New health and well-being program in remote schools
Yaru Water and the Yaru Foundation are excited to announce a new partnership with not-for-profit organisation, Red Dust.
Red Dust inspires remote Indigenous communities through a unique ‘community as family’ model of health and well-being programs and has walked alongside community leaders and Elders for over twenty-five years.
Raising funds for the Healthy Living Program
Money raised via sales of Yaru Water will enable Red Dust to develop and deliver the next generation of education modules for their Healthy Living Program in remote Indigenous communities, in the Northern Territory.
The Healthy Living Program is a high-impact school-based health and well-being program for 5–12-year-olds and is facilitated by positive role models; with a focus on nutrition, physical activity, resilience and cultural strength, helping to inspire participants to identify and pursue their dreams.
The next generation education module pilot will be funded by the Yaru Foundation and will deliver a range of resources for participants and facilitators, including play-based resources. These will be co-designed with community to ensure local and cultural relevance.
Yaru and Red Dust are excited to see the ongoing positive impact these modules will have on young people in remote schools and communities.
Designed with Community
The communities have co-designed the programs to achieve a range of positive health outcomes. They identify the priority content themes that are most relevant to the community’s vision for a stronger future.
Local role models work as part of an integrated program team to create and deliver interactive learning opportunities that are both locally and culturally relevant to the community.
Aim of the Next Generation Education Model
- Provide relevant health education for easy facilitation by the program delivery team.
- Increase health literacy in remote schools.
- Support play-based, two-way learning (delivered with teacher assisted local language and English).
Outcomes for the pilot module will help inform adaption needs for other communities and the development of modules on other health topics.
Tessa Martin of Yaru Water said;
“We are excited to be working with such a well-established organisation like Red Dust. Their close and respected relationship with community is critical to the success of any program like this and gives us great confidence that the educational pilot being delivered with Yaru Foundation funding will be done with the utmost respect for culture and community. The Yaru values around health and wellbeing align perfectly with those of Red Dust, and we look forward to hearing and sharing the learnings and successes of the program pilot as it progresses in 2023.”
