Tullawon Health Service Yalata - Indigenous health campaign 2009 May - Yalata SA
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C’mon kids, you look tired! Lets go cook something healthy to eat, it’ll give you energy to run and play all day.
Fish is good for the brain, vegetables keep you healthy and bush tucker like kangaroo tails keep you strong.
Our team worked with the Yalata Anangu community and Tullawon Aboriginal Health Service to produce a short film addressing community concerns around healthy eating.
During the 4 day workshop with over 25 participants the group brainstormed, shot and edited their film to promote healthy and active lifestyles. To get the whole team on board, we moved focus from healthy eating to healthy living; as there was huge pride for their sporting activities; BMX biking, acrobatic back flips, playing footy. To showcase healthy food the group prepared and cooked easy to make meals in the bush and kitchen. On location the whole team filmed the preparation of damper and kangaroo tail at a camp fire. The outcome overwhelmed the whole community.
The project is a benchmark for us to show how digital media (from making snapshots to complex films), can bridge cultural and social divides.
One of our key aims is media literacy for liberation. However, as white media makers and educators, we are challenged to adequately offer support to an Indigenous community who have been forcibly removed from their land during the Maralinga atom bomb testing and must work hard to keep culture and maintain a functioning social structure. Dabbling in media can appear a secondary concern under these conditions.
Our experience with such collaborations is that using media can have a profound impact. We worked with the adult supporters to develop digital media tutorials that engage the community and raise expectations and self-esteem. It was encouraging for the adult supporters in the community to see participants who struggle to speak at all for several years, address the camera and spend hours shooting and editing their film.
As a result, the youth workers are now sourcing funding to get digital media equipment to continue the work.
Partners
Anangu School
Apple
Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities
Australia Council for the Arts
Indigenous Coordination Centre SA
Indigenous Cultural Support, Office for the Arts, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport
Tullawon Health Service Inc
Yalata Aboriginal Community