The Dot Com Mob was very fortunate this year to visit with their partners at the Hope Vale Indigenous Knowledge and Technology Centre during NAIDOC week in July and were lucky enough to be in time for the NAIDOC community parade.
Shirley Costello, the co-ordinator at the Indigenous Knowledge and Technology Centre was also the Master of Ceremonies for the NAIDOC celebrations. The photos below will give you a sense of what a great occasion it was for all involved. How exciting to see the Hope Vale community now has its own YouTube page!!
Young people from the community have created a series of digital stories which they have posted up on the page. Listen to their songs or hear their personal stories which provides a fantastic insight to life in Hope Vale - from a community perspective. The community page is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/HopeValecommunity Hope Vale Mayor, Greg McLean, gave the key-note speech at the IKC Administrator's Conference in Cairns this week. "The Hope Vale Council is funded to provide roads, rates and rubbish collection in our community, but we must also be funded to provide reading so our community members can enjoy the same services as every other Australian" said Mayor McLean ![]() State Librarian Lea Giles-Peters today announced a major new acquisition by the State Library of Queensland of a significant photographic collection charting the development of the Hope Vale community from 1958–83. Ms Giles-Peters said Lutheran Pastor Ivan Roennfeldt’s donation of his collection of 2,000 photographs and slides coincided with the 50th anniversary of Hope Vale’s Lutheran Church. Pastor Roennfeldt, 83, who is now retired and living in Brisbane, was on the Board of the Lutheran Church which oversaw the Hope Vale Mission. He visited the Mission many times over 25 years from 1958, and photographed the community and local landmarks. ![]() “The photographic collection donated by Pastor Roennfeldt depicts the daily activities of the mission, such as farming, constructing irrigation systems and wood turning,” Ms Giles-Peters said. “There are also a number of images acquired by Pastor Roennfeldt dating from the 1800s, which show the earlier traditional life of the community, including rare shots of fishing, camping and shelters.” Pastor Roennfeldt’s photographs will become part of the State Library’s Heritage Collections. The State Library is investigating digitising the collection so it can be viewed by people across the state and throughout Australia online through the Picture Queensland database. Ms Giles-Peters said the State Library is committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities and preserving their unique culture and stories. “In partnership with the local council, the Department of Communities and private donors, the State Library opened an Indigenous Knowledge Centre in Hope Vale last month,” she said. “The Hope Vale centre provides a place for people to come together, socialise, learn and celebrate the community’s cultural heritage and is part of the network of 17 Indigenous Knowledge Centres located across the state.” Hope Shire Council passes a Resolution of support at their Council meeting held 14 Dec 2006 to partner with the Dot Com Mob to develop a community learning centre.
The resolution states that the Council will make available, where possible, the necessary facilities for the purpose of developing a learning centre in Hope Vale. This facility will encourage the use of computers and other electronic devices for education and learning to assist community members in the development and enhancement of their computer skills. The centre will promote the use of technologies such as computers and associated software with the aim of building self confidence and esteem as well as other benefits to community members. ![]() In July 2006, five students from Djarragun College visited Hope Vale Aboriginal Community in Cape York as tutors to pass on their IT skills and show others the exciting potential of the Internet. Young people from Hope Vale Aboriginal Community were chosen to pair-up with the students of Djarragun to learn how to send emails, surf the Internet, make posters, business cards and telephone calls through Skype. Online Introduction to Computers course run by JobFind to demonstrate the learning tools available to students in remote locations. The teacher for this course was in Tasmania and the young people enjoyed a week of learning where the teacher could remotely control their computers. |