Please forgive my particulated rhetoric, this has been a full on four weeks 'embedded' in the black side of an invisible struggle.

First seek to understand. The first principle in aid project managment is land security. The mind blowing wrongness of well-intentioned government managers in regard to local concerns.

This community has lots of fruit trees. Every yard has at least an orange tree and a barely recognisable black mulberry. Why are the school's citrus trees behind 6' chain link fence? Why were they slashed by otherwise gorgeous primary students anyway? Why do all my students have a 4 n' 20 pie and a 1.25L bottle of coke for breakfast every morning? Why was the community kitchen and cafe embezzeled of half a million dollars and shut down? Why is footy awesome for men and also a hinderance for employment? What model for Indigenous employment actually works? Will it have to be a community originated effort to suceed? I suspect so. And my current employers aren't likely to understand or approve.

Bill Mollison's and Geoff Lawton's teachings have been very handy the past few months, all of them related to people and tribal societies.

I'm going to have to build a bush camp, go hunting with youths, colt starting and herding cattle on motorbikes. All of it unsanctioned by the governement, but the only way to truely engage and do what is real to the young men. And the young women, well I'm looking for support to get their needs met. A childcare and community services education center starting next year will help. It'll all happen eventually.