This Article Appeared in the Melbourne Age 25 June 2012
As leaders of the Marninwarntikura Fitzroy Women’s Resource Centre, the hub for community services, Ms Oscar and Ms Carter say they are alarmed by the number of children being born with severe learning disabilities because their mothers consumed alcohol during pregnancy.
Author Denise ryan
AUNTY Di Kerr, a Wurundjeri elder, is welcoming us to country, from the “tops of the trees” to the “roots in the ground”.
This beautiful, ancient ceremony somehow transports this group of novices, keen to learn more about all things Aboriginal, to somewhere serene. No mean feat when the venue is a Richmond cafe on a busy street.
This group of about 20, which includes teachers, company directors, lawyers and retail staff, has taken two days off work to engage in a professional development program that promises greater understanding of Aboriginal issues, particularly what needs to be done to help young Aborigines stay in education.
Low school attendance and high dropout rates are national issues, with Aunty Di sharing similar concerns to June Oscar of the Bunuba and Emily Carter of the Gooniyandi mobs of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley, in the north of Western Australia. These two women have travelled to Melbourne, along with two family members, to host the course, aiming to gain support for their preventative education projects.
Course participants are impressed when they realise they are being taught by leading lights in the Aboriginal community. Bonita Mabo, during the recent 20th anniversary of the High Court ruling that rewrote Aboriginal land rights and bears her husband’s name, noted that few men since her husband had done much to stop violence and abuse within remote communities. She called on women to end it.
Ms Oscar and Ms Carter have done just that by taking their concerns to the highest international forum. Both spoke to delegates at the UN in New York recently to highlight the disturbing number of Aboriginal youth suffering from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a condition that produces profound brain damage, with a devastating impact on their ability to learn.
As leaders of the Marninwarntikura Fitzroy Women’s Resource Centre, the hub for community services, Ms Oscar and Ms Carter say they are alarmed by the number of children being born with severe learning disabilities because their mothers consumed alcohol during pregnancy.
“It is a humanitarian crisis,” says Ms Oscar. “These children are falling through the gaps. They can’t focus in school, so they are labelled as badly behaved. But they are not in control of their behaviours because of their exposure to alcohol in-utero. Yet many principals and teachers are not aware of the condition,” she says.
This syndrome is preventable, says Ms Oscar, but is a life sentence for those affected. “It is now known that FASD produces impulsivity, poor auditory processing and poor memory. This can manifest in irritability, temper tantrums, an inability to follow directions and unsafe behaviour.”
In their recent UN presentation, they showed a film documenting the devastating impact of the condition on a 12-year-old boy and his siblings. The boy, who is functioning at a five-year-old level, struggles with concentration and memory.
A research project measuring the prevalence of the syndrome in the Fitzroy Valley is under way in partnership with the University of Sydney, the George Institute for Global Health and the Westmead Children’s Hospital.
Ms Oscar and Ms Carter have met diverse groups and government agencies to explain that brain damage predisposes some youth to impulsive behaviour. “We can’t let the families deal with this alone,” says Ms Oscar. The syndrome is a problem for all affected but especially for Aborigines, says Ms Carter, as culture is handed down orally, requiring a good memory.
In their first UN presentation in 2009, they explained how they persuaded the 4500 people in their town and environs to accept restrictions on takeaway alcohol, allowing only light beer to be consumed outside licensed premises. This was necessary because violence and despair related to alcoholism had contributed to 13 suicides in 13 months at Fitzroy Crossing.
The two women showed a film, made by an independent director, that documented the introduction of alcohol restrictions, including the backlash they faced from some people.
It was a difficult time but they eventually negotiated community approval, in contrast to the federal government’s intervention strategy which they say is ineffective because it imposes change.
Their consultative approach resulted in a 14 per cent rise in school attendance. As well, a University of Notre Dame report on the first year of the restrictions found a 28 per cent reduction in alcohol-related violence and a 36 per cent reduction in alcohol-related hospital admissions.
Ms Oscar says many people fail to understand that trans-generational trauma has contributed to the high levels of alcoholism, a problem that translates to a generation of children damaged by the syndrome.
Her own idyllic early childhood was destroyed when her family was forced off their land and into a corrugated hut on a mission camp. There her family heard what had taken place to “civilise” Aborigines. “People saw killings going on in the bush so they came in to the mission out of fear,” she says. “Many talked of people being shot and thrown on bonfires. This is in living memory of many of the older generation.”
Ms Carter says her parents were “Stolen Generation — taken to a government settlement as young as five years old”. She recalls that her brother, who was in a hostel for Aboriginal children, was not allowed to see his paler-skinned sister, housed in a hostel for white children.
Such memories are painful, but the two women believe people must know what occurred from the Aboriginal perspective.
“The trauma so many families faced has not been addressed, and this is a reason why some people have turned to alcohol,” says Ms Oscar.
The course was sponsored by a Melbourne retailer and manufacturer, The Ark Clothing Company. The two women would like to run their professional development program for teacher trainees, other educators and for companies but need further sponsorship.
“We really could use more help,” says Ms Oscar.
Email kim@theark.com.au for course information
