Healthy living guide for the Aboriginal Community. Helping you care for your liver and your mob.
Viral hepatitis is still an issue for the Victorian Aboriginal Community in 2020. This guide is about keeping ourselves well, and when we keep ourselves well, we improve our liver health, says Peter Waples-Crowe, Ngarigu.
The Guide is endorsed by Creative Director of the ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Kamarra Bell-Wykes, who is a strong advocate for good liver health in Aboriginal communities, and promotes understanding of the experience and stigma of liver disease. Her advice: “Love your liver! Love your life! Love yourself!”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We acknowledge the Artists
Capture
Peter Waples-Crowe, Ngarigu people (back cover and page backgrounds)
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are blood borne viruses. This art work is about being blood aware and making sure viruses don’t spread in our communities. Our communities are built on our blood (family) connections and by working together we can stay strong.
Shifty Crane
Keith, Gunaikurnai/Monero people (front cover)
Sitting at the pond at Fulham, I always see the crane trying to steal our fish. I always have to shoo him away.
Totem BB Paints, Ngarabal people (Eating Well page)
Many Aboriginal mobs have the koala as their totem and in Dreamtime believe the koala came from grey clay which moved into trees and gave strength to them. This strength has been even more vital in the aftermath of the recent bushfires. Under great adversity we can bounce back and flourish.
Four Emus
Darren, Yorta Yorta people (Getting Active page)
An emu family.
Always Connected
Dargs , Darug people (Feeling Well page)
This represents me and my ex partner. Though we are not connected physically, the white dot work through the centre of the painting
represents the connection we still have.
Sobriety
Garry Scott (Drink Aware page)
Two of my sons and I are on an everyday journey together. They are in their late 20s and coming to terms with their addictions. I have been clean and sober for over ten years. Sobriety is the number one priority in our lives now.
This painting is about our journey, locked together, keeping busy, training hard and supporting one another in every way possible. I am sharing some methods I use for my sobriety with my sons.
The most effective method I have found in keeping myself sober is to keep busy; physical and mentally training hard and staying positive, taking it one day at a time.The big campsite in the middle of the painting is my father’s and mother’s place where we have a boxing gym. This is where we train, this is where we come together to support each other.
We acknowledge and thank Peter Waples-Crowe for his cultural guidance and assistance in developing this resource. We acknowledge and thank community members and workers for their guidance and contributions.