A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks — morgansully.com
-
Upload
morgen-sully -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
0
Transcript of A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks — morgansully.com
-
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
1/11
morgansully.com
A Reflection on My Time WithCuriousWorks
Jan. 6, 2010 3min read original
http://morgansully.com/a-reflection-on-my-time-with-curiousworks/http://morgansully.com/a-reflection-on-my-time-with-curiousworks/ -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
2/11
Ive alwaysbeen afraidof two things bodiesof water(in which Icannot see the
bottom) andheights. At 7, Iwasstung by a jellyfish while swimming. That same
year, Ifell off a rock face andinto a crevice of fresh lava rock, gouging andslicing
my flesh asItumbledto the bottom it felt like Ifell formiles. Icame to dread
swimming an
dclimbing thing
s.
http://morgansully.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_2248.jpg -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
3/11
Over20yearslater, Ifoundmyself milesin the airflying acrossthe worldslargest
body of water. All to work fora small organization calledCuriousWorks. Idnot
heardof them until just a fewweeksearlierandin a fewdays, Iwasgoing to be
helping them make mediawith kidsin the middle of the Pilbara a place few
Australians(let alone Americanslike me) everget the chance to see.
With just a single Tweetasthe trigger, Iwasgoing to be over10,000milesaway
from home, in the middle of a vast desert, in a country Idneverbeen to
Idove in.
http://www.memeshift.com/wp-content/gallery/archive/My%20Time%20in%20the%20Pilbara%20-%2016.jpghttp://twitter.com/edwardharran/status/3121839938http://www.curiousworks.com.au/ -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
4/11
-
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
5/11
http://www.memeshift.com/wp-content/gallery/archive/My%20Time%20in%20the%20Pilbara%20-%2006.jpg -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
6/11
Some mornings, Ihadmagnificent dreamsandawoke to watch the sun rise overthe
desert landscape.
http://curiousworks.allaroundyou.com.au/2009/09/30/dreamtime-morning-for-the-win/http://curiousworks.allaroundyou.com.au/2009/10/05/sunrise-on-the-last-morning-in-marble-bar-october-3rd/ -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
7/11
Othermorningsgave me a taste of the complex realitiesof kidsin rural andremote
communities.
Andthiswasonly the first 5daysof my trip
http://curiousworks.allaroundyou.com.au/2009/10/02/reality/http://curiousworks.allaroundyou.com.au/2009/10/02/reality/ -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
8/11
My secondweek in Australia foundme in the small mining town of Newman,
Western Australia. Newman consistsof about 5,000people with an extra 2,000as
fly in fly out). It sitsabout 1200km north of Perth in the heart of the PilbaraDesert. Because of itsremote location, foodandwaterneedto be shippedin to
Newmansonly grocery store weekly. Pilbara literally, meansdry.
Theresa cultural thirst here too particularly forthe young people of Newman.
Pop cultural artifactslike StarWars, Twilight andSubway sandwichesare lapped
up. The kidsconstantly talk aboutwanting to see bandsin Perth. In deed, many
young people Newmanspotential future leaders endup leaving.
Because of this, BHP Billitonrecognizedthe needfora more sustainable and
permanent infrastructure something forthe long term. Thatswhere
CuriousWorkscame in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BHP_Billitonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilbara#Etymologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly-in_fly-outhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newman,_Western_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newman,_Western_Australia -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
9/11
Aspart of the BHP Iron Ore Legacy Projectandin partnershipwith Country Arts
WA, CuriousWorkshelpedNewmanskidsdevelop awide range of skillsthey could
put back in to theircommunity. Some of these skillswere gainedinterviewinglocalsoutside of school. Otherskillswere nurturedby developing a classwebsite.
Ourfinal part of the projectwasputting onNewmansfirst film festival.
In starting the project, SeniorAdvisorof Sustainability andCommunity Relations
forBHP Billiton, Scott Birdsaid:
We really want to contribute something significant to the town that demonstrates
BHP BillitonIron Orescommitment to creating liveable communitiesthat people
want to participate in forthe long term. We expect thisproject will create a lasting
impact on both the community membersandthe landscape of theNewman
Township.
Overthe next 12weeks, we workedwith teachers, studentsandparentsto buildthe
media capacity of Newmansyoung residents. We movedbetween 5different
locationsto conduct ourafterschool media-makingworkshopswhile teaching new
media classesin the primary andseniorhigh schools. It washectic, but a lot of fun
andthe kidsweworkedwith were very productive.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousworksphotos/sets/72157622764445046/http://www.countryartswa.asn.au/cms/cawa/pages/home.htmlhttp://newman.allaroundyou.com.au/2009/07/09/bhp-legacy-program/http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2572/3943289633_1cd959a258.jpg -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
10/11
The project accomplishedsome great thingswith andforthe young people of
Newman:
Andyes, we felt happy to call them ourkids. They are awesome.
Whilewe accomplisheda lot while there,we were notwithout ourchallenges. For
one, we were outsiders, not just geographically, but culturally too; a Sri Lankan, a
Lebanesian, a snowwhite Australianwith a slight British accent andan Asian-
American made forsome curiousworkersin a predominantly white town. Therewere even a fewincidentswhere Iwonderedif Idbeen discriminatedagainst
because of my outsider ness. In a conversation Ihadwith a local school teacher,
she offhandedly referredto the film production, internet literacy development, and
photography we were doing with the kidsasnot real teaching.
Coming intoNewman, we also expectedto have a stable teaching space to meet
with the youth. We hadanything but. Not only didthe local youth centerclose down
aw
eek befor
ew
e arr
ived
, bu
t the places
w
ed
hoped
to condu
ct our
med
iaworkshopswere unreliable, in spite of the dedicatedeffortsof ourstaff andour
Newman partners. The recently closedyouth centerhadnt even been open a year.
Wherewere afterschool programsforyouth going to be held? Where were the
creative spaceskidscouldgo to continue theirlearning, playing andmaking when
the schoolsclosed? Whowouldleadthis?
Clearly, therewasandisa lot of work to do. Iwouldnt say the kidswe workedwith
were disadvantagedin the sense that Americans(like my self ) normally think
poverty, homelessness, language barriers. Idsay theirgreatest disadvantage isthe
lack of a stable, supportive centerthat fostersthe creative skillsthey already have.
Asof thiswriting, there isstill no youth space forthe kidsof Newman to meet and
make media. Thisisthe task aheadforthe teachers, residentsandbusinessesof
Newman to growandbuildon the thingswe developedwith Newmansyouth. To
stay true to ourintentionsasCuriousWorkers, we needto ensure the communities
wework with can serve themselves.
Newman certainly deservesto.
Original URL:
http://morgansully.com/a-reflection-on-my-time-with-curiousworks/
http://www.curiousworks.com.au/desert/33-things/ -
8/21/2019 A Reflection on My Time With CuriousWorks morgansully.com
11/11