The final launch of 2022 was held this week, with the Morawa community welcoming our program at Morawa District High School. The event was attended by Shooting Stars staff and participants, school staff, Elders, community members and corporate partners.
Amongst the special guests in attendance were Carolyn Lewis – a Yamatji Noongar woman who is an Aboriginal researcher at Curtin University – and Melissa Price MP, who officially opened the Shooting Stars room. The room is designed as a space in the school where the girls can go to feel safe and welcomed.
The event celebrated not only the program launch, but the incredible girls that have already joined the program and are excited to be part of it. Peidance, Lakeisha and Kelvina were brave in standing up in front of the crowd and sharing their story and what the program means to them.
Eleanor Simpson, a Yamatji woman from Murchinson has joined the team as our Program Coordinator, having previously worked as an Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer (AIEO). She spoke of her introduction to the program, saying, “I started working with Shooting Stars as of this term. I really had no idea what it was going to be about or like - only what I thought I knew. But then when I started, I learnt heaps more.”
As part of the program, the girls chose the team's name and designed the dress that they’ll wear when representing their site at events and carnivals. The team’s name is Mo-Town magic, with the dress design representing wildflower country. The winner of the design competition, Patrice, described her design:
"The yellow represents the sun shining on country and giving life to the wildflowers. The blue, pink, purple, and red are the many wildflowers that grow across Yamatji Barna (country) making our (Barna) unique with its beauty. Us Morawa Nyarlus are unique in our beauty shining from different countries and language groups."
The Morawa sites marks the third site in the Mid West for Shooting Stars, with sites already operating in Mullewa and Meekatharra, and is the 20th site across Western and South Australia.
