Bringing a home back to life in Kurrawang, WA
Kurrawang Aboriginal Christian Community is located outside of Kalgoorlie in remote WA. Community First Development (formerly ICV) has a long relationship with Kurrawang which dates all the way back to 2004.
The Kurrawang community has complete ownership of the housing on their property which brings in rental income that is used to maintain all the residences. However, several of the houses are rundown and unliveable which reduces the community’s ability to perform maintenance works.
Kurrawang set out to repair the rundown houses, and they invited Community First Development to assist.
We connected the community with skilled volunteer Peter who has over 25 years’ experience in carpentry and construction. Peter also has a background in teaching, making him the perfect choice to impart new skills.
When Peter arrived at Kurrawang for a two-week stint, it was all hands on deck measuring, grinding, levelling and hammering to get the job done.
Peter spoke glowingly about how the community took to the project ‘The guys (residents) have learnt a lot of skills’ he said. ‘They’ve picked up the task really well, and I’m sure they’ve all got a lot from the project.’
And the new skills learnt by the community will allow them to renovate the remaining rundown houses full of confidence.
Kurrawang staff member Denise reflected on the community’s feeling of achievement coming from driving and finishing the project.
‘It’s ownership, and I think that’s the best thing about the projects,’ she said. ‘People that are working on it live here, and they can say they did it, it’s theirs. Have that sense of ownership and pride.’
