from YAPRap March 2008
by Kristy Delaney, YAPRap Feature Writer
George McCormick was an opal miner for 20 years before he decided to turn his hand to youth work.
A chance remark from a friend about a local youth work job changed the course of his career and he decided to apply for the position of Youth Development Officer at Walgett Shire Council.
After just fourteen months in the job it is clear that he has a natural talent for the role and is making a huge impact in his local community.
George is based in Walgett in north west NSW and his position covers 22,000 square kms including the townships of Walgett, Lightning Ridge, about an hours drive north, and Collarenebri, about an hour drive north-east).
George has been coaching the local footy team at Lightning Ridge for more than five years, and President for the last three. This helped him build strong connections with the local young people and their families.
Around half of the local youth population are Aboriginal and many Aboriginal young people are involved in local youth programs. George is married to Marcia, a Murrawarri (Aboriginal) woman and says that the support of his wife, kids, in-laws and other Aboriginal community members has helped him build trust in the Aboriginal community.
This article outlines three successful projects he has coordinated in the Walgett, Collarenebri and Lightning Ridge communities.
Stop family violence: happy families are best - Walgett community calendar project
The 2007 community calendar was designed to put a positive message “happy families are best” into every local home.
Walgett Youth Centre formed a partnership with Barwon Cottage (a refuge for women and children) to develop a beautiful, glossy calendar filled with artwork and messages about children's rights and caring families.
The calendar contains the artwork of 35 children and young people from the Walgett Youth Centre.
The ingenuity of the project is that messages about happy families are given prominence within the home and displayed for a full year.
1,000 calendars were printed for Walgett and distributed through Council and local shops. The calendars were free and received a very positive response from the local community, with all of the calendars quickly snapped up.
Walgett has just under a 1,000 households and it's likely that the majority of households in Walgett have the happy families calendar.
The calendar has a strong Aboriginal theme and each page has a statement in the Yuwaaliaay / Gamilaroi (Aboriginal) language.
Young people who helped develop the calendar attended a special calendar launch Christmas party and received a framed picture of their artwork and 3 copies of the calendar to give to their relatives for Christmas.
A calendar of a simular scope was produced in Lightning Ridge with local children and “Yawarra Meamei” the Lightning Ridge Women's Safe House Project.
In response to the positive feedback from the community, Walgett Youth Centre and Barwon Cottage will be running the project again. The theme of the 2008 calendar is “care and share – it's only fair”.
Calendar messages in the Kamilaroi language
gulagama – li embrace, cuddle, hold
gayaa gii happy heart
galuma – li care for
gugirribiyay - strong
winanga – y understanding
maayuma – li fix, heal, make better
gayaa - happy, pleased, proud
gayliyaay - kind, good hearted
gayya dhiiyaan - proud family
maaydja - free
gaba dhiiyaan - happy family
gundhi winanga – y, gindamy – y, gaba house filled with love, laughter, happiness
Calendar messages about children's rights
Children have the right to be safe from abuse, either physical, sexual or emotional
Children have the right not to be blamed for the actions of their parents or others
Children have the right to be listened to
Children have the right to be loved for themselves
Children have the right to not be perfect
Children have the right to get help from their parents and other adults
Children have the right to express their own feelings and thoughts
Children have the right to be angry over past emotional and physical abuse
Children have the right to develop their individual talents and abilities
Children have the right to freedom from fear
Children have the right to be treated with respect
Children have the right to have a safe and loving environment to help them develop and grow.
Calendar messages about family violence
Nobody deserves violence
Expect and give respect
Family violence prevents children from feeling safe
Family violence damages a child's self esteem and confidence
Family violence affects children even if they don't see it
Family violence can interfere with a child's development and education
Family violence can affect a child's relationship with other people
The experiences we give our children will stay with them forever
Children learn how to behave from family role models
The best gift you can give your children is your time
Children often believe family violence is their fault
Even though emotional abuse leaves no physical signs like bruises and fractures, do not overlook the harm that this form of abuse can cause. Emotional abuse harms children in a deep, silent and equally painful way. (Ecav 1998)
Colouring our community - Walgett mural project
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles have gained widespread support and application across Australia. According to CPTED, the built environment influences the way people behave and their feelings of safety.
Think for a moment about public places that you visit regularly. Do you feel safe or unsafe in these areas and what makes you feel that way? According to CPTED, places that are clean, well maintained, with good lighting and natural surveillance tend to make us feel safer. (See below for more about CPTED).
Walgett is a town that had a large amount of (graffiti) tags, with one of the main buildings in town, the supermarket, almost completely covered in tags. This was having a direct impact on local residents and the way they felt about living in Walgett.
The Youth Development Officer from Council, George McCormick, decided to tackle this problem by developing the “Murals in the West” Colouring Our Community project.
The project involved young people painting murals in three prominent places within the town centre – the supermarket, the Council building, and the Visitor Information Centre.
32 young people from the local school spent a week designing and painting a mural across the front of the supermarket. The mural is a happy, positive and brightly coloured addition to the town and features key messages about healthy eating, healthy food and healthy lifestyles. As I was taking photos for this story a number of friendly locals stopped to tell me how great the mural was and how proud they were of the young people who had painted it.
The Council building has also had a facelift with two large square murals erected on the brick building. The first mural was painted by young people from the Lightning Ridge Youth Centre and local artist Karin Thurston. The second was painted by young people from the Walgett Youth Centre and local artist Kevin Fernando and features the story of the Dreamtime in Walgett. Young people's artwork has now been given pride of place on the Council building.
There have been many positive benefits to the project. The local community are really pleased with the improvements, young people have been given the chance to develop and display their artistic talents and there has been an increase in community ownership and community pride in Walgett. This program was also staged in the community of Lightning Ridge and the remote community of Grawin on the opal fields north-west of Walgett.
Using what you've got: Running programs in small towns
It can be challenging to run youth programs in small towns where there are limited services, events or attractions for young people.
Key agencies in Walgett, including the school, sports organisations, youth centres and the Aboriginal Medical Service have joined together to collaboratively plan and deliver services for young people. They believe this approach has been responsible for a big reduction in crime in the local area.
Some examples of this approach:
Council coordinated a program, with the help of local community facilitator Gilbert Nolan, to provide children and young people with information from all the local service providers. A Youth Information Day was help at a local park with lots of sports activities such as skipping and footy. The local Walgett PCYC mobile van was able to attend and provided plenty of activities. The day included a big focus on youth health and their general well being with the young people provided with a show bag of information about youth issues and services. Thirteen different agencies worked together to make the day a success.
A Youth Summit was held to hear the views of local young people about how things could improve in Walgett. Young people spoke about many ideas for improving the town and at the top of the wish list was McDonalds! Council took the idea seriously and creatively. Young people were asked exactly what it was that they liked about McDonalds, and cheeseburgers and milkshakes were identified. After some discussion and brainstorming it was agreed that the Council would help young people write to the local takeaway shop and ask them to adapt their current menu to include cheeseburgers and milkshakes that were similar to the McDonalds style. Young people felt this was a great solution to the issue.
In Lightning Ridge young people were given the opportunity to Play The Tourist For a Day . Tourist coach buses and tour guides were provided and young people had the chance to hear all about their local community and its history. Young people were able to visit local tourist shops and attractions that many of them had never visited. It was a fun experience that helped young people recognise and appreciate their local town.
There are many other examples of successful programs in Walgett and Lightning Ridge including community harmony events, local discos, youth week activities, fishing and yabbying comps and school to work programs.
Youth Development Officer, George McCormick, believes that “every kid deserves a chance” and he is committed to making a difference in his community.
More information
George McCormick
Youth Development Officer, Walgett Shire Council
02 6828 6126
gmccormick@walgett.nsw.gov.au
Crime prevention through environmental design at your agency
fact sheet for youth services
www.yapa.org.au/youthwork/facts/crimeprevdesign.php
