Progress report on Jalaris Kids Garden 2010 Movie

For more about Brad’s project check out his film-making blog by clicking here.

Click on the following link to download a high resolution version of the 2009 Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation’s Kid’s Futures Club Evaluation Report (8.3mb).

For more information on this project please contact Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation at jalaris@westnet.com.au or phone (Australia  + 61) 08 9193 2200.

Once the wet season ended and the cooler weather started in March, Jalaris commenced the garden project. This involved staff doing the heavy work of digging and fertilising the garden beds and installing reticulation first, and then teaching the kids how to plant the beds with a variety of vegetables and herbs: corn, tomato, watermelon, lettuce, pumpkin, silver beet, capsicum, basil etc. They have also planted orange, lime, fig and lemon trees. Click on the following link to see a video of the kids planting tomatoes, videoed by one of the kids club members…

Jalaris Kids Future Club Garden Project

The project is linked to health and nutrition through supporting kids to learn about growing and eating vegies and doing physical activity in the process, as well as literacy and numeracy by getting the kids to record what they have planted, how many they have planted, why they are healthy, how fast they are growing, and to document the progress of the project with photographs, video and drawings. This is a long term project, and Jalaris is motivating the kids to persevere with it by offering a prize of a laptop computer for the best efforts by the kids at the end of the year. Below are photos of the garden project in August, as well as when it began back in March 2009.

Below are some pictures of the garden and the kids at work and play (click on each to see it enlarged).

Singing Out Book cover image

In June and July 2008, Side by Side Community Project Consulting and Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation partnered with The Neighborhood Story Project in running a book-making workshop for Aboriginal ladies from Derby. The project was to put together a book of stories about women’s experiences of education and learning using writing, interviewing and photography, and forms part of the community-based research on issues for Indigenous kids and families in Derby on which Jalaris and Side by Side are collaborating. The hope was that the stories would contribute to better understanding and knowledge of the diverse influences on Indigenous educational experiences in the Derby region today.

The project drew on the Neighborhood Story Projects model of community writing and interviewing, and the methods of participatory photography and story telling of Side by Side and Jalaris. Over an intensive month 7 women ranging in age from 21 to 60 years old wrote stories about themselves and their lives and took photographs to accompany their stories. The 7 writers selected, interviewed & photographed 7 other women in the Derby community who’s stories of education and learning they felt should be included in the book.

The final product was launched in November 2008 in Derby, Western Australia. Follow this link to hear a radio interview from local Derby station 6DBY about the Singing Out book launch, which includes readings from some of the writers.  The book is not for sale, however limited copies are available through Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation, Side by Side Community Project Consulting & the Neighborhood Story Project.

You can see selected pages from Carlene Wises story below:

singingout pg 68

singingout pg 69

singingout pg 74

singingout pg 75

Maya has extensive experience working with communities, organisations and government, supporting the participatory development, implementation and evaluation of community projects and programs. Her work has a particular focus on  community, cultural and organisational development, evaluation, participatory practices and . Maya has strong skills in developing and implementing training and capacity building processes, participatory evaluation, social research and community development. She has provided mentoring support to a number of community and government workers in community development roles. She has a strong background in work with young people, women, multicultural and Indigenous organisations.

Before founding Side by Side Community Project Consulting, Maya was a Senior Research Officer with the Australian Institute of Family Studies undertaking capacity building, training, action research and evaluation with community organisations and government departments. She has been a member of the ACT Cultural Council and has authored a number of papers on participatory evaluation, action research, and the uses of creative methods such as photography in community development. Maya holds 1st Class Honours in Social Ecology with a Major in Organisational and Community Development from the University of Western Sydney, and is currently working on her Doctorate  at the Australian National University.

Jalaris Kids Future Club Evaluation 2008 - front cover

To download a PDF copy of the 2008 report click on the following link : Jalaris Kids Future Club Evaluation Report 2008 (PDF 9mb approx)

For more information on this project please contact Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation at jalaris@westnet.com.au or phone (Australia  + 61) 08 9193 2200.

For info on this project check out the profile in the Regional Arts Australia publication “Big Story Country” (click here to find out how to download it…), or check out the video about the 2007 Marsh Art event on utube (click here to go to the utube site).

Side by Side is committed to a participatory approach to evaluation. The focus of participatory evaluation is to actively engage those who the project is for in all aspects of the evaluation process. This helps them build skills and knowledge that empowers them to effect sustainable change. Rather than simply giving a report card at the end of a project, participatory evaluation runs in parallel to a community project. It not only accounts for what happens, it also makes use of the insider knowledge of participants to inform the development and implementation of the project.

Participatory evaluation:

• Builds capacities (motivation, knowledge, skills, resources and opportunities) for all of those involved.
•  Describes not only what happened, but also how the project’s aims and objectives were enacted. It values the project process as much as the outcome.
•  Communicates with the project participants as well as external stakeholders, to support timely action on learning and conclusions.
•  Provides direct feedback about how initiatives are building capacities and changing the environment.
• Builds on what people already know and do. Participatory evaluation uses communication processes that are readily understandable to the local context and allow the participants to build on their own ways of doing things.
• Helps people understand the processes by which change actually happens in the specific cultural and local context of a project.
•  Directly involves the project participants in the creation of knowledge and its ongoing application in project action. This ensures that a project is closely aligned with local cultural conditions.
•  Builds a sense of collective responsibility and ownership of the project and its future.
• Is an integral project strategy as it builds capacities and facilitates local solutions to local issues.
•  Encourages the participants to document what they are doing, allowing them to see the story of change unfolding, and reinforcing their capacity to solve problems and successfully plan and undertake initiatives in the future.

1.     To improve and develop a project.

2.     To communicate about a project.

3.     To account for a project by showing how it is working and what is happening as a result.

Participatory Action Research has been defined as:

“…inquiry by ordinary people acting as researchers to explore questions in their lives, recognise their resources, and produce knowledge, and take action to overcome inequalities often in solidarity with external supporters”

(Dickson, G 2000. Aboriginal Mothers’ experience with health promotion and participatory action research, Qualitative Health Research, 10(2):1888-213)

 Another definition of Action Research is:

“A way for people to participate in a reflective practice that allows change and understanding to occur at the same time. It aims to improve practice, address problems and promote ongoing learning. Action research moves through cycles of Planning, Acting, Observing and Reflecting. The aim is for understanding of the local situation to increase over time and for action to be improved and adapted through applying this learning. Action research is collaborative and participatory, usually including everybody who has a stake in the action.”