"There are 21 different clans in Wadeye. Which means they need something to unite them and football is it," said Reggie Glass, deputy principal of Our Lady of Sacred Heart Thamarrurr in the Northern Territory settlement.But in the disadvantaged remote community, football is also much more. "Footy is key for everything we do. We use it as a reward, as a carrot, I guess. The kids get balls out every day. You walk down the street and you will see kids with balls in their hands kicking around," Ms Glass said.
Footballers they may have, but for most of the children of Wadeye and other indigenous communities, owning a pair of footy boots is beyond their means. A campaign by Fairfax Media, inspired by former Collingwood star Leon Davis, hopes to deliver used footy boots to the future Aboriginal stars of the game. Boots for Kids sees Fairfax Media joining with Coles supermarkets and Linfox to send boots to as many communities as possible. The boots will be cleaned, then delivered to remote communities in Arnhem Land, the Pilbara and the red centre.
Wadeye, one of the communities set to benefit, is economically disadvantaged with high unemployment and complex family and cultural problems.There had been no football competition in Wadeye for 40 years when AFL Northern Territory reintroduced the sport. The rules of play were the same as anywhere else, but the rules for playing were different. The main rule was simple: no violence. No fights in the games, after the games, before the games. Just no fights.
People held their breath when the games were first played. But police reported that violence actually dropped when footy was played."They were too stuffed to fight. They had run around an old oval for two hours in the heat," AFL NT chief executive Tony Frawley said.See your ad hereEncouraging children to remain at school is a daily challenge, but football has become a tool for teachers to keep children in school.
At Our Lady of Sacred Heart Thamarrurr, there are a couple of bent posts for goals on a flat strip of dirt and tussocky grass outside the school buildings where the boys play kick to kick, mostly in bare feet.When Ali Hazara received a text message from a friend on an asylum seeker boat that had run into trouble on its way from Indonesia, he believed they would be saved because they had reached Australian waters."I got the message about 10.with Wholesale Cheap Custom Keychain and promotional key tags.30 or 11pm. It said, 'We are on the boat and the conditions are not good, but we are in Australian waters,' " said Mr Hazara, whose name has been changed to protect his identity.
He said he went back to sleep comforted in the belief that the boat would soon be picked up by Australian authorities.Full service promotional company specializing in Custom USB flash drives.But when he checked the next morning, on June 21 last year, he discovered the overloaded boat that became known as the Kaniva, or the Siev 358, had capsized, leaving 17 men drowned and another 85 missing feared drowned. Among the missing were Hazara men Ali Akbar, Saeem Raza and Ali Hussain.
An inquest into the deaths of the 17 and what happened that night will resume in Perth on Wednesday and is expected to hear evidence from survivors of the tragedy. It is believed there were 214 people on the boat C 210 were from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and four were Indonesian crew members. All were men.The issues to be canvassed at the inquest include not only the identities of the men who died but their cause of death, the circumstances in which the boat sank, and the rescue efforts of the Indonesian Search and Rescue agency, BASARNAS, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
It will also examine possible improvements to emergency communications or search and rescue efforts between Australia and Indonesia in Indonesia's search and rescue zone.The court has previously been told that passengers on board the ill-fated ramshackle fishing boat had begun making a series of distress calls to Australia's Rescue Co-ordination Centre saying the boat had sustained hull damage and was taking on water - two days before it finally capsized.
Australian authorities have already been criticised for delaying a response to the distress calls while they debated who would be responsible for the rescue, Australia or Indonesia; for not complying with obligations to send out emergency broadcasts for help; and for not immediately starting a search for the boat.WA Coroner Alastair Hope has demanded a copy of a classified report into Australia's response to the calls for help, which was prepared by Customs last year after an international outcry over the fate of the boat and the asylum seekers.
AH told of how he was an innocent little kid with a big hope for the future when Fletcher stole the promise from his life. He remembered other things in gut-wrenching detail. The priests number plate C JPF004 - will always be in my head. He remembered how during the trial, clergy visited and supported Fletcher but none went near him and his family, they didnt want to look at us. It was a feeling of two sides, he said, completely opposite.
He had expected that once he found the courage to come forward,Choose from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to raise awareness. the church would do the right thing and not let me down, but that wasnt to be. The inquiry has heard evidence that Bishop Malone drove from Newcastle to Branxton and tipped off Fletcher about the police investigation on the same day he learnt of it from AHs father in 2002. Bishop Malone said he did it because he hoped to trigger a confession from Fletcher and avoid a long trial. That it gave Fletcher a chance to destroy evidence had not occurred to him, the bishop testified.
If there was going to be an arrest I think it was so unfair he was tipped off, AH said. It made the investigating officer Peter Foxs job a lot harder as people closed ranks. His parents were dropped by church people. His father was eventually let go by the diocese.
AH, now in his late 30s with children of his own, ran through a list of what-ifs. If the church had dealt with Fletcher years before instead of moving him around, would he have got to me? He spoke of how he had lost his business, split with his first partner and separated several times from his current one. He now lives far away from family and friends to get away from the memories. The shame, anger and embarrassment left him feeling that as an adult he was just stuffing up my life, until he realised that was typical for victims of abuse.
His name has been suppressed for legal reasons but he gave permission for his photograph to be published. As AH went to leave the witness stand, Commissioner Margaret Cunneen, SC, called him back. You must always remember no shame attaches to you, she said. His courage had placed all the shame squarely where it belongs.
Read the full products at http://www.winbogifts.com/products/silicone-bracelet.html.