Restoring the Voice of Elders

A community project happening in Western Australia

In a Nutshell

WEST Australian Aboriginal leader and former politician Ernie Bridge plays a key role educating communities about diabetes prevention through his not-for-profit Unity of First People of Australia (UFPA) group. He is concerned by the changed role of elders and is expanding the group’s focus to try to deal with it. He said a new program was now being run at the remote Mowanjum community in the Kimberley to restore the voice of elders in the community. One of his ideas is to establish a special place of business for elders to discuss local events and put forward their views.

Project Aims

Some under lying aims of UFPA are to Restore the voice of elders in the community. Invite elders to bring their wisdom to bear on the choices young people make.

The Nuts and Bolts

A particularly critical community health issue has been addressed through an approach informed by the elders. A community-based Diabetes Prevention program was implemented at the Mowanjum community in September 2006, at the direction of a working group of community elders and representatives from UFPA, WA Country Health Service and Princess Margaret Hospital.

Project Outcomes

The Unity of First Peoples Australia (UFPA) approach has had a dramatic impact in addressing this important Indigenous health issue. Dr John Boulton from the WA Country Health Service evaluated the program at Mowanjum community east of Derby and found, “We have evidence of the success of the program both in terms of improving the care of adolescents with diabetes and in changing the community capacity to cope with the future predicted exponential increase in diabetes in all age groups”.

“The first objective of the program has been achieved, which is providing a comprehensive diabetes education program for young people with diabetes. We are also on track to achieve the second objective, which is for the adolescents to achieve acceptable levels of glucose control,” Dr Boulton said.

Enie Bridge, President of UFPA said, “The results are very pleasing and consistent with the results achieved so far in other remote Kimberley communities where the UFPA diabetes program has been introduced”.

Mr Bridge has called on Aboriginal elders to ‘awaken’ and take control of young people to help reverse the rising tide of social problems.

Mr Bridge, who was the state’s first Aboriginal MP and first Aboriginal minister before retiring in 2001, said a major cause of the problems in many Aboriginal communities was the diminished role of elders. He said it was time for elders to bring their wisdom to bear on the choices young people made.

“More often than not, the public servants go into a community and invariably it’s the younger persons who have strategic positions in the community, who are deemed to be the ones possessing the authority,” he said.

“It’s easier to deal with these younger persons who have been educated and are able to articulate a point of view. A lot of the elders, you have to take a lot of time and effort extracting from them what they really want to tell you. Today’s way of dealing with communities seems not to allow for that time and effort to be put in.”

Testimonials

Jack de Groot, CEO of funding body Caritas Australia stated, “We are very proud of the achievements of all the staff, volunteers and participants in the UFPA diabetes program. The UFPA model is one which directly reflects the focus of Caritas Australia in empowering communities to be in charge of their own development future.”

Audience

Aboriginal peoples living at the Mowanjum community in the West Kimberley.

Contact/Get Involved:

Contacts: Hon Ernie Bridge OAM Phone: (08) 9322 6533 Fax: (08) 9322 6599 Email: ufpa@bigpond.net.au