Broome camp blows minds of remote school students

Bayulu Remote Community School’s Year 3 and 4 students enjoyed a week-long camp in Broome recently, thanks to a new youth fund started by Aboriginal company Leedal Pty.

Teacher Joanne Sparrow applied for funding through the Yapawarnti Fund to bring her classes to Broome and for many students it was their first trip outside of their remote community.

The first evening of their stay included dinner at Zander’s restaurant, where the children were introduced to the head chef and had their first restaurant dining experience.

“Most chose the fish and chips. The first boy to finish stood up, picked up his plate and said ‘where I take it Miss Jo?’,” Ms Sparrow said.

“When I told him the people in the restaurant would do all our cleaning up, his eyes became huge and he asked ‘For real Miss Jo?’, It was gorgeous.”

Other activities included mini-golf, a tour of Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park, a camel ride on Cable Beach and Greg Quicke’s Astrotours.

“The children were absolutely enamoured with everything,” Ms Sparrow said.

“For some it was the first time they had ever seen the beach. One student, Attaya, has a prosthetic leg which often means she’ll avoid physical activity, but this day she joined in, I can’t tell you how much my heart melted when I saw her walking down to the beach in her cute little shorts and bikini top ready to hit the surf.

“She took off her leg and hopped down to the surf and just went for it! She was in the water the longest of any of the kids and absolutely loved it. I can’t tell you how proud of her I was and I hope it was a turning point for her.”

Ms Sparrow said despite the huge amount of work involved in organising and sourcing funding for the camp, it was one of the best experiences of her own working life.

“I was so proud of my kids, they were well-mannered, engaged, and were great little ambassadors for Bayulu School and the local communities,” she said.

The camp was the second project supported by the Yapawarnti Fund.

Owned by six beneficiary communities of the Fitzroy Valley: Marra Worra Worra, Junjuwa, Bayulu, Yiyili, Kadjina and Kurnangki, Leedal owns the recently rebuilt Tarunda Supermarket, the Fitzroy River Lodge and the Crossing Inn.

Through a corporate structure and with local representation from the Fitzroy River Trust, the company plays an important role in the Kimberley and is dedicated to contributing to social development.