouraged to check our terrific Wandalgu reference books first and only use Internet (in the Senior High Boys’ and Girls’ houses) to look for what they can’t they don’t find in the house libraries. For the last four weeks of term, I’ve become a part-time house parent for five little girls, aged 6-9, with all the highs and lows that go with such a job. I’ve been on a steep learning curve and had lots of laughs with these very entertaining and impressively independent young people. I share the sadness of others involved with the Primary kids, about the closure of the school and Primary hostel and hope and pray that they will fare well when they return to their home towns and go on to mixed schools next year. I feel very lucky to have found this place to work and live, and appreciate the diverse and wonderful community I’ve been getting to know. I am bowled over by the strength and length of the commitment made by so many here.
ONE YEAR AT WANDALGU (Kyung & Kang Lee) It’s already the end of our year at Wandalgu. We came to Wandalgu around this time in 2002. The summer in Tardun is very dry and hot, dusty and windy. But Tardun became our home very quickly. When I think why? It’s the people and the time we spent with the community. So many things happened in this community, some good some bad, but that’s the reality of life. When we go back to Sydney, all those experiences will be an encouragement for us to go forward into our future. I hope students and staff have benefited from our service at Tardun. One thing I will never forget - The memory of students going on a bus very early in the morning to the airport at the end of each term to travel to their own families. We had mixed feelings. We knew it was good for parents to see their children but we worried and wondered if they would come back next term to go to school. We wish all the students, parents, supporting volunteers and staff, God’s blessings for the end of this year and for the future. Kyung & Kang Lee (Administrators)
FRESH FROM GERMANY (Agnes Wolko) Hello! My name is Agnes Wolko. I am a volunteer from Germany. I arrived in Tardun at the beginning of October and will stay here in Australia for one year. This Term I looked after four Senior Primary girls. This was a very good experience for me. I enjoyed this time. That’s why I’m sad about the closing of the Primary School. I would like to thank everybody for welcoming me here in Tardun and for helping me with my new job.
GOOD BYE AND THANK YOU (Maria Rohr) I came for 2 months and stayed a year. They asked me why? And I answered, "I fell in love". Thank you to the Pallottine community; to Kyung & Kang, to staff and beloved students of Wandalgu. You have touched my life. I hope and pray that I made a little difference in yours! Maria Rohr.
A LAST GOODBYE (Melissa Drage & family) I, Melissa Drage, have spent 8 years here at Wandalgu working in various positions and now it is time for me and my family to say goodbye. We have enjoyed looking after the children and cooking for them. It has been a pleasure to work with Wandalgu Arts and Wandalgu Catholic Primary School. It will be sad to see the school closing down but all good things must come to an end. I would like to thank Fr Gerhard for being my big inspiration and all who have been here in the past and present. I will return some time to visit as for my family and I will be living in Geraldton. Goodbye to all and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year GOD BLESS .
HI FROM ALAN AND ELSIE We have had a great year here with the Senior High Boys. The boys have helped with building the shaded area at the front door and also with the gardening in the first term. The footy season went alright. I drove the coaster over to St Mary’s for training and shared supervision with Tyrone and Michael. The best outing we had was the Burn Out event in Morawa. All the students and houseparents from the hostel went there. In the fourth term my boys put up the Wandalgu Hostel sign in front of the church with me. I had it made in Morawa at Lucas Engineering ,the boys were very happy doing it; so thank you Bob, Colin, Ryan, Lindsay, and Gabby. From Alan and Elsie
BASKETBALL (Levi & Dion) In term four, the High School students stayed in Morawa every Thursday night after school to compete in the local basketball competition. There were 8 teams in the competition and it was a good way of bringing the students from Wandalgu Hostel, St Mary’s and Morawa town together. We enjoyed the competition and won more games than we lost. It also gave us an opportunity to mix with non-Aboriginal kids. Now the season has changed and we started playing cricket.
LIVING AT WANDALGU (Bianca) Hi! My name is Bianca Boona. I came to Wandalgu in 2002 and had a good time here. I also had nice house parents. I and my little brother Jeremiah go to Wandalgu Catholic Primary School. At first we were shame to go into our classrooms but our teacher told us to come in and don’t be shame. So we went in the classrooms and did our work. On the first Saturday we had a disco in our house for the Senior Primary boys and girls. We all got on well with each other from then on. The next Saturday we went to Hidden Valley for a barbecue. It was fun. The boys had to walk there or ride the bikes. We went in the car but from half way we had to walk to Hidden Valley because the driver had to go and get the other girls. At 5 o’ clock we had to go home and have a shower in our house. The next day we went to the church and when church was over we went to the dining room for breakfast…
WANDALGU ROCK (Ronald Yanawana) On 26 July our band, Wandalgu Rock, went to Perth, to the Methodist Ladies College hall, to play in the heats of the WA Star Search Band competition. We played a song written by Gabby called I don’t want to be on my own. Ronald on the drums, Bob on didgeridoo, Colin on the rhythm guitar, John on the bass and Gabby on the lead guitar and vocals. Colin and John also did backing vocals. On 20 September we went down to Perth again for the finals. This time we played at Burswood. Some of us were a bit nervous but we played well and came second in the whole state for bands under 19 years of age. Our music teacher, David Stinson, helped us a lot, especially with our timing. Colleen organized the trip. David and Maurice drove us to Perth. We would like to thank them. We had a great time. Next year we will be recording our songs on our first CD.
WATCHING FOOTBALL (Michael Kelly On Saturday, 1 September, we went to Mullewa to watch the under-14s play football. Our team won and they were happy about it. I was happy, too, about them winning. We’re all friends. After the match we went back to Wandalgu
WANDALGU (Erin / Kapula) Hi, my name is Erin and I stay at Wandalgu Hostel, Tardun. What I like about it is that I have friends, called Bianca, Cassandra, Halijah and Sandra. They take good care of me and I like going to school. On Saturdays I go to Little Athletics. Sometimes I like getting the bikes out, and going to the trampoline or the pool. When I go to school I do hard work and when I come back to our house and see lollies on my bed because I have cleaned up my room I am happy. This is what I like about Wandalgu.
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