Day 2 - Monday 5/1

This morning we were introduced to Joan Foley who works for the community radio station and is an active member of Port Hedland community. Her adopted daughter, Anika, is a young Aboriginal girl with spina bifida. We had a conversation over a cup of tea with Joan, and she talked about the education system in Hedland, with her children having disabilities and having inadequate access to the upper levels of the school until only recently. Joan took to issue to the State and Federal Governments and finally got a response last year, with Mr Carpenter prociding a $6 mil grant to the school for a lift to be installed.

We then moved onto the community radio station with Joan, who introduced us to Wayne and Adrian - station chairman and technician respectively. We were shown how to use the station's equipment and were given an overview of what is required of us from the radio station's perspective. The three of us will put together a two hour radio show, which we will broadcast live to air and also include some pre-recorded interviews. The main content of our show will be based on our 'what does it take' project - Isabelle has asked us to investigate a number of successful people in the Hedland community and report on what it takes to get where they are today (inspiration, set backs, overcoming obstacles etc.). We are thinking about looking at a successful sporting team in Hedland (possible water polo) and interviewing the team members/coach to see what it takes to become a 'champion team' (or at least to get to a certain level).

For radio we have also been asked to work with some companies to do some promotional pieces, as well as work on some community service announcements (CSAs). Within our two hour radio program we need to include a five minute radio bulletin as well. I will be involved in the scripting and voicing of radio news bulletins. We also borrowed some portable recording devices which we can use for our interviews.

We had an early finish today and spent the rest of the day discussing what we will be doing while we're here. We had a chance to hit the beach, but it paled in comparison to Perth beaches (too many rocks and murky water). The water was suprisingly warm and we felt like we were in a spa. Is there any relief from this heat??


The Beach