One day a brother said to me ‘listen Jamie, your community needs your assistance.’ He believed I could inspire our people. With nothing else on I decided to enrol in a Cert II in Cultural Site Conservation. During this time I met my mentor, Roger Shannon Uluru, a very traditional Pitjinjatjarra man, I also met a number of other brothers that had a powerful effect on me and my way of thinking. The course was a success, so successful in fact that TAFE NSW developed a Cert III so that we could continue with our studies. That year we completed 1400 hours of TAFE and loved every minute of it.
The missing piece of my life had been put in place, I made a conscious decision to dedicate my life to the Aboriginal community, and I had found a vocation in life. After completing the Cert III I became a guest lecturer at West Ryde TAFE. I also worked with Roger to develop a Statement of Attainment in Aspects of Culture; this course was very popular amongst non-Indigenous people. The course ran for three rounds and was at full capacity each time with a number of prospective students being turned away.
I then moved to an Aboriginal employment assistance office, New Careers for Aboriginal People (NCAP), taking on the role of Manager. During this time I placed 83 Indigenous people in fulltime employment.
From NCAP I moved to The Men’s Shed taking the position of Cultural Worker. During this role I met Jack Bulman and Rick Hayes who were working to develop Mibbinbah. I became a founding member becoming one of the first Project Associates (PA’s) to work with Mibbinbah and confirming my passion for Men’s health.
These past three years have seen Mibbinbah come along in leaps and bounds. I have been trained with Mibbinbah to become a Researcher in participatory action research, for me this was the greatest outcome of my life. I have recorded Men’s stories for Mibbinbah, many of which have brought me to tears and further my passion for assisting my mob in any way, shape or form possible.
After three years at The Men’s Shed funding was cut for my position. This was a devastating and heartbreaking blow, leading to depression, anxiety attacks and other personal health problems. The support from the Mibbinbah network during this time was invaluable and helped me to no end.
I was out of work for two months until a friend suggested that I apply for a position at Marist Youth Care as a case worker. I was successful in winning this position, sometimes when one door closes another opens. The support from the Marist staff has been nothing short of miraculous and I am now studying my Cert IV in Community from here I plan to get my diploma with my goal to obtain a bachelor degree by 2013.
Working for my Community has inspired me to achieve goals that I never thought Possible.
