MADALAH’s 10-week Youth
Empowerment Program was designed to cater for our Senior male students
(Moorditj Maamans), and senior female students (Boordiya Yorga’s), to enhance
and enrich their current skills and gain more of a solid lead on how to
influence and inspire our People.
We thank Mitsubishi Corporation
for giving our students the opportunity to participate in this program!
The program commenced with a
Welcome to Country by Dr Richard Walley, inviting both groups and their
families to network and build connections with Elders, staff and external
providers.
At MADALAH we have a solid aim
and goal for our participants, which is to provide them with the foundation and
support to voice and practice their thoughts; we also included and reinforced
the importance of well-being, self-care, and support over the 10 weeks. This
program was designed to either kick-start a students’ leadership journey, boost
their current journey, or for the students to experience leadership and
empowerment for the first time; we are confident they will all become leaders
within themselves and out in the community.
Over the 10-week course,
participants were inspired, challenged to think outside-of-the-box, and
influenced to contribute change and breaking cycles that have been embedded
over generations. We invited facilitators to assist with providing the tools of
change, inspiration and courage, as we hope a positive change is then spilled
into our student’s peer circle, family and even communities through the power
of storytelling, yarning and reflection on true events.
We were fortunate enough to have
many external guest speakers presenting over the course of the weekly program
running workshops for our students on various age-appropriate topics. The
Moorditj Yorga’s weekly sessions were run by inspiring female role models, and
included:
– We are Woman Prospectus, facilitated by WE ARE WOMXN
– Self-care, healthy relationships, and boundaries, facilitated by
MADALAH
– Life coach session, facilitated by Joan Dellavalle, Founder/CEO of
Ebony + Ivory hair salon
– A cultural weave workshop, facilitated by Nadine Foley, Founder of
Cultural Weave
– Walking in two worlds, facilitated by Rickeeta Walley
– Career pathways, facilitated by members of the aviation force at
Inpex
– Beauty is power makeup workshop, facilitated by Sissii Cosmetics.
Moorditj Maarmans had the
privilege of hearing from many inspiring and influential male role models, and
included:
– Cultual art workshop with local Artist (Kambarni) Kamsani Bin Salleh
– Mental health workshop including unrealistic expectations of young
men, positive relationships and mental health awareness, facilitated by Man Up!
– Mindfulness workshop, facilitated by Karen Hadden
– Cultural workshop, facilitated by Dylan Shillito and Jayden Boundry
– West Coast Eagles sport session, facilitated by Sam Petrevski-Seton
– Motivational speakers and pathways, facilitated by MADALAH Ambassador
Yulu McGrady.
At the half way mark of the
program, the Mooditj Maarmans and Boordiya Yorgas joined together as one, to
celebrate, and to reflect, acknowledge and celebrate our 2023 NAIDOC theme
“For our Elders”. It was great to see our participants all in one
space again! We had our wonderful Aunty Robyn Collard, give a beautiful and
powerful Welcome to Country. After the Welcome, Tiarna the head Program
Coordinator for the girls shared her perspective on the NAIDOC Theme, and how
important it is to cherish and respect our elders. Tiarna then invited two of
our YEP. participants to talk about the Moorditj Marmans and Boordiya Yorgas
programs respectively. Next, we had a lovely presentation that gave a solid
recap through photos and videos. Throughout the presentation there were many
laughs shared, which made the atmosphere so comfortable for all! This was also
a great opportunity to give families an insight into what has been happening.
From there, Rhys and Tiarna
shared what the next 3 weeks’ content will look like, and what’s to come. The
room was filled with laughter during a short clip created, directed, and filmed
by MADALAH staff to showcase the upcoming Matagarup Bridge Zip+Climb activity
which will be part of the YEP Graduation Celebration and Ceremony on the 25th
June. The evening concluded with a Sausage sizzle dinner for students and
families, which gave them a chance to mingle and further reflect on what has
been a successful program so far.
A huge thank you again to our
participants for dedicating their time and efforts, and a further thanks to
families, for taking the time to join us!
