Making up
ICV is an organisation based on strong values and a philosophy of capacity building and sustainability.
As an ICV staff member, I believe we should practice what we preach, so I jumped at the chance in March to be part of a project on Goulburn and Croker Islands in West Arnhem Land.
We held beauty therapy workshops with school girls aged from 11 to 16 with the workshops also open to the ladies of the community
We held beauty therapy workshops with school girls aged from 11 to 16 with the workshops open to the ladies of the community.
We talked about how we can maintain good skin by eating well, and exercising as well as the importance of protecting and moisturizing skin. We also discussed that there were courses the girls could do in Darwin if they wanted to learn more about beauty therapy.
Beauty therapy would be a great small business enterprise the ladies could set up in the local community. It could be easily set up in a clean room in the house or local shire building.
While it was aimed to be fun the girls had to have regularly attended school in the weeks leading up to the course in order to be eligible for the workshop.
At university I had a long term part time job in a pharmacy which had a holistic approach to health and beauty. Based on these skills, I was selected for the assignment.
The wet season was still in full swing and the islands where I was doing my assignment on Croker and Goulburn Islands were amongst the wettest places in the Territory that week, but it didn’t seem to stop the girls attending over the two days.
I was fortunate that I have some great friends who all contributed some of their own bathroom products to take with me, and I ended up going with excess baggage of nail polishes, mud masks, exfoliation scrubs and moisturizing creams of all smells.
The girls enjoyed feeling how soft their skin was after facials, but the big hit was my colourful collection of nail polishes.
After the workshop on one island, I was at the store getting groceries and one of the students came up and thanked me for some perfume which a friend of mine donated. She was so proud of her beautiful nails; clearly she was the envy of all her friends.
It was nice to be able to reward those lovely girls in a simple but practical manner.
Shireen Watson is based in ICV’s Perth office.
