Indigenous Community Volunteers

It is a wish to “understand the cultures and people” that helps drive Jan Allen to be involved with Indigenous Community Volunteers [ICV].

After years as a veterinary surgeon, and now working in animal welfare in remote communities she is on her first ICV project at the Garma Festival in East Arnhem Land after working with several other volunteer organisations in Samoa and Bali.

While at Garma which is Australia’s premier Indigenous cultural festival staged from August 6th – 10th, Jan along with 12 other Indigenous Community Volunteers has been involved in a variety of roles ranging from ticketing, stage management, garbage collection and washing dishes.

“I enjoy sharing my skills and I’m always up for adventure. I don’t want to go down the tourist path. I like to have my feet on the ground and experience something that is real and not concocted.”

She says working on something like Garma, is a very good way of being introduced to what can be expected of people involved in ICV projects.

“You have to be flexible, have no expectations, be patient and culturally sensitive.”

While at Garma, when Jan is not part of the ICV operation, she is Program Manager for Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities [AMRRIC] which is operating a display stand at the festival.

It gives her a chance to explain to those attending the festival, the need to ‘increase their awareness of how some diseases can be transferred from animals to humans and that there are easy methods of improving the human health situation.”