They camped at the Mitchell River Old Weir Wall on the first night, then woke up nice and early to head up to the high country in Mount Hotham.
By Troy Brown
In June, Aboriginal students in the Clontarf program at Bairnsdale Secondary College spent a few days chopping wood for Elders.
As we all know, we are in the middle of winter, and it is getting really cold.
For generations, our Elders have looked after the Boorais.
It is so good to see that our young people are returning that favour and looking after our Elders.
Clontarf Academy Director Paul Carroll said “It’s respecting our Elders.”
Paul believes this is important that the kids do stuff like this.
“It teaches them responsibility and respect,” he said. “We here at Clontarf are teaching these boys to transition into men.”
Whilst cutting wood the boys were also on a camping trip, along with representatives of several of the businesses and organisations that support the Clontarf program including Coates, Rio Tinto and the Royal Australian Navy.
They held a talk here at GEGAC, where all of the students spoke about their experiences at Clontarf.
The Clontarf program does these partners visits every year, but this was the first time the Bairnsdale region was chosen to host.
The students were all smiles throughout the whole trip.
“It’s a great time to check in and have a yarn with the boys and to see how everyone is travelling,” Paul said.
They camped at the Mitchell River Old Weir Wall on the first night, then woke up nice and early to head up to the high country in Mount Hotham.
After the trip was over the students and staff delivered the firewood to Elders.
It is so good to see what these young men are doing for our Elders.
