Film makers V Politicians

I went to see the film Ten Canoes the other day. Go and see it! In the last few months there have been some pretty damning images and reports about life in remote Indigenous Communities in the Northern Territory,. This has been compunded by some outrageous, uninformed and dangerous claims and solutions offered by Politicians whose idea of visiting a remote community involves a day trip (if that!)
Rolf De heer has obviously taken the time to get to know the people of Ramingining. He has sat down with them and listened to their story. He has realised the humour that exisits within this ancient culture. He has recognised that their way of telling a story is different to our way and while we may be impatient for the story to unfold according to our expectations, that is not how everyone sees the world. He had seemlessly interwoven the hutning story with the Dreamtime story and shown how Aboriginal people have been doing education for time immemorial. Spend 2 hours watching this film and you will learn more about the original inhabitant of this ancient land that any text book will teach you. You will begin to see the struggle of a people who are trying to live in two worlds and you will start to realise why this is so hard for them but what amazing strength of character and humour thay have managed to maintain.
Go and see this film.

Airport

It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I'm tired. I'm tired because I got up at 4am this morning to meet a plane arrving at Melbourne airport, a plane that carried my parents abord. They had been overseas for 6 weeks, in Europe and the UK and it felt important for me to be there to meet them when they arrived home again. Partly I think I felt this way because of the countless trips to the airport they have done for me - this morning was payback in the best sense of that term. Partly, and more importantly, I wanted to be there because this trip was so important to my Dad. He's 63 years old and this was his first trip overseas. He doesn't like flying and I dont mind telling you that I had my doubts about whether he would get on the plane. But he did, and wouldn't you know it, it turns out he sleeps well on aeroplanes! I can never sleep a wink!
So apart from a couple of phone calls, text messages and postcards, I didn't really have a sense of how the trip went. He has been back only 10 hours and already his enthusiasm for the experiences he had and the larger world in which he now feels a part are both clear. At some point, perhaps when he is less jet lagged, I will hear more stories and see some of the 12 or 13 CD's full of photos he has taken! But for now I'm just proud of him, willing to leave his comfort zone and take on a new thing and open to the revelations that brings. I hope I am so willing at 63!