This year the WANTA Staff and Board Members came together to celebrate the hard work everyone has been doing in the programs and developed some more skills to take back with them. It is a fantastic time of the year when we all come together, share stories, hardships and catch up or meet each other for the first time! We all become so focused on our own programs that when we get to see each other, it’s always an exciting time.
We began Day 1 at the fantastic Travelodge Resort in Darwin, after dealing with the usual technical difficulties, with a session on Child Abuse and Neglect Prevent and Mandatory Reporting. Whilst this topic sounds full on, it is essential for our staff to learn about these topics to become effective members of our communities and to have the knowledge and empowerment to make the right choices when needed to. The session, delivered by Meron Looney from NAPCAN, got us to reflect on the communities in which we work, identify key stakeholders in our programs, and work together as groups on scenarios that detailed different types of abuse. Whilst this information can be hard to hear and discuss, our staff all recognised its importance and actively engaged in the conversations helping us all become more aware. Following the session, we enjoyed breaks to reconnect, as many had not seen each other for a year or met each other at all!
After our session with NAPCAN, we enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by Travelodge where we all envied what each other had ordered. Then back to the conference room where we began to work on WANTA’s rising implementation of Social Enterprise projects into our communities. Indi provided a short presentation on the Ngukurr Social Enterprise Project, Bagai Barista, a small cafe run by students from Ngukurr School providing the community with delicious coffee and more. The presentation discussed day to day operations, behind the scene processes, challenges and success stories, and hoped to provide a foundation for other community programs in their social enterprise journeys. Whilst some communities have already established or began the process of integrating a Social Enterprise project, like Tanami Treats in Lajamanu, Bagai Barista in Ngukurr and YuMob in Yuendumu, others began brainstorming ideas of social enterprise projects that address their communities needs. With lots of ideas in our minds, we jotted them down and shared just before we finished up for the day.
After the long day, we all had a quick rest before heading to The Precinct at the Darwin Waterfront to enjoy a delicious dinner together with more catching up, story sharing and funny moments.
Day two started with delicious breakfasts and staff running quick errands before we all met back into the PD room at the Travelodge Resort to return back to our Social Enterprise journeys. We began the day with a presentation by Nina from the Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA). This presentation was a fantastic opportunity to better understand Social Enterprise’s and to feel more confident in starting the process of developing our Social Enterprises in our communities. We learnt effective techniques for generating ideas and how to present them to one another.
We were treated to an inspiring presentation and chat with Marcus Watson, CEO of Backtrack, a Youth centered organisation based in rural NSW “helping youth to develop healthy foundations for positive life ways”. Backtrack operates similarly to WANTA, as both organisations work directly with at-risk youth and use Social Enterprise to empower youth-driven projects. We were all in awe of the work they are doing at Backtrack and had plenty of questions to ask when the time came. After we said bye to Backtrack we continued our social enterprise in journeys for our communities, coming together sharing ideas and empowering each other.
After doing all the hard work, we got to rewind and relax with a game of Barefoot Bowls at the Darwin Bowls Club, and feasted on delicious nibbles. This year’s PD was a wonderful blend of learning and entertainment, providing us with the opportunity to connect with colleagues in a relaxed environment in Darwin city, away from the remote bush settings we are all used to. As we packed up and prepared for our journey’s back to our communities. We all can’t wait for the next time we all get to catch up, in the meantime we will follow each other’s journeys from afar and look forward to sharing the stories from our programs and communities.
Written by Indi Drendel, Director Ngukurr Academy.
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