Laverton Cycling Project Update July 2024 – NAIDOC Week!
The July Update from our Laverton Cycling Project Coordinator: Sabine Bird!
“A huge week has just passed and it was all in the name of “Blak, Loud and Proud” in Laverton!”
NAIDOC week celebrations saw a jam-packed program in town for a full week! Led by the Pakaanu Aboriginal Corporation, we participated and assisted in numerous youth and community activities all organised and supported by a raft of major stakeholders.
The whole community got together to assist wherever needed, it was a beautiful show of local spirit.
Country Pak provided a huge amount of fruits, which were so well received, as always. We had kids hovering over them like flies over Kangaroo meat: Rock melon speed eating, Mandarin-catching by mouth from the air, apple juggling, and banana recovery after sessions became a bit of a habit for some kids.
We are very thankful to have received some helping hands from the Stephen Michael Foundation and the Perth College Girls during our big bike session which easily saw 30 kids on bikes going through a skills course, learning about street signs, and learning how to ride a bike in the first place. A little ride through town saw them being scored on identifying street signs, good behaviour, and staying together.
A yearly highlight is the cultural bush night and community day thereafter. New Dreamtime stories, personal history told by elders, honey ant searching, tool making, bush food preparations, and arts & crafts made up for an insightful experience that was not to be missed.
Monday:
NAIDOC march and opening ceremony, with the whole community.
Tuesday:
School celebrations with traditional Aboriginal sports, damper making, and learning about country.
Great community get-together over a Basketball tournament.
Wednesday: Main CDF-activity
Main bike session and Cultural bush night, with some bike fixing in between activities.
Thursday:
Cultural bush day, more bike riding, and darts tournament with the community.
Friday:
Junior Footy Carnival, Blue Night Disco.
Saturday:
Senior Footy Carnival and Markets.
We also received some tremendous help in the shape of accommodation for the week from the Granny Smith Goldmine of Goldfields Australia!
Further, Horizon Power and Lynas RE have come on board to provide us with support for the second half of the year! Support that was greatly utilised for our extended work in town this time!
Thank you all very much.
Find out more about the Laverton Cycling Project.
View the full July photo album.
