Bloomfield River State School students are using a new program focused on art and creativity to help one another bounce back following last year’s flood catastrophe. Photo: Supplied.
Like a pillowcase tie-dyeing activity which led to a conversation about evacuating home when the flood came, a new multi-arts project is giving children of the Tropical Cyclone Jasper tragedy a voice.
The Kuku Balkal Kaykayanda (Giving Words to All the Children) project kicked off last school holidays to foster resilience and promote healing through creative engagement.
Led by the Creative Recovery Network Tropical North partnership, which included the Regional Arts Services Network (RASN), Kuku Balkal Kaykayanda brought a circus, arts and crafts, dancing and singing to the communities of Wujal Wujal, Rossville and Cooktown.
“There seems to be a massive sort of hole in the recovery program when it came to kids and young people – there really wasn’t much happening in that space to support them through their recovery,” RASN regional arts officer Waratah Nicholls said.
“It’s been an amazing medium for young people to express their emotions and have experience without having to actually talk about things.
“A lot of the time, it’s quite difficult to put what you’re going through into words, but when you’re creating, dancing, singing, you kind of go into a different mind frame.”
Ms Nicholls said one of the examples that stuck with her was a pillowcase painting activity that sparked an insight into Wujal Wujal’s community evacuation.
“While they were tie-dyeing the pillowcases, the kids said ‘oh, the Red Cross told us if you need to get out quickly, grab a pillowcase and put all your precious stuff in it’,” she said.
“If you think about it, how many kids think, when they’re given a pillowcase to paint, they think ‘this is something I can use next time there’s a disaster to put my teddy bear in’.”
Another program highlight was the weekly circus workshops, which travelled to various communities.
“The kids are developing their resilience – for example, with the circus, they’re supporting each other, they take risks, and they’re lifting each other up,” Ms Nicholls said.
“One of the teachers from the Bloomfield school said it was quite amazing how the kids seem to be trusting each other more, and working with each other better from doing those weekly circus activities.”
She said the ability to create and play in a safe environment had been invaluable for the children in affected communities.
“Kids, when they enter into that world of the imagination, they might engage with inanimate objects rather than a person, so it gives them the opportunities to express themselves,” she said.
“I think a lot of the recovery is focused on getting back to normal, but to do that, it’s really important to think about what you’ve actually gone through and recognise it.”
The team are currently in the process of planning the next set of school holiday activities, and securing funding for many more months of support.
“We’re looking for more funding, because we think it’s really important to support these young people and children to at least the end of next year, it can’t just be this one-off thing,” Ms Nicholls said.
