Northern exposure

Pakenham Rotary Club member Ken Bryan has just returned from a lifealtering experience in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory which has given him a newfound respect for Aboriginals.
Together with three other Vietnam veterans and another volunteer, he went to Arnhem Land at the invitation of Dr Neville White, also a Vietnam War veteran.
“They wanted somebody with mechanical knowledge to try and teach them how to look after their motor vehicles. My brother had been up before and had built them a workshop up there,” Mr Bryan, 62, said.
“Dr Neville White has been going up for 30odd years. He organised for the grants from the Rotary Club of Melbourne for the trip. They got some funding from other societies to build the workshop up there.
“When I was asked whether I wanted to go I didn’t even say anything to my wife. I just said ‘I’m going’.
“I told her later and she was rapt that I was going.”
Mr Bryan was a little unsure of his role when he first arrived but soon warmed to the task.
“The first thing I started with was keeping the workshop clean. Then we moved onto servicing your car. I used an example of travelling to Darwin in the car. ‘Now what are we going to do to the car before we go?’,” he said.
“These people are not silly; they can fix things and get things going. We were just trying to not have them break down on the road and check a few things before they leave.”
His enthusiasm for the venture has only been matched by the negativity he receives from others when he speaks about his experience.
“One thing that has really annoyed me lately is that you speak to anybody and say I’ve been away working with Aboriginals and there’s always a negative response,” Mr Bryan said.
“What I noted when I was there was that if you leave them to do things that they want to do – the way they’ve done them for 40,000 to 50,000 years –they’re quite capable of doing things without the white man trying to change them completely.
“They were really great – amazing – people. They were happy.”
While he was meant to be doing the tutoring, it appears the Donydji community taught him almost as much in his threeandahalf week stay. Rather than highlighting his role, Mr Bryan is content to impart his newfound wisdom on Aboriginal culture.
“They don’t want a house like you and I live in, with kitchens and bathrooms and things like that. They just want a place to sleep and somewhere to light a fire. They’re not worried about cooking over a gas stove or electric stove or anything like that. They go hunting, fishing. There are no alcohol or drugs allowed in this community. I can’t say that all communities were like this but hopefully they will be,” he said.
He has even taken on a traditional Aboriginal personality trait.
“It’s so quiet and peaceful [in the Donydji community]. I have this thing now called my ‘Donydji factor’.
“The other day I was in a shop getting some bits and pieces for a job I was doing, and a lady walked in, and I could see she was in a hurry. It was on the tip of my tongue to say ‘Have you heard of the Donydji factor?’ because she was just in such a rush and these people just cruise along with everything they do,” Mr Bryan said.
“So now I have this new saying; it’s the Donydji factor. If I get uptight I just say to myself ‘Remember the Donydji factor’.”
Arnhem Land is in the north of the Northern Territory and the Donydji community lives in the northeast of this region. Mr Bryan and the rest of the crew bathed and washed their clothing in a nearby creek. The oppressive weather made swimming a popular pastime as well.
To aid with the development of the Donydji children, a couple of schoolteachers fly in three days a week to teach them English. As Mr Bryan points out, it allows the children to widen their horizons.
“They have got to learn English to get around in our country now. If they just learn their own language they’re restricted in what they do. For instance, if they wanted to go and buy a couple of parts for a car they couldn’t go in if they only know their own language,” he said.
One constant is Mr Bryan’s admiration for the community’s children and one particular incident stood out.
“One thing I noticed up there was that they had a few push bikes around and because it is a very harsh environment they have gears and everything. Bits and pieces fell off them or were broken and one boy was having trouble with the chain on his bike. I shortened the chain and rewelded it together and he watched me the whole time and after that he was able to do that job on some of the younger boys’ bikes. They pick things up very quickly.”
The trip was a major success and Mr Bryan plans on visiting the community again.
“I think I achieved the goals that I set out with. It could be ongoing; I’d like to go up there again and show them some more things about cars and things like that.
“No doubt they could probably show me a few things too,” Mr Bryan said. “[They could] Show me how to hunt or something like that; that’d be good.”
He reiterated the traditional values still inherent in Aboriginal culture.
“There’s probably a lot of Aboriginals who get into our society and make a good go of it but there’s probably a lot of them who like things the way they were.
“I’d say they’ve lost a lot of their culture – their original culture – but to try and hang on to what they’ve got is a great thing.
“They’ve got along for thousands and thousands of years before we came along.
“We think it’s primitive but they’re quite happy with it.”