Hello again co-bloggers and co-readers! It's been awhile and for a very good reason. Life is hectic in the fast lane and working in it is tumultuous to say the least. As a homeschool mum of 20+ years I know hectic when I see it and believe me this last stint in an Indigenous community was no exception.
Yes... after many years of teaching my children and writing thousands of resources I decided to enter the workforce again just for fun to see if I still "have it" so to speak. I've been wondering if my baby brains outgrew themselves and the adult brain version would kick in again. To my surprise it did! I wasn't expecting that as isolation, limited adult conversations, minimal socialisation all round, dodging nappies, catching baby spew, living off paracetamol and trying to hide baggy eyes behind sunglasses was the norm for a long time. I'm sure homeschooling mums and dads know what I'm talking about.
My stint as a Governess or Govie as we say in Australia was fun but I seriously was going insane with teaching just one child. If you haven't read it check out the link below...
HOMESCHOOLING IN THE OUTBACK
@ingridontheroad/50000-acre-playground
So instead of teaching I went the opposite direction and decided to put my cooking skills to the test again.
I love cooking... let me rephrase that... I enjoy cooking for those who eat it and compliment me on the yummy food! Yes... we all need that encouragement and thrive on compliments. A little admiration certainly gives us a boost and raises us to the next level of confidence... same same goes for our kids! Especially in homeschooling.
Anyway, in February we set off to Ampilatwatja, an Indigenous community roughly 300 north east of Alice Springs, Australia. A place where donkeys freely roam by the hundreds in the streets. Where horses bump taps open in your house yard in order to get a drink of water. Where to many dogs bark all night long and where rubbish keeps piling up in the streets.
Tame but still wild donkeys roam freely through the community Ampilatwatja where only 450 people live. Their hooves are in a sad state growing like Dutch clogs on their legs.
Wild horses frequent the yard if you leave the gate open. Most people deliberately leave the gate open so there's fresh water to drink for the animals. Problem is the horses damage pipes, taps, and make a lot of noise on your verandah during the night.
The community shop (picture above) sells anything you can think of.
Sadly the deep fried foods are always number one on everyone's favorite list at 9 a.m. when the shop doors open. So for a person who loves cooking good food, this job was an insult to my intelligence. I'm not kidding when I say that 280 meat pies were sold by 9:30 a.m. accompanied by 100+ sausage rolls, the gigantic size ones, numerous buckets of chips, fish, chicken and a whole array of other junk foods. Heat and eat, heat some more and eat some more. Horrendous!
I'm still having nightmares of trays and trays of chips. I cooked the chips in the big commercial oven instead of deep frying them... I convinced myself that was a little healthier!
As the weeks passed I managed to cook semi-healthy foods such as tacos and beef stew with rice. It's very difficult to change adult's eating habits so as parents we need to ensure that our kids eat a balanced diet and develop their taste buds to like vegetables, meats, fruits, and drink plain water instead of washing each and every meal down with a can of Coca-Cola.
A batch of takeaway taco food almost ready to go out.
The tacos looked and tasted delicious but these were very difficult to sell as they could see vegetables in it. They don't like eating vegetables.
Living in an aboriginal community is certainly a challenge as facilities are generally poor or non-existing. The streets are mostly red dirt and the wind blows this red dirt (also known as bull dust) in every crevice and there is no getting away from it... outside or inside. Don't bother opening the windows on cool evenings as either the windows are permanently welded, nailed, or screwed shut, or the wind is sweeping up the dust into a frenzy and billows inside should you be lucky enough to manage opening a window. Living 24/7 in air-conditioned buildings is a norm here for those who work within the aboriginal community.
After 20+ years of homeschooling I didn't think I would have these amazing adventures of working in remote locations, mustering cattle, cleaning helicopters, patting wild donkeys, cooking for 300 people six days a week, and dodging cattle trucks on outback roads.
Move over when you see one of these trucks coming!
An essential part of the outback are helicopters. Supplies, medical emergencies, and mustering are all done by chopper.
There is life after homeschooling, there will come a time when you think... this will never end. Where you'll say... I'm sick of kids, homeschool, the mess, the screaming, fighting, and the endless discussions why we do or not do certain things. I was the same! I spent many years writing and developing resources for my and your kids which you're welcome to check out... and sometimes wondered why on earth I was doing this.
Homeschooling is much like a job or profession you have chosen. Unpaid! You do however get paid in love from your children. The challenges are varied, the struggles endless, the rewards enormous, the benefits a blessing. Don’t give up. Continue what you've started. We all do things differently and our children all learn at a different level and rate. No matter how exhausting you get just take a big breath and consider again the reason why you started this long adventure. Sometimes we get a little lost and bogged down with the everyday issues of life.
Everyday issues are there for a reason. They build character, mould our children into upstanding adults, they build meaningful memories, are there for our learning and help us shape certain future events. After homeschooling we still had everyday issues, just different ones... we still had to stop and take a big breath before dishing up 280 disgusting pies to people who suffer from diabetes, heart disease, cancer, kidney disease and plenty more. The guilt serving up this horrid food continues to haunt us however it was a job and we were told to do this so that eases the guilt a little. Sadly it doesn't help those who continue to stuff this rubbish food into their bodies.
As parents we need to teach our kids values but in order to teach values we need to know what it is. Values can be different for each one. It's your job to find your values. As a parent, be encouraged and know that you are doing a fantastic job, you are doing the most difficult job in the world. You are an amazing person to even consider homeschooling. You are brave, talented, passionate and committed to your work... teaching your children.
Enjoy your everyday issues, face your challenges, and most of all... feed good food to your children. We truly enjoyed our stint in Ampilatwatja. Thanks for reading.
Photos and written work is my own.
©️ingridontheroad
