Yes, we had our first kangaroo meal with the boys this week. Kangaroo meat is very good. We were both impressed. It’s a little hard to eat when one thinks about those cute little animals that hop around but very tasty indeed! We also had traditional Damper Bread with our meal. Damper bread is a traditional bread eaten by Australian Aboriginal people. We also enjoyed a time around the fire as we enjoyed this traditional feast.
The past couple of weeks have been very busy for us. Our weeks have started out with me (Bill) driving to a community called Milikapiti to pick up students for the week. Milikapiti is about a one hour very dusty drive from the College here at Pickertaramoor. Once in Milikapiti, I go to the local shop and find a couple of students. At that point we drive around and pick up more students making sure everyone has their bags for the week. This process can last an hour and I’m always glad to be on our way back to Pickertaramoor. They then go home at 1:00 pm for the weekend on Friday. Tiwi College is definitely on the front lines here as we work to bring hope for the future to the Tiwi people. The challenges are numerous but we are slowly seeing the work develop.
The past two weeks with the boys have been challenging at times but we are seeing substantial progress. We are seeing the boys fall into more of a routine in the house with very little acting out.
Early this week we had the media with us from an Australian news show called “4 Corners”. 4 Corners is very similar to 20/20 or 60 minutes and is a well regarded show that has been airing in Australia for around 50 years! It was definitely a stressful day for Linda and me as they spent a good part of the day filming activities in the house including dinner time and lights out as we tucked the boys into bed. They also did quite a bit of interviewing with some of the students. The reporters told us it’s going to be a positive report on what Tiwi College is doing. It should air in 3 or 4 weeks. I think it will be streaming on the Internet also so we will pass on the link when it becomes available.
Next Tuesday we are in for another media circus when a government minister visits. We understand that this lady visiting (along with a group of dignitaries) is number three in charge in the Australian government. They are actually coming to our house to dedicate the school using our house as “dedication central” with a gathering in our living room. Our house here is the “show house” per say being it’s the newest and probably the nicest. We will be glad when the show is over!!!
We miss everybody back home but we are truly glad to be here during the pioneering stage of the school. It is difficult, often stressful work but the joys along the way are irreplaceable! We don’t have TV here yet but we are supposed to get a phone and Internet connection in the house by the end of May. TV is coming sometime in the future. We rely mostly on radio to get our news and we trade DVD’s around the campus for free-time entertainment. All the staff and their families live here on Campus as of last week. Before, most of the families lived in Darwin while their fathers worked the weekdays and flew back for the weekend. There are children everywhere and it feels like a community now. We have a great swimming hole on campus that helps to relieve the heat of the day. There are a couple small waterfalls and a rope to swing off into the water. Linda and I have been doing a lot of walking in our free time. It is beautiful Australian bush with varieties of beautiful parrots and other birds. We often see wild horses and wallabies and hope we don’t run into a water buffalo or a Dingo which are plentiful as well.
Please keep us in your prayers as we continue as a team to advance the front lines. Thanks!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Photo's
The wet season is only a memory now but what a wet season it was! Literally everyone on campus was effected in one way or another by the heavy rain fall this season. The dry season will run to sometime in November.
A photo of our boys last Thursday as we went on a walk after dinner. We came across some old equipment that used to be used here when Pickertaramoor was a logging camp.
The latest addition to one of the wild horse herds here on the groundsThe Dry Season Is Here At Pickertaramoor
The Dry Season is in full swing and so is the construction here at Tiwi College. The landing strip often has airplanes buzzing in and out with workers. The trucks are coming in from the barge landing with materials. The dirt roads out from the College are now in good condition and the luxury to travel around the island is available once again. This is an amazing project and enormous in proportion! The College campus will soon boast a 400 meter running track, a rugby oval, 6 large Family group homes for the students, many staff homes and buildings, several school buildings, a school for staff children among other things. This is only phase 1 of 4!! Truly an awesome project in a very remote area! What a privledge it is to serve here!
The week with the boys has been a tough one indeed. We had 9 boys at one point and finished up with 8 by the end of the week. Linda and I both broke up fights. 2 boys were suspended and we had one new arrival later in the week. There is not a school building completed yet so the boys school has been in our Family Group home’s common room. It’s been difficult especially for the teachers this week. The boys would often go into their rooms not wanting to come out for class. Some would change out of their school uniform and say they wanted to go home. This sort of structure here at the College is all new for these boys. At one point during the school day on Thursday, Linda advised me to come and help the teachers. As I walked out the back door, there was a teacher using a large piece of cardboard for a shield deflecting rocks that were being thrown at him by a student. At one point the student actually threw a circular stone saw blade he found in a pile of construction rubbish. It was quite an interesting scene especially being this is a very short 12 year old student! I walked up behind him and by the time I reached him he was sitting down on the ground. I then sat on the ground next to him and asked him "what was going on" to start a conversation. I was a bit nervous with this being he had an arsenal of weapons on his lap which included a wood saw with the handle broke off, a metal pipe and another circular stone saw blade. After we talked a few minutes he put his weapons off to the side, asked to wash his face because of the tears and rejoined the group. He will need to work some during his free time next week to pay for 4 chairs he broke during the rampage.
Believe it or not, the boys are coming along well compared to last term. Sure, this week was a little bit of a blip, but we see better things for the coming week. We are convinced that a positive learning culture will continue to develop here on campus as the staff here continue to work as a team to teach and train the students in every day living skills and education. We also know that real peace and true lasting change only comes from a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly". Please continue to pray for our boys as they continue on here at Tiwi College.
The week with the boys has been a tough one indeed. We had 9 boys at one point and finished up with 8 by the end of the week. Linda and I both broke up fights. 2 boys were suspended and we had one new arrival later in the week. There is not a school building completed yet so the boys school has been in our Family Group home’s common room. It’s been difficult especially for the teachers this week. The boys would often go into their rooms not wanting to come out for class. Some would change out of their school uniform and say they wanted to go home. This sort of structure here at the College is all new for these boys. At one point during the school day on Thursday, Linda advised me to come and help the teachers. As I walked out the back door, there was a teacher using a large piece of cardboard for a shield deflecting rocks that were being thrown at him by a student. At one point the student actually threw a circular stone saw blade he found in a pile of construction rubbish. It was quite an interesting scene especially being this is a very short 12 year old student! I walked up behind him and by the time I reached him he was sitting down on the ground. I then sat on the ground next to him and asked him "what was going on" to start a conversation. I was a bit nervous with this being he had an arsenal of weapons on his lap which included a wood saw with the handle broke off, a metal pipe and another circular stone saw blade. After we talked a few minutes he put his weapons off to the side, asked to wash his face because of the tears and rejoined the group. He will need to work some during his free time next week to pay for 4 chairs he broke during the rampage.
Believe it or not, the boys are coming along well compared to last term. Sure, this week was a little bit of a blip, but we see better things for the coming week. We are convinced that a positive learning culture will continue to develop here on campus as the staff here continue to work as a team to teach and train the students in every day living skills and education. We also know that real peace and true lasting change only comes from a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly". Please continue to pray for our boys as they continue on here at Tiwi College.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Recent photo's
Back view of the boys house we run
Front view of the boys house (yes, this is all one house)
Our transport to and from the island to Darwin
Our seven boysWe have internet!!!
April 25th 2008
We now have internet on campus! It’s a temporary wireless router in the main office until the college infrastructure is finalized but we are thankful we now have means in which to access!! I think the next step will be a wireless router that will transmit 2 miles and then a fiber optics network to the homes. We are glad to see step one at the moment!
It’s a public holiday here called “Anzac Day” so we have a 3 day weekend. Anzac day is similar to Veterans Day in the States. We will be going to an Anzac day party on campus this evening to eat some traditional Aussie holiday treats.
Week two with the boys has been very good. We had 7 boys in the house. Most of them are 12 and 13 with a 14, 16 and 17 year old. We are very encouraged how the boys are settling in and it has surpassed our initial expectations. One of the boys who lives with his grandparents and doesn’t have a father and his mother has serious issues, expressed to us that “he feels like we are family here”. That was very encouraging to us!
The teachers have expressed to us that the boys are participating in class like never before. This kind of life is all new to the students and of course has it’s challenges as we work to play our part with the boys to build a campus culture. We are thankful we haven’t had any acting out as of yet with no escalation of anger. It’s not a matter of “if” this will happen, but when, but we are working to minimize any incident. Even though these boys are not in custody, the vast majority come from “families in crisis”.
Before the boys were in the house here at the College, they lived in very small portable houses during the first term. There were often fights, rock throwing and serious temper tantrums. Actually, the only rock throwing we have seen this term was when we were walking back from the river where we swim with the students after school. They spotted a snake and immediately opened fire with rapid rock fire! It was amazing to see the accuracy of their shooting as stones bounced off the 2 or 3 foot black colored snake as it screamed off across the road for cover!
It’s amazing to us as we get to know the boys concerning the potential in their lives. We’ve been instructed to teach and guide the boys through a teaching philosophy known as “RAP” (Response Ability Pathways). RAP works by encouragement/ positive reinforcement rather than using a string of consequences to deal with bad behavior. “RAP” works to promote changed lifestyle from the inside-out rather than an external system which only “Band-Aids”. If anyone is interested in the book that teaches this its called” Response Ability Pathways (restoring bonds of respect)” authored by Larry Brendtro & Lesley du Toit. As we apply this with other Biblical principle, we believe will see the Tiwi youth of Bathurst and Melville Island rise up and take their place to be everything God has created them to be.
We thank those of you who have been praying for the Tiwi people. Transformation needs to happen here and we are literally on the front lines. Please pray for us as well for strength and wisdom.
We now have internet on campus! It’s a temporary wireless router in the main office until the college infrastructure is finalized but we are thankful we now have means in which to access!! I think the next step will be a wireless router that will transmit 2 miles and then a fiber optics network to the homes. We are glad to see step one at the moment!
It’s a public holiday here called “Anzac Day” so we have a 3 day weekend. Anzac day is similar to Veterans Day in the States. We will be going to an Anzac day party on campus this evening to eat some traditional Aussie holiday treats.
Week two with the boys has been very good. We had 7 boys in the house. Most of them are 12 and 13 with a 14, 16 and 17 year old. We are very encouraged how the boys are settling in and it has surpassed our initial expectations. One of the boys who lives with his grandparents and doesn’t have a father and his mother has serious issues, expressed to us that “he feels like we are family here”. That was very encouraging to us!
The teachers have expressed to us that the boys are participating in class like never before. This kind of life is all new to the students and of course has it’s challenges as we work to play our part with the boys to build a campus culture. We are thankful we haven’t had any acting out as of yet with no escalation of anger. It’s not a matter of “if” this will happen, but when, but we are working to minimize any incident. Even though these boys are not in custody, the vast majority come from “families in crisis”.
Before the boys were in the house here at the College, they lived in very small portable houses during the first term. There were often fights, rock throwing and serious temper tantrums. Actually, the only rock throwing we have seen this term was when we were walking back from the river where we swim with the students after school. They spotted a snake and immediately opened fire with rapid rock fire! It was amazing to see the accuracy of their shooting as stones bounced off the 2 or 3 foot black colored snake as it screamed off across the road for cover!
It’s amazing to us as we get to know the boys concerning the potential in their lives. We’ve been instructed to teach and guide the boys through a teaching philosophy known as “RAP” (Response Ability Pathways). RAP works by encouragement/ positive reinforcement rather than using a string of consequences to deal with bad behavior. “RAP” works to promote changed lifestyle from the inside-out rather than an external system which only “Band-Aids”. If anyone is interested in the book that teaches this its called” Response Ability Pathways (restoring bonds of respect)” authored by Larry Brendtro & Lesley du Toit. As we apply this with other Biblical principle, we believe will see the Tiwi youth of Bathurst and Melville Island rise up and take their place to be everything God has created them to be.
We thank those of you who have been praying for the Tiwi people. Transformation needs to happen here and we are literally on the front lines. Please pray for us as well for strength and wisdom.
School Term 1 /Achieved April 11 – 18, 2008
April 11 – 18, 2008
We flew back to Pickertaramoor on Friday morning the 11th. The flight was a bit bumpy because of strong easterly winds and very hot ground weather. It was good to be back. We learned when we returned that our new Family Group Home was ready to move into. We were off to work within minutes of our arrival. It was a hard 3 days of moving and assembling stuff. First the house needed to be cleaned from the construction dust, etc... We were thankful for some hard working staff that offered to help with this. We needed to move all kinds of stuff including, 2 refrigerator’s, 2 freezers 13 beds, 12 of which needed to be assembled. Everything was brand new for the house. The kitchen tools and small appliances are top of the line and virtually everything we will ever need. We are very impressed! Someone mentioned to us that it must be like getting married all over again with everything new for the house. The house and everything in it is beautiful and we are very thankful for such fine facilities in which to keep the boys.
The first day of the school term started on Tuesday. The roads are in much better shape now being the dry season is here so we went to pick up the students via road. I went to a community called Milikapati which is in an area known as Snake Bay on the North side of the island about 1 hour and 20 minutes away. The trip back to the school was uneventful and the students enjoyed listening to some music I brought along.
The boys did well overall the first week in the new house. We had an orientation with them the first day and laid down the house rules, etc… Discipline and structure is for the most part foreign to these boys so at times they were a bit slow to follow through. We gently led and encouraged them and they for the most part followed through with what needed to be done. We began to build relationships with each one which is very important with the focus of making them feel loved. We are teaching and training them and are working to develop a culture in the house which will take some time. The capacity of our house is 12 boys. We started out with 7 boys this week. Some did not come because of a funeral in the community. The Tiwi people are very respectful when it comes to these kinds of things. Over the course of the week we lost another boy who went to the funeral, one was suspended for refusing to participate in school and yet another hurt his foot during PE and needed to go home for the week. We finished the week with 4 boys. The encouraging thing about the week is we had no rock throwing or fighting among the boys which is a breakthrough. They seem very comfortable in their new home. We expect to have more boys in the house next week.
We continue to enjoy our new surroundings. We love the wildlife which includes wallabies (a smaller version of kangaroo, some call them Kangaroo want-to-be’s), wild horses, and many varieties of parrots. We also have seen a couple of Dingo’s around as we have driven the roads. We know there are plenty around the campus at night.
We’ve enjoyed our time with other staff on campus. We got together and played Yatzee one night this weekend and another night watched a DVD concert with some others by Randy Stonehill and Phil Keaggy. That definitely gives away our age! We still like it loud!!!
We flew back to Pickertaramoor on Friday morning the 11th. The flight was a bit bumpy because of strong easterly winds and very hot ground weather. It was good to be back. We learned when we returned that our new Family Group Home was ready to move into. We were off to work within minutes of our arrival. It was a hard 3 days of moving and assembling stuff. First the house needed to be cleaned from the construction dust, etc... We were thankful for some hard working staff that offered to help with this. We needed to move all kinds of stuff including, 2 refrigerator’s, 2 freezers 13 beds, 12 of which needed to be assembled. Everything was brand new for the house. The kitchen tools and small appliances are top of the line and virtually everything we will ever need. We are very impressed! Someone mentioned to us that it must be like getting married all over again with everything new for the house. The house and everything in it is beautiful and we are very thankful for such fine facilities in which to keep the boys.
The first day of the school term started on Tuesday. The roads are in much better shape now being the dry season is here so we went to pick up the students via road. I went to a community called Milikapati which is in an area known as Snake Bay on the North side of the island about 1 hour and 20 minutes away. The trip back to the school was uneventful and the students enjoyed listening to some music I brought along.
The boys did well overall the first week in the new house. We had an orientation with them the first day and laid down the house rules, etc… Discipline and structure is for the most part foreign to these boys so at times they were a bit slow to follow through. We gently led and encouraged them and they for the most part followed through with what needed to be done. We began to build relationships with each one which is very important with the focus of making them feel loved. We are teaching and training them and are working to develop a culture in the house which will take some time. The capacity of our house is 12 boys. We started out with 7 boys this week. Some did not come because of a funeral in the community. The Tiwi people are very respectful when it comes to these kinds of things. Over the course of the week we lost another boy who went to the funeral, one was suspended for refusing to participate in school and yet another hurt his foot during PE and needed to go home for the week. We finished the week with 4 boys. The encouraging thing about the week is we had no rock throwing or fighting among the boys which is a breakthrough. They seem very comfortable in their new home. We expect to have more boys in the house next week.
We continue to enjoy our new surroundings. We love the wildlife which includes wallabies (a smaller version of kangaroo, some call them Kangaroo want-to-be’s), wild horses, and many varieties of parrots. We also have seen a couple of Dingo’s around as we have driven the roads. We know there are plenty around the campus at night.
We’ve enjoyed our time with other staff on campus. We got together and played Yatzee one night this weekend and another night watched a DVD concert with some others by Randy Stonehill and Phil Keaggy. That definitely gives away our age! We still like it loud!!!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Some photo's
Bill's first experience in the mud. It's a goodthing we had a winch!! The guy standing next
to the "Troop Carrier" is a Tiwi Teachers aid
at the school. The guy behind the camera is Bill.
Linda behind the wheel safely on the beach during low tide as we fished.
Some of the students going home for the weekend. They have had to fly for most of last term being the roads have been impassible due to the heavy monsoon rains.
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