Karalundi open day celebrates community
Meekatharra, Western Australia

On May 19, more than 40 government, business and community leaders attended the open day at Karalundi Aboriginal Education Centre in Western Australia.

Indigenous elders John Kyanga, Ken Farmer and Clive Councillor—all former Karalundi students and founding members in the reopening of Karalundi—addressed the visitors at the event.

Mr Kyanga spoke of the challenges they faced to reopen the school and the joy of seeing it become so successful; Mr Farmer spoke of the desire indigenous leaders have for a better future for their children and the role Karalundi plays in achieving that; and Mr Councillor spoke of Karalundi being “holy ground” to the many Aboriginal people who have been associated with Karalundi over the years.

The aim of the Karalundi Open Day was to showcase the Karalundi community; to share Karalundi’s vision with stakeholders; and to learn from government agencies about their expectations for Karalundi.Visitors were escorted on tours of the community and saw first-hand the well-kept community housing, boarding school, hostel, power station and essential services, along with other equipment and displays of proposed future enterprises. Karalundi has existed and operated during the past 20 years without municipal services funding, and it was hoped that the open day would be a step closer to addressing the community’s disadvantage in this area.

Kiri Nicholls, 13, addressed the visitors, on behalf of KAEC students, and said she believed Karalundi was the best school she’d been to. Kiri also said she hoped the visitors would see why Karalundi was such a special place and she invited them to bow their heads as she said Grace before visitors, staff and students of KAEC enjoyed a BBQ lunch together. Some students also put on a fearless trampoline demonstration.

Darren Farmer, a former student and current associate principal of Karalundi, addressed those at the gathering, saying, “Karalundi is a model example of a healthy, sustainable indigenous community where the vision indigenous elders had more than 50 years ago is now being passed on to succeeding generations. Karalundi stands as a true example of self-determination, partnership, reconciliation, capacity building and sustainability and these principles have always been a natural part of Karalundi.”

Questions were asked about the role the Seventh-day Adventist Church has in the community and how much financial support the community receives from the church. Mr Farmer confirmed that the church has been invited to provide Karalundi with spiritual guidance and support; advised that the community is not run by the church and in fact receives no financial support from the church. Government representatives suggested Karalundi was a model community and were keen to learn about its history and its plans for the future.

“While a lot of work went into organising the open day it was really just the beginning of a long process of liaison with government agencies. We hope the visit will have had a lasting effect on the minds and hearts of those who came,” says Karalundi administrator Glenn Grey. “There were lots of questions about the projects Karalundi has planned for the future including an Art and Cultural Centre as a true ‘watering hole’ as the 19th hole for the proposed Karalundi Golf Course; vocational and pre-employment training courses; expansion of Karalundi’s lucerne production for sale; a water-bottling enterprise and the Karalundi Outdoor Personal Enrichment (KOPE) program.”

Mr Grey is passionate about the potential benefits of the KOPE program. He says, “The KOPE program is about providing indigenous young people with skills and strategies for coping with negative influences in their lives. It’s about giving them purpose and confidence. It also involves training community leaders as mentors, providing young people with support and encouragement.”

The open day gave government agencies the opportunity to take a step closer to partnering with Karalundi in the development of the KOPE program.

The Karalundi Mission was operated by the Adventist Church from the 1950s to the 1970s in response to requests from indigenous people of the Western Desert region of Western Australia. In the 1970s government policy changed and the mission closed. In the early 1980s former Karalundi students petitioned the church and government for the school to reopen. In 1986 the school reopened and in 2006 KAEC has 100 indigenous students from preschool to Year 10.