Photos: Seventy8 Photograhy Susan & Ralph Lurie - Retired Nurse & GP
Our backgrounds:
Ralph is a retired GP with many years experience and I am a retired registered nurse with experience in various community roles.
Why we volunteered:
Ralph was forced to retire from his practice because of major illness and surgery, after which he felt he could not return to full time medicine. Missing it very much he started to do non-medical voluntary work in the community. I saw an advertisement in the paper about volunteering with ICV and we both enrolled. As time went on we put it out of our minds until we suddenly received a call about a project.
Our Project
We were invited to go to South Hedland in the Pilbara Region of Western Australian. We were attached to the Wirraka Maya Health Service (WMHS) to transfer skills in ear and eye health to the Aboriginal Health Workers (AHW's). We were to set up links with local primary schools with a view to screening the younger children for ear problems.
We completed our cross cultural awareness training and in no time were being met at the Port Hedland International Airport by Chrissie from WMHS and taken to our “studio” at the caravan park, starting work the next day.
We began tentatively with a phone call to the Principal of the South Hedland Primary School, then a meeting with her. At the end of our four months we had visited five primary schools, two community schools and a day care centre .We examined and performed tympanometry on 312 children from kindergarten, pre-primary and grade 1, and audiometry on some of these, finding a significant number of hearing losses. This age group was targeted as having consistently been found to be most at risk.
Ralph was able to transfer skills to AHWs by sitting in with them while they examined patients and by answering queries. He also has shared his computing skills in recording finding and compiling statistics. His major role was in examining ears and in teaching this with the help of a video otoscope.
The skills I hoped to transfer were to do with clear thinking, writing, planning, organising and networking. We are very pleased with the success of our project.
One school has already installed a new classroom sound system as a result of our findings. As our project concluded we felt a sense of achievement.
Throughout this, Helen Robertson A.H.W was an integral part of the team. She gained great experience in the field and much personal confidence.
Our highlights:
Over time we felt that we became accepted and made valued friendships. We learned much about Indigenous culture and people, sitting around the coffee/lunch table. We will always remember the gales of laughter on both sides and the stories. Often funny, often, terribly sad. Ralph loved learning some new fishing skills. The contact with the children was a joy. They were so open, friendly and affectionate.
It has been great for us, two retirees, to regain the feeling of extending ourselves,of working at something constructive and worthwhile. It has been an opportunity to see and explore the wonderful country which is the Pilbara, and to fall in love with it.
It has been an adventure we will never forget.
One of the main things we are taking away with us is a much deeper understanding of the layers of pain suffered by so many Indigenous people. Of the difficulties they face and the despair they sometimes feel.
Our message to would be volunteers:
"To anyone considering becoming an ICV volunteer we would say – grasp the opportunity!"
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