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Dancing to a healthy tune!
Gascoyne Junction dances to a healthy tune!
We’re hearing it more often – and the message is growing louder and more urgent – we all need to adopt healthy lifestyles if we want to live to a ripe old age and be active and independent.
And it’s commonly agreed that establishing healthy lifestyle habits in the younger generation is especially important.
But in a community of shy indigenous teenage girls who live 1070km from Perth city, and who’s major exposure to regular physical activity is on the sidelines as the boys play footy, initiating an interest in exercise can be tough.
So imagine the delight of Stella Johnson from the Shire of Carnarvon, when she found her physical activity workshops held at a local expo proved a huge hit.
As the Healthy Lifestyles Officer, Stella promotes good health and identifies issues that might negatively affect health and well-being in the local community. The expo which gave Stella’s project a focus, was the inaugural Gascoyne Junction Healthier Lifestyle Expo held in November 2006. Initiated by Gascoyne Junction Remote School Principal, Marita Henry, it brought together Gascoyne Primary Health, the Shire of Carnarvon and the Department of Sport and Recreation to promote the benefits of healthy eating and physical activity.
As a trained dancer and level 2 coach for gymnastics, Stella held creative dance and sports aerobics workshops, along with rhythmic gymnastic skipping skills. She’s also provided Information about healthy eating and avoiding disease.
The workshops proved a stark contrast to the rest of the “mainly boy group stuff” showcased in terms of exercise at the expo.
“Given that it was 42 degrees, and the expo was held in a huge tin shed in Gascoyne Junction, the response was fantastic”, said Stella.
Through the success of the expo, Stella saw an opportunity to hold ongoing classes, targeting young girls from age eight to sixteen. This could encourage the girls to be more enthusiastic towards physical activity and community participation! But with no teacher in Gascoyne Junction and no funds to get started – Stella needed help to kick-start the project.
Stella heard about Lotterywest grants through a regular email detailing grant opportunities sent out by the Gascoyne Development Commission.
“Lotterywest’s Active Participation Grants fitted perfectly with what we were trying to achieve with this project”, says Stella.
When I went onto the Lotterywest website, it encouraged proposals that respond to the needs of people who are not fully participating in community life, that engage and involve the target group in recreation as a way of building their community involvement and I thought – Yes!”
Stella’s grant application was successful, with the Shire of Carnarvon receiving a grant of $3,441.
To some it’s a small amount – but it’s meant the group of approximately 8 to15 girls who now participate in regular classes will have costumes, as well as rhythmic gymnastic ‘ribbons’.
It will also go towards Stella’s accommodation costs and portable music equipment, allowing her to stay overnight in Gascoyne Junction when the girls put on their first public performance in a couple of months.
Currently Stella does the two hour trip once a fortnight from Carnarvon to Gascoyne Junction to hold the classes. Once a fortnight, Marita Henry, Principal of the Gascoyne Junction Remote School brings the girls to her.
It’s Stella’s plan to pass on her skills to someone local in Gascoyne Junction to be able to continue the classes long-term.
“The girls actually asked if they could perform a routine at the next Healthy Lifestyles Expo”, said Stella.
“It’s given them such confidence.”