COLOURING THE 'MU

There have been regular storms in the ‘Mu over the past couple of weeks. Yesterday one rolled in around 5 and dumped a fleeting shower over the community. When it broke the sky expanded into a contrast of majestic cloud-patterns. The redness of the dirt intensified when a sharp light pierced through the grey. I ventured out with my camera in attempt to capture some of the impressive colours.

The view from my front porch just after the storm broke. The two white houses are where the Principal, her family and another teacher live. Up further are some more teacher-digs, across the road is where Liam and Anna stay, and at the other end of the street is where some of the health-workers from the clinic live. So yeah, there’s a big mob of us whitefellas on this street! The street-sign says “Ti-tree Street” but the kids often refer to it as “Kardiya (whitefella) Street”, for obvious reasons.
An old rusty pull-kart or trolley of some description. Abandoned playthings are ubiquitous in old Yuendumu – teddy bears suffocating in mud, disembodied superhero suits, down-and-out dollies. I get the impression that they get reclaimed before too long though, inadvertently passed on to a curious passerby to be re-used and re-forgotten. This old thing has been re-forgotten for decades it seems; it’s rusted up and completely bottomed-out, but the wheels still go round.

There’s a curious thing about my little desert-hut! The front yard appears to be home to a continuous population of butterflies. There are literally thirty or so flying around every afternoon (for the past week anyhow). They tend to attract a mob of inquisitive little locals, who aren’t as interested in the spectacle as they are in beheading their prey. Here’s one with his victim, post-capture and pre-decapitation! Aaaw, so callous, so cute!

This is the spot where they host theYuendumu Disco, home to some of the nastiest b-boppin’ and booty-slammin’ this side of Coober Pedy. Not kidding really, these kids can bust it. Once I get my middle years boys passed their ‘shame’ (if that’s at all possible) I’m planning on captaining a dynamic all-male dance troupe and hittin’ the road. I’ll keep you posted on our progress… ;)

One of the original buildings leftover from the mission days. Yuendumu was originally established to deliver rations and welfare services to the Warlpiri people over 50 years ago. Apparenly these builidngs were standard issue across the territory at this time. There is a similar building still in use at the school.

A view from the front gate of Yuendumu School. I’ve settled in to the whole “teacher” role up here surprisingly well. The kids are all excellent; a likeable combination of cheek, charm and humility. The school, as with most schools, comes with its fair share of boring politics but all in all there’s an amicable vibe about the place. Academically there are a thousand and one challenges, which can seem a bit overwhelming at times, but I remain happy and hopeful and feel like we're off to a good start!

That's all for now. More when there's more...

J x