2/25/15 Alice Springs

Dave and I took the morning off to do laundry and relax while everyone else went toThe Desert Park.  We had been there eight years ago when we were in Alice so decided to skip it this time.  We rejoined the group after their tour and went to visit a third grade class at the Yipirinya School.  This is a school for indigenous students.  They learn in English and also in their own language and learn their own culture.  We read to the kids and some of them were able to read to us.  We visited their library and then had lunch in the cafeteria.  We all gave them gifts of books, crayons, pencils, and markers to supplment their supplies.  The kids were cute and loved having their pictures taken even though many adults do not like to be photographed.  When someone  dies, their picture is covered or removed from view and their name is not spoken until the grieving period is over, which may be a few weeks, months, or even years.  We continued by coach to The Purple House, which is a dialysis unit as well as a clinic.  The indigenous people have a propensity for kidney disease and therefore there is a great need for dialysis units.  Many of them are in remote areas so that the people do not have to come into town, away from their families to get treatment.  Our next stop was the School of the Air.  It is a studio where the teachers give lessons and the children in outlying areas tune in from cattle stations, roadhouses, parks and other areas that are too remote for a school.  The students only get to come together four times a year for a week at a time for assessments and social activities with other children that they have only seen as icons on their computers.  It was all very interesting and we got to see the end of a live lesson and part of a taped lesson.  Later, when we came back to the hotel and were in the pool, we talked to two little girls who attended the School of the Air.  The family lives on a remote cattle station.  They were 7 and 6.  The were moving to another remote area in the north and had to wait eleven days for their furniture to be delivered so were taking a mini-vacation in Alice.  We had a traditional Aussie BBQ out on the lawn of the hotel - steak, chicken, and shrimp on the "barbie", along with bread and salads.  It was all very good.

I am having a hard time finding the time to put pix on, but hope to make up for it at some point.