Name: Kellis Dare Lawrie
Grade: Year 10
Age: 16 Years
School: Ernabella Anangu School
Hometown and State: Ernabella (Pukatja), South Australia
LIFTING US UP – How can women and girls empower each other and their communities in times of uncertainty and change?
Katuralanya Kanyini – Lifting us up
My mother is the strongest woman I know, she has worked at the clinic for 29 years and she still works there. She looks after her grandchildren, my brothers and myself. She works really hard every day, every week. When Pre-School closes at 12:30pm each day, she comes home from work to look after the little ones. When I get home from school she goes back to work. When she finishes, she cooks, gets the boys ready for bed, washes all the clothes and cleans up the house. She supports and teaches me to be strong and compassionate towards other girls and to problem-solve rather than fight. The best thing is that when there is a problem, she will bring all the girls in to talk and sort out the issue. By teaching, supporting and loving me she empowers me to be a strong young woman with a strong voice to empower the girls and women around me.
I grew up in Ceduna, when I turned five, we moved to Ernabella. Ernabella is a green desert with a big creek, lots of salt bushes and surrounded by the Musgrave ranges äóñ it is beautiful. People in Ernabella live by two systems of law: the law set by the government, and our law. Our laws have stayed the same for thousands of years despite the changes Anangu have experienced from colonisation. The laws are hard for little ones. The first men’s business I went to, I was scared and crying. I cried because I did not understand. Everyone felt this way when they were little, but I am still scared to this day. I did not go for the whole time to my older brother’s business and I regret it.
Nowadays, little ones are not as scared of business as they are of Corona Virus. Not only are the kids scared of Corona, but all the adults too. The government and Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands council put laws and rules in place to keep Anangu safe. This meant we had to stop travelling and stay home. We could not have funerals, which is an important grieving time in Anangu culture. Some families were stuck in Adelaide and could not come home. Our older people and elders had to leave community and go down to Adelaide to be close to hospitals and stay safe. We could not even go hunting. All these changes to our ways of life were hard on everybody. However, through all of this change we have stayed strong and supported each other. More importantly, it has been women that have lifted all us girls up in this time.
What I can do to empower the women and girls around me now is to talk with them, listen to their stories and encourage and support them to be strong. I can empower the women and girls in community in the future by staying at school and completing my SACE. This way I will be strong and educated to better help. Despite the loss of my sister in 2017, my father last year and my aunty and grandmother this year I continue to come to school all day everyday – even though it is hard.
Ngayulu kunpu munu rawa kunpungarapai, ngayulu mukuringanyi kungka tjuta katu kanyintjaku munu ngayulu mukuringanyi nyayuku ngunytju pukularinitjaku.
I am strong and resilient, I want to use this to build strength in the women and girls around me and to make my mother proud.