Kevin traveled
to Jakarta for a special NAIDOC Week event presented
by Mr Rob Hyatt, State Coordinator, Indigenous Sport and Recreation Program, Sport and Recreation Victoria, together with the Cultural Affairs team from the
Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The Australian Embassy
celebrated
NAIDOC Week in mid-July.
NAIDOC stands
for the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance
Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence
of Aboriginal groups in the 1920s which sought to increase
awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment
of Indigenous Australians. Today, NAIDOC is a celebration
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and
an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous
Australians in various fields. Activities take place
across the nation during NAIDOC Week in the first full
week of July. All Australians are encouraged to participate.
In Jakarta
Rob Hyatt, an indigenous Australian himself, met with
60 students from two Jakarta schools, SD Al Izhar
Jakarta and SDN Pondok Labu 11, for a morning of traditional
indigenous games from Australia. The games, some of
which are a thousand years old, are linked to the Australian indigenous (aboriginal)
culture, lifestyle and environment. The
SD students, full of energy as usual, absolutely loved these games. The games
weren’t played with spears and live animals but
with balls and moving targets (other children). The activities were fantastic
and by playing the games and learning about how these
games were played by young indigenous Australians. Their cultural importance was explained and Rob was only too willing to answer student questions about the games and indigenous culture.
The students from these two schools, both BRIDGE schools,
asked many good questions and Kang Guru Indonesia was
quite surprised and very happy to hear their high level of English. Students
also received gifts from Rob, Cultural Affairs and from
Kang Guru Indonesia and of course they loved that part of the day.
from left: Anindita (Cultural Affairs),
Rob Hyatt from Australia,
Sanchi (Cultural Affairs)
and
Jason (Australian Embassy)
On Thursday, July 8th, these activities were repeated at the Australian Embassy for 60 students from SDN 05 Tebet
and SDN Kebon Jeruk 11.
In the afternoon of July 7th, Rob, Sanchi, Anindita and
Kevin traveled out to the Puters Setia Orphanage
at Jl. Kramat Sentiong no. 51, Jakarta Pusat to present
the games to the girls there. There were about 30 girls
ready and waiting when we arrived. The orphanage was
brilliantly neat and tidy and the girls, and the staff,
were very welcoming. The fun soon began with the games
and the cultural exchange activities. The girls were
certainly fit and active, especially the younger ones,
while the screaming and yelling really showed just how
much fun they were having with Rob's traditional indigenous
games.
Here's Rob Hyatt with information about the Indigenous Sport and Recreation Program
The main sports that we work with to provide programs to Aboriginal
communities are soccer, surfing, swimming, life saving, Aussie Rules
football, cricket, tennis, rugby league, softball, netball, basketball
athletics, golf and touch football. Our team also provides cross-cultural
awareness training to the sports and other partners to contribute to the
development and delivery of culturally appropriate sports programs.
As you saw in Jakarta we also deliver Traditional Indigenous Games. We
deliver these to schools on a regular basis as a means of providing
cultural awareness activities to young Australians through a positive
experience with Aboriginal people and culture through sport. The Games are
also an opportunity for Aboriginal students to engage in a cultural
activity at their school. The Games also promote physical activity and the
subsequent health benefits from this. We also deliver traditional
Indigenous games at community events and get togethers and have recently
embarked on a program to train Aboriginal communities to deliver the
Traditional Indigenous Games across their own communities and to the
broader community.
Rob Hyatt
State Coordinator
Indigenous Sport and Recreation Program
Sport and Recreation Victoria
Department of Planning and Community Development
