Face-washing deal under the pump

The Australian: Face-washing deal under the pump :

"THE Aboriginal face-washing program condemned for being 'paternalistic' has been unable to reduce rates of the eye disease attacking the indigenous children of Mulan."

Our face washing for petrol programme has had no effect on the rate of the trachoma disease on the 150 people who live in the remote WA desert. Irrespective of whether you think the deal is a stupid way to treat people, it was negotiated, it was accepted and the people have tried to put the deal into practice. 58% of the people have trachoma which is up 16% from last year. The elders said the kids had been swimming and everyone had tried to engage in this programme. Amanda van Stone seems to see it differently:

"I suspect there were some people waiting for the bowser to arrive ... I can see some people thinking 'we agreed to do this when we got the bowser'," she said.

If we had trachoma in a white community , what would we do? How would we help the white people and what would we be telling them? We sure as eggs wouldn't be doing any deals. We'd organise the treatment programmes and tell people the best way to manage it as we do witht the headlice outbreaks in schools and kindies.

The COAG scheme in nearby Balgo has been a big success is cutting crime rates and petrol sniffing. The local police are speking well about it because the Aborigines have been in charge of it but the government has supplied the infrastructure needed and that is how we tackle it in Australia. We're a team and it's a team effort. If change is needed the government points the way and then supplies the what we need and we just get on with it...like when they change roads, railways, housing concepts...It's a two way street. Nobody gives me petrol because I had a shower this morning and no one would think to do that to me. They give me a shower in my home and suppose I shall use it...and with kids, it's dead set easy...kids and water just go together.