Harmony and me

Despite its problems, which still continue to exist, there is a spirit lingering in Balgo that makes the children friendly and affectionate, the adults approachable and everyone, white or black, respected. I firmly believe it is because there are committed people immersed in the culture, prepared to give as well as take. The attitude is a constructive one - a bridge must start on both sides first. Take it from me: if they can achieve it in Balgo, there is hope for greater Australia.

When generosity and charity receive such a workout, justice and decency are simple flow-ons. If volunteers like those in Balgo put justice and decency first, they would have packed up years ago and left, quite legitimately.

During my stay, I saw a young Aboriginal man, recently reformed from alcoholism, suffer again from a “grog run” organised by his own father, and terrorise the town with a car jack he used to smash car windscreens. It was spirit-breaking stuff to see him walking down the main road, car jack in hand; approaching an on-coming four wheel drive driven by one of the nurses. Once again it was the parish priest, who with a sense of déjà vu that would depress the most optimistic of aid workers, physically took him aside and brought him round.

Our work in that community seemed to make strong bonds. We were invited to attend a corroboree-like dance, not a common privilege for visitors. We were hosted to a dinner and a special ceremony of gratitude for our work. We had only spent three weeks cleaning and repainting old buildings, but somehow the gap had been bridged. We spent our evenings playing basketball with the children of the town, and there many friendships were forged. I clearly realised what enabled this experience, and it was the hard work of the volunteers who had created an atmosphere of mutual respect with their selfless labour.

While we had our part to play, perhaps we were the lucky witnesses of an ever-strengthening bond. It’s not the bond of justice, which can change with time and cultures, but a universally accepted language of brotherhood and friendship.

Speaking of the 1967 referendum, Deane warned, “The sparks struck by many individuals in different parts of our country became a flame which continues to burn and which will reproach all Australians for so long as we remain unreconciled.” Conversely, the spirit of the volunteer is now spreading like wildfire among the young and impressionable in this country, and it remains a key path to reconciliation. At Santa Teresa, that first community I visited a number of times, UNSW now runs its Outback Assist Program. Even high schools are getting in on the idea and running volunteer service projects (pdf file 1.39MB) to remote outback towns.

There is a little kid in Balgo called Francis. I was helping him one day to straighten the front wheel of his bike. He said that he had found it abandoned a few days before. I was later to find out that the same went for his shoes and clothes as well. It immediately came to mind that our charity and concern for Indigenous people is very much second hand - we invest words and money, which are picked up at times but don’t satisfy in the long term and are soon dumped. First hand experience and individual acts of charity will go far in achieving lasting harmony with our Indigenous country folk. They are shared experiences that remain forever - supports for both sides of the bridge.