Today's post is a little different. It is a message written by a colleague, Clive Buckingham, doing the same job as me, but based in Oombulgurri (a community in the north east of the Kimberley region, WA). Oombulgurri has been effectively closed by withdrawal of government support.
With winter rapidly approaching and as the bright red orb of the setting sun disappears behind the rugged hilly outcrops, the normal balmy Kimberley evening starts to cool. At the same time the virulent Wyndham mozzies start to descend on every piece of bare flesh. However, as evening darkens into the nightly cold even the mozzies head home.
Not so for several groups of mainly Aboriginal women and a few children, many of who once called Oombi home. These groups are doing it tough Kimberley style. Their home for the night is the “long grass” around Wyndham with the hard cold earth as a bed. They sleep huddled together sharing body heat to help ward off the permeating cold. Tourists from the southern states flock to the experience the rugged beauty of the Kimberley. However, there is no beauty in being homeless in Wyndham.
Yesterday we went out to locate these groups and see what support we could offer. We supplied blankets and water containers. In one such group we encountered an elderly lady from Oombi who I knew well. She still retained her wicked sense of humour as she reminded me that at 79 she was starting to get a little too old for all this. She had some other family members and children with her. The worker with me expressed concerns about the children but to me they were safe with this group of strong women. In other groups we found people who preferred the safety of the “long grass” to the nightly alcohol fuelled violence in town. One group was camping in the public toilets where they at least had a roof and walls.
The simple truth is that there is not enough housing in Wyndham and what housing there is overcrowded. Rumours are that the housing authorities are starting to crack down on this overcrowding, forcing more people into the long grass. Oombi is no longer an option as vacant houses have had the electricity disconnected and the power station is soon to be decommissioned. No electricity means no water or sewerage.
The irony is if this situation was the result of a natural disaster, relief and assistance would be available. However, given that this is a man-made (gender bias intended) disaster no such assistance is available.
1 comment:
This post almost brought me to tears of frustration. That these amazingly strong resilient people can be forced to seek shelter in the way Clive describes is appalling. An occurrence sadly repeated in far too many places. An indictment on our society that we allow it to happen. It is testament to their spirit that these women can retain a sense of humour when their situation is so dire. Bless you Clive and your colleagues for caring enough to seek out this group and provide them some comfort.
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