working in Alice

When the alarm goes off I now have to listen. I am not happy to wake up before my body wants too, but I am willing. An hour later I sit at a desk facing two windows. People cannot see in unless they cup their hands around their eyes to look in. Someone just did it and I waved. He seemed surprised to see me sitting here and he jumped and waved back. There are two picnic tables where people wait to be assisted. There isn't much room in the office for people to line up. The building on the other side of the picnic tables is labelled, Tangentyere artists. Two men just walked by my window wearing denim and cowboy hats. The man who cleans our office told me about a big Rugby game tonight. He wants Queensland to win. If they win it will be the 6th year that they have won. He told my co-worker that I was 'chatting him up' and that he wasn't 'chatting me up'. I think that means I was flirting with him. Music automatically comes out of my phone. It confused me at first. It's always tuned to an Aboriginal radio station. Yesterday I heard a song that sang, 'White fella, black fella, it don't matter, what your colour'... of course colour rhymes with fella here. Today I have heard Celine Dion, Elvis Presley, Black Eyed Peas, Kenny Rogers and Kanye West all from the same station.

I started working with the Tangentyere Council last week. I am the Emergency Relief case manager. Before this position existed the 3 other case managers took turns assisting emergency relief clients. My job is to help people that are in a financial crisis. It seems like most people come in for funeral assistance. It is very important culturally that people attend funerals. I am not sure what the ramifications are if someone doesn't attend, but I am under the impression it is not optional. This is what the Australian Academy of Medicine and Surgery has to say about it,

Bereavement, known as sorry business, is a very important part of Aboriginal culture. Funerals can involve entire communities, and the expression of grief can include self injury. The grieving relatives may live in a specially designated area, the sorry camp, for a period of time. The relatives may also cut off their hair or wear white pigment on their faces. The community refrains from using the name of the deceased, but can refer to him or her by the name Kwementyae. People with the same name as the deceased should also be called Kwementyaye. Photographs or videos of the deceased have to be destroyed. It is important for the interviewer to realise that asking about the self injury (sorry cuts), or other physical manifestations of the grieving, will cause embarrassment. Mentioning the name of the deceased or asking 'Who has died?' will also cause distress - perhaps even a renewal of wailing.

The other part of my job should involve leaving the office to meet with my clients. My clients will be people who continually use Emergency Assistance as a means to supplement their income... This may be the case because they have something that continually strains their budget. I would investigate the situation and attempt to assist the person and overcome the obstacle permanently. I went with my co-worker on a town camp tour last week. I tried to write about the town camps, but I think the Tangentyere web site does a better job. Click here to read about the town camps. We also stopped by the river to check on a few of his clients. The small group we approached was cooking meat on a small camp fire. They were happy. We delivered a few blankets and my co-worker inquired about one of his clients that was taken into the emergency room the day before. It was fun.

I think I would like the homeless case management job more, but I will only be here for a year. I feel good about obtaining the position I did. I just saw on my hire paper work that 6 people applied for the position and 3 of us were considered. I think for Alice that is a competitive position. It was written that I was hired because I have a lot of experience at an NGO overseas and that I have a strong work ethic. Thanks references and TRH for homeless experience with an NGO.

I will try to get Nathan to write about his work experience. Unfortunately neither of us can really tell you how cool our jobs are. We have to respect the confidentiality of those we work with. I can say that it is cool. Really cool... and really normal at the same time.

the end