National Reconciliation Week

The focal point of National Reconciliation Week was the opportunity for the female members of the team, partners and daughters of the male team members, to undertake some traditional basket weaving with kits from the Tjanpi Desert Weavers. This proved to be an enjoyable or frustrating experience, with those talented and crafted in the team sharing their skills.

We also had the opportunity to watch the documentary ‘In My Blood It Runs’, a documentary told through the eyes of 10-year-old Arrernte Aboriginal boy Dujuan as he grows up in Alice Springs, Australia.

The team discussed their reflections in one of the many zoom sessions held that week and we also had the opportunity to reflect on the work that Positive Partnerships does with indigenous communities nationally.

The Positive Partnerships team have great connections to culture and we were lucky enough to have Lakshmi Ajjampura, Najeeba Syeda and Emma Goodall share some research around their area of interest and connection with the week. Lakshmi shared her insights into the medicinal properties of native plants and the role they played and still play today in the health of communities. Najeeba created a PowerPoint after viewing photos of the Uluru Convention of 2017 and spoke of the feelings that this journey evoked with her own cultural experiences. Finally, Emma shared her learnings around 'barriers to a sense of belonging' which came out of her experiences at a white privilege workshop in 2019.

We are indeed very lucky to have so many passionate team members that embrace the learnings and experiences that we are presented with.