JOURNAL – WEEK 5 - IMMIGRANT WOMEN
As I said one side of my family is Maltese! My Grandparents came over from Malta straight after WWII and they along with their own brothers and sisters settled in Adelaide. My grandfather immediately got a labouring job, within the Maltese Community and that is what he did for the rest of his working life.
My grandmother of course immediately started to have babies and had four children under 6. Both her and my grandfathers English was very limited and it really wasn’t until my auntie and dad went to school that my grandparents started to really learn how to speak and write English. Of course my grandmother took a lot longer as she wasn’t out in the work force each day like my grandfather was.
When my dad left school at 15 to start an Apprenticeship as a Baker, he got my grandmother a job there working in the factory. The family thought that if he was there to interpret for her the language barrier wouldn’t be so great, and then hopefully she would catch on quickly. One thing that did happen though is she was exploited, she was such a hard / strong worker, she was taken off the factory line which was easy but repetitive work and she was put on the ovens. Of course being on the ovens is what the qualified bakers do and get paid a lot more than what the women/men on the factory line. My grandmother was never paid any extra money for working on the ovens and it was something that used to really upset and annoy my dad. Of course my grandmother would never complain as her English was so limited and she was very grateful to have a job. It was the first time she had been in paid employment as she had got married at 17 and her and my grandfather had moved out to Australia straight away from Malta.
Both of my grandparents died over 20 years ago now, they had worked hard all their lives in hard working menial positions, and this took its toll on their bodies in their old age.
By moving from Malta they have given our whole extended family a wonderful opportunity of growing up in Australia.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Week 4 - Lisa Curry Kenny
Journal – Week 4 – Lisa Curry Kenny
I have always been inspired by Lisa Curry Kenny, she juggles her own sporting commitments with those of her 3 children and her husband Grant. In 1984 when she was at the peak of her swimming career I was lucky enough to hear her speak at a BBQ Luncheon in Yulara, NT.
Lisa was born in Brisbane, to Roy and Pat Curry and by the age of 12 was one of the fastest swimmers of her age in the world. Her coach was Harry Gallagher and Lisa is the only swimmer to have held Commonwealth and Australian records in every event bar back stroke.
She competed in three Olympics, Moscow in 1980, Los Angeles in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992. She is the winner of 15 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze International medals.
She also personally endorses the women’s health product 30plus, which is a wonderful herbal product that helps with stress, pms, anxiety, mood fluctuations. For someone with her profile to come out in the media and say yes raising kids, running a business and trying to keep a marriage going is hard work, was very refreshing.
Lisa was appointed by the Prime Minister John Howard as the Chairman of the National Australia Day Council and is the first woman to be the Chairman.
Over the years since her retirement from swimming Lisa has brought out a large range of nutritional and self–help books which have sold over 200,000 copies. One quote I have read numerous times in her books is “Be the best you can be”.
I have always been inspired by Lisa Curry Kenny, she juggles her own sporting commitments with those of her 3 children and her husband Grant. In 1984 when she was at the peak of her swimming career I was lucky enough to hear her speak at a BBQ Luncheon in Yulara, NT.
Lisa was born in Brisbane, to Roy and Pat Curry and by the age of 12 was one of the fastest swimmers of her age in the world. Her coach was Harry Gallagher and Lisa is the only swimmer to have held Commonwealth and Australian records in every event bar back stroke.
She competed in three Olympics, Moscow in 1980, Los Angeles in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992. She is the winner of 15 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze International medals.
She also personally endorses the women’s health product 30plus, which is a wonderful herbal product that helps with stress, pms, anxiety, mood fluctuations. For someone with her profile to come out in the media and say yes raising kids, running a business and trying to keep a marriage going is hard work, was very refreshing.
Lisa was appointed by the Prime Minister John Howard as the Chairman of the National Australia Day Council and is the first woman to be the Chairman.
Over the years since her retirement from swimming Lisa has brought out a large range of nutritional and self–help books which have sold over 200,000 copies. One quote I have read numerous times in her books is “Be the best you can be”.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Journal 3
Journal Entry 3 – Vicki Anderson
I found some of this video, very disturbing as it only happened 70+ years ago, not back say 200 years ago. The aboriginal reserve was a very depressing place, it was run down and the aboriginal people were to some extent treated like prisoners. They were also treated like children having their rations handed out to them and having their houses inspected by the foreman’s wife. The food was of a very low quality, there was no doctor close by and no school for the children to be educated in.
One of the things I noticed about Nerida is how hard she must have worked to get her bookkeeping education. It was fairly obvious that nearly all aboriginal women if they worked, were only employed for menial jobs, like housekeeping etc… For an aboriginal woman in the 1930 ’s it was not the norm to become a bookkeeper.
Another thing this video pointed out to me and this is still the case today for the aboriginal people is the only way they can move forward is through education. Nerida was a good leader for her people because she was educated and could function in the white mans world, where as her brother wasn’t educated and was very much a hot head. Although I could understand why the brother was such a hot head when the Aboriginal Protection Board took no action whatsoever on their petition.
The fact that they had to have permission to have a meeting was laughable, how could they come together as a community and try and fix some of the problems they were experiencing if they couldn’t even have a meeting.
The children being taken away from the parents was heartbreaking in the video. But the issue in the Northern Territory at the moment I agree with the government stepping in and taking children away from parents/carers that are sexually abusing them. I actually had a lot to do with the Mutijula Community when I worked at Yulara and you would often see girls as young as 13 or 14 having babies, with no idea how to care for them.
Aboriginal women have to find some way to break out of the cycle of early pregnancies and little education if they are to have any chance at a better life.
I found some of this video, very disturbing as it only happened 70+ years ago, not back say 200 years ago. The aboriginal reserve was a very depressing place, it was run down and the aboriginal people were to some extent treated like prisoners. They were also treated like children having their rations handed out to them and having their houses inspected by the foreman’s wife. The food was of a very low quality, there was no doctor close by and no school for the children to be educated in.
One of the things I noticed about Nerida is how hard she must have worked to get her bookkeeping education. It was fairly obvious that nearly all aboriginal women if they worked, were only employed for menial jobs, like housekeeping etc… For an aboriginal woman in the 1930 ’s it was not the norm to become a bookkeeper.
Another thing this video pointed out to me and this is still the case today for the aboriginal people is the only way they can move forward is through education. Nerida was a good leader for her people because she was educated and could function in the white mans world, where as her brother wasn’t educated and was very much a hot head. Although I could understand why the brother was such a hot head when the Aboriginal Protection Board took no action whatsoever on their petition.
The fact that they had to have permission to have a meeting was laughable, how could they come together as a community and try and fix some of the problems they were experiencing if they couldn’t even have a meeting.
The children being taken away from the parents was heartbreaking in the video. But the issue in the Northern Territory at the moment I agree with the government stepping in and taking children away from parents/carers that are sexually abusing them. I actually had a lot to do with the Mutijula Community when I worked at Yulara and you would often see girls as young as 13 or 14 having babies, with no idea how to care for them.
Aboriginal women have to find some way to break out of the cycle of early pregnancies and little education if they are to have any chance at a better life.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Journal Week 2
50 Women who have shaped the Twentieth Century
There were some women in this group of 50 that really stood out for me.
Oprah Winfrey has given so much of her money away to charity and yes she probably won’t miss it as she has so much. One thing that she has done really stood out for me, a lot of poor women in Africa that live in villages suffer from a condition called obstetric fistula. It is a horrible condition that is a result of little or no medical intervention during child birth and means that after having children they have no control of their urine or bowels. Oprah has funded hospitals and clinics all over rural Africa to deal with this problem.
Another woman who stands out as someone to look up to is Cathy Freeman, I think she is a wonderful example of what Australian Woman in sport can achieve.
One person who shouldn’t be on the list is Marge Simpson as she’s a cartoon character and personally I can’t stand the Simpson’s.
I have two opinions about Mum Shirl while she was a wonderful mother figure to hundreds of children’s who she had board with her. With me she loses points as she didn’t actually bring up her own children, her mother in law mainly raised them. I found that difficult to comprehend.
Dawn Fraser is someone who has always appealed to me, she was a great swimmer but sometimes her larrikin behaviour got her into trouble. I thought her involvement in the 2000 Olympics was a great tribute to her.
There were some women in this group of 50 that really stood out for me.
Oprah Winfrey has given so much of her money away to charity and yes she probably won’t miss it as she has so much. One thing that she has done really stood out for me, a lot of poor women in Africa that live in villages suffer from a condition called obstetric fistula. It is a horrible condition that is a result of little or no medical intervention during child birth and means that after having children they have no control of their urine or bowels. Oprah has funded hospitals and clinics all over rural Africa to deal with this problem.
Another woman who stands out as someone to look up to is Cathy Freeman, I think she is a wonderful example of what Australian Woman in sport can achieve.
One person who shouldn’t be on the list is Marge Simpson as she’s a cartoon character and personally I can’t stand the Simpson’s.
I have two opinions about Mum Shirl while she was a wonderful mother figure to hundreds of children’s who she had board with her. With me she loses points as she didn’t actually bring up her own children, her mother in law mainly raised them. I found that difficult to comprehend.
Dawn Fraser is someone who has always appealed to me, she was a great swimmer but sometimes her larrikin behaviour got her into trouble. I thought her involvement in the 2000 Olympics was a great tribute to her.
Journal Week 1
Journal 1 – Vicki Anderson
I really enjoyed this Episode of "Women of the Sun – Alinta the Sun". 1724
I,m looking forward to learning more about the traditional Aboriginal Culture in this course. A lot of what you hear about the Aboriginal way of life is negative, for example the child abuse issues currently in the media or the alcohol and drug abuse which are all huge problems, especially in the Northern Territory Remote areas.
One thing I did really notice is the way the tribe interacted together, they worked well as a team to do what had to be done to survive. They respected and listened to the older people in the tribe including the women, which is something a lot of the cultures had a problem with. When the older woman in the tribe spoke you could tell everyone wanted to hear what she had to say. She advised "Their coming will bring danger and sorrow" and she was right.
I found it amusing they thought the white men (convicts) were ghosts, they felt sorry for them and gave them food, protection and water. One of the men (red hair) really worked hard to fit in with the tribe and was accepted. The other man was useless and preyed on the women so the tribe eventually killed him, in my opinion he got what he deserved.
When the white settlers came it was almost insulting to see them trying to give the aboriginal people gifts for their land. The whites had no understanding that the aboriginal people had everything they needed and had no use for their gifts. Still to this day I think this is an issue between the two cultures.
It was hard to watch when the white settlers came and executed the tribe, you knew it would happen but it was still such a waste of life. It was so sad to see a whole peaceful tribe just wiped out so quickly all because of the greed of the white man for the land.
I really enjoyed this Episode of "Women of the Sun – Alinta the Sun". 1724
I,m looking forward to learning more about the traditional Aboriginal Culture in this course. A lot of what you hear about the Aboriginal way of life is negative, for example the child abuse issues currently in the media or the alcohol and drug abuse which are all huge problems, especially in the Northern Territory Remote areas.
One thing I did really notice is the way the tribe interacted together, they worked well as a team to do what had to be done to survive. They respected and listened to the older people in the tribe including the women, which is something a lot of the cultures had a problem with. When the older woman in the tribe spoke you could tell everyone wanted to hear what she had to say. She advised "Their coming will bring danger and sorrow" and she was right.
I found it amusing they thought the white men (convicts) were ghosts, they felt sorry for them and gave them food, protection and water. One of the men (red hair) really worked hard to fit in with the tribe and was accepted. The other man was useless and preyed on the women so the tribe eventually killed him, in my opinion he got what he deserved.
When the white settlers came it was almost insulting to see them trying to give the aboriginal people gifts for their land. The whites had no understanding that the aboriginal people had everything they needed and had no use for their gifts. Still to this day I think this is an issue between the two cultures.
It was hard to watch when the white settlers came and executed the tribe, you knew it would happen but it was still such a waste of life. It was so sad to see a whole peaceful tribe just wiped out so quickly all because of the greed of the white man for the land.
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