Out Bush

Last weekend I spent 4 days in Laverton, West Australia- a tiny isolated mining town in the middle of the outback with a primarily indigenous population. We flew in and out on the mining flights (aka tiny 20 seater propeller planes) into Granny Smith Mine (a gold mine) and caught a lift from there into Laverton. (See the map- Laverton is where the green arrow points to)

It's just what you would think- flat red dirt stretching as far as the eye can see, scrubby brush, and hot dry sun. It's gorgeous. There's something completely unique about that contrast between red earth and bright blue sky.

The purpose of the trip was community development- more specifically working with the kids in the youth centre to provide positive role models and safe activities. If you know anything about aboriginal communities in outback Australia, you know that it's not an easy place to be a kid. And while the situation is too complex to explain in black and white, there are many social issues that plague these communities and are in part due to the fact that the white Australians made some serious errors in moving in on their lands and communities.

It was important for me to see for myself, because from an American point of view it can be difficult to see why race relations between these two groups are so strained and the division between them is so marked. Life in Laverton is lived on a completely different socio-economic level as life in Perth. While I'm still not 100% clear, meeting the people, the kids, the police officers in the town, the teachers, and the local miners let me take part in some fascinating conversations which helped me to get a grasp on things.

And from a trip point of view, I nursed a baby kangaroo, dipped in a healing salt lake, swam in an abandoned mining crater, watched the sun rise and sun set, and met amazing people.