Gamarada recently held a public forum in Glebe to raise awareness of the unmet needs of Aboriginal men in Sydney’s inner suburbs. Gamarada is known for successful community engagement and specialised delivery of programs that address complex needs of Indigenous communities. “We have begun a conversation with key stakeholders including the City of Sydney, local MPs, service providers and community members about working together to empower Indigenous men and youth for the betterment of their community,” said Ken Zulumovski, Gamarada Co-founder.
The Glebe Town Hall was packed for the event. “It’s men that we need to be working with in particular, to help give them the tools to know what it means to be strong, what does it mean to have courage as a man, what makes you weaker and what makes you stronger, what does it mean to love and how can we express that in our families, what does it mean to be committed, what does it mean to be a father or a brother, these are the types of skills and understandings that come from the work of Gamarada,” said Jamie Parker MP.
“We want to demonstrate what we’ve achieved since 2007 and lead a gradual shift in the way that services are delivered. The current results we see are not good enough and too many of us are slipping through the gaps. We also want to attract the interest of financial supporters who are interested in supporting programs that address the root causes, we are focused on prevention,” Mr Zulumovski continued.
Gamarada already runs a healing and leadership program in Redfern that utilises a mix of practical stress and anger management techniques in combination with traditional healing practices like Dadirri and deep relaxation to empower Aboriginal men to break damaging patterns of behaviour, and to achieve positive goals. The men in the program are from all levels of the community and some include people who have been involved in the criminal justice system, people with drug, alcohol and gambling issues, and members of the stolen generations.
“The Australian Human Rights Commission recommended, in its ‘Bringing Them Home Report’, that part of the solution is to create innovative healing programs. The Gamarada program meets this solution by building capacity in individuals, assisting them to reach out and engage employment, legal, health and community services, reducing the discrepancies between the populations,” said Deputy Lord Mayor Robyn Kemmis.
The Gamarada Healing and Leadership program is a community developed and delivered program that has been recognised with a NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet Excellence Award for Building Leadership in Indigenous communities.
