The history of this community if very sad as it is a forced composite of approximately five different language groups. At one stage 2000 people lived in this community, people whom would never traditionally live next to each other. They were brought to this area during a major drought and kept there to keep people off the grazing lands. They were placed at Papunya with no infrastructure, nothing was provided.
World Vision fund raises for and manage preventative health care for the Papunya Community. Their successful programme is a unique model for other health programmes in Australia as it is focused on preventative measures, such as education and general nutrition and hygiene issues rather than curative health.
In 1996 World Vision placed the first of three nurses in the community. They are now focusing on training people in the community to get certification as health workers.
Measures they have adopted include baby weighing, which reveals underweight babies at risk, pre-school children have their ears checked for otitus media - an inner ear infection responsible for wide spread hearing loss. The community has begun teenage girl's nights, featuring health and STD videos and World Vision supplies men's corroboree kits administered by indigenous doctors during men's business. They have also begun "Meals on Wheels" and a programme has started that involves cooking for the old ladies at the pension house.
Walkabout is currently working towards raising money for an ablution block that will provide access to industrial washing machines and sanitation facilities.
World Vision sees the meeting of these needs, defined by the community, as "capacity building". It has been their experience that providing for these fundamental needs dramatically improves the health of the whole community, leading to sharp decline in aboriginal mortality.
To help World Vision reach their goal visit www.walkaboutart.com
