Wakakirri Festivals

The vision of the Wakakirri National Story Festival is to teach young Australians about themselves and others through the process of creating and sharing stories.  The Wakakirri Outback Program is presented by Community Festivals for Education Engagement.

The NRHSN participate in workshops and activities at each of the festivals highlighting the opportunities in health careers in engaging and interactive activities.

Dates for 2010:

 NRHSN Indigenous Festivals Kit - for more information about what's involved for Rural Health Club members.

Check out the Wakakirri Festivals website for further details.

In 2008...

Amie Riesberg & Shruti Jayachandra, ARMS attended the Bloomfield River Region festival:
"The Wakkakiri festival brings together indigenous communities with the children passing on their stories in the Aboriginal tradition of yarning. We felt extremely privileged to share in this story sharing and gained a wonderful insight into the lives of indigenous children. It was then our turn to share some of our knowledge with the kids about healthy living and opportunities for higher education in medicine, nursing and allied health."  Click here to read more

Maria Bernadi, RAHMS attended the Bloomfield River Region festival:
"With kids ranging from Kindy to Year 7, we ran four stations: sugar man, relays, sphygmos & steths and anatomy.  It was an exhausting but rewarding day. I had a fantastic time learning about an area I would love to work in when I graduate, with a true local and getting to know very briefly small parts of the community. Talking to a young girl who was adamant she was going to become a midwife when she grew up and knew how to go about it was inspiring. It was good to be able to change some preconceptions the kids had on school and university, such as the different pathways they could go through such as TAFE, university prep and indigenous stream programs. It was a wonderful opportunity to listen to the kids knowledge and hopes for the future."  Click here to read more

Dianne Thorp, CARAH attended the Yuendumu festival:
"The kids had a great deal of fun as did many of the teachers; it was great to be able to promote the health of these little ones and also encourage them to consider jobs in the health industry.  The fruit Coles donated went down very well with the busy kids’ hungry tummies.  At the end of the day the school was very impressed and was keen to have us back for even longer next time!  We got a lot out of being able to work with the kids and are looking forward to another visit one day!"  Click here to read more