News
Connecting to culture during COVID-19
Thu, 18 Jun 2020 02:56:00
UNIQUE hands-on activities have helped Robinvale’s Aboriginal children connect to their culture during the isolation of COVID-19.
More than 80 “cultural kits” were delivered to local kids in recent weeks, with each kit containing a pair of wooden clapsticks, some paint, and sketches.
“It was really about giving the kids something to do during isolation, but at the same time it gave them an opportunity to have a connection to culture,” explained Daryl Singh, a drug and alcohol support worker at Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative.
Together with his colleague Ivan Hingano, Daryl spent days cutting, barking, sanding back and cutting the clapsticks to the right lengths. The clapsticks were then added to the kits with small pots of paint, so children could paint their own designs on them.
“The kids were rapt, they just loved it,” Daryl said.
“We started off doing 40 kits and then when we went out and delivered them, we soon found out we needed more because all the kids wanted them.”
Daryl said the clapsticks provided an important opportunity to talk about cultural values with local children.
“When I delivered them I’d say to the kids “what you are holding in your hands is one of the world’s oldest musical instruments” and when they realised these instruments belonged to Aboriginal culture, they were proud and you could see them be proud of their culture,” he said.
The culture kits also contained copies of sketches featuring water holes, emus, kangaroo paw prints and people.
“There was enough paint in each kit for the kids to paint those sketches,” Daryl said.
“Underneath those sketches, there’s meaning, so that gives the kids a chance to talk about what they are seeing and learn as well.”
While Daryl hasn’t yet had a chance to see how local children went painting the clapsticks and sketches they were given, he’s hoping to get photos of finished products up on the MVAC Facebook page in coming weeks.
For more information on this and other services provided by MVAC, contact 5026 3353.
Pictured: MVAC’s Ivan Hingano and Daryl Singh with the cultural kits they put together and delivered to local kids during COVID-19 isolation.