For thousands of years the Ngangkari, the traditional Aboriginal healers of Central Australia, have passed on their skills to young children. The idea of children being ‘doctors’ is deeply embedded in Indigenous culture and life. (www.malpa.org.au/youngdoctors)
Honouring this wisdom, the Malpa Project is helping hundreds of school children around Australia, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to become health ambassadors in their communities.
Staff from our Indigenous Children and Schooling Program (ICaSP) recently met with Sammi Fatnowna, National Project Manager for Malpa* Young Doctors, in preparation for the new Northern Wak Wakko** Doctors program in Adelaide, South Australia.
On Kaurna Country (the land that encompasses the Adelaide plains), children will learn traditional and contemporary ways of creating healthy communities from respected community members, to become Wak Wakko Doctors.
Sarah, Michelle and Karina, our Northern ICaSP team, in partnership with Malpa Project, will provide program delivery guidance and support to Nanna Alison Fielding and Louise Rankine – respected older community members from the Elizabeth district.
The Northern Wak Wakko program will run out of Elizabeth Grove Primary School and is funded by Anglicare Playford Communities for Children.
* Malpa means helper/friend in Pitjantjatjara
** Wak Wakko means school aged children in Kaurna
Watch this video to see Young Doctors in action: https://youtu.be/KK_Q-SYMbKQ
To find out more about the Malpa Project: www.malpa.org.au
To connect on Facebook: facebook.com/malpaproject
