Yuendumu School Post Primary Project

Abstract

Education outside the four walls of the classroom has long been an integral part of the program of social change at Yuendumu School.

In mid October, while 80 children from the middle part of the school went on a trip to Alice Springs, the Post Primary School undertook an educational experiment which lasted for three days. There were 35 young men, 20 young women, 4 Teaching Assistants and 5 teachers involved. We chose one of the most dilapidated empty houses in the village, and undertook to renovate it. It stood empty and bare in a line of houses. Not a window or door or chimney adorned any of the 6 houses in the line; the water tanks were broken, the gardens arid, and the walls and floor, both inside and outside, were covered with unsubtle graffiti and an occasional graphic display.

The school strongly feels that it must be a servant of the community. Its service must be conspicuous, and its actions undoubtedly speak more persuasively than words. So we undertook the venture in the belief that education will bring tangible results,

Our specific aims were two fold:

a. to repair the house, then give it to a young married man who applied for it and promised to look after it.

b. to show that anybody can repair a house, so long as he is prepared to work. In other words, we hoped that others would follow suit.