5 minute read
Women in fire
GIRLS ON FIRE
RECONCILIATION WEEK CAMP
To mark Reconciliation Week, Girls on Fire hosted a camp in Tamworth to introduce young women to a future in the fire and emergency services, while embracing Indigenous fire knowledge and history.
PHOTOS: GIRLS ON FIRE
Above NSW Aboriginal Engagement Lead Peter Jensen plays the didgeridoo at the Girls on Fire Camp.
Above right Camp coordination volunteers from six participating fire and emergency service agencies and community organisations assisted during the Girls on Fire Camp.
BRONNIE MACKINTOSH
Girls on Fire
Since 2018, the Girls on Fire initiative has been delivering school programs, camps and community engagement activities to encourage girls and young women to be active participants in firefighting and disaster management.
Girls on Fire aims to increase the number of women in the fire and emergency services, and to create a more diverse, inclusive and effective disaster management sector. With a focus on confidence-building programs centred on safety, teamwork, respect and inclusion, Girls on Fire inspires young women to take ownership of their role as a positive force for change within the community.
On 3–5 June, a Girls on Fire Camp was hosted just outside Tamworth at Trelawney Station in Somerton, NSW. Over two days, ten girls aged 15 to 19 experienced what it is like to be a frontline firefighter and volunteer in a disaster situation.
The Tamworth Girls on Fire Camp was held to coincide with Reconciliation Week (27 May to 3 June). In 2022, the theme for Reconciliation Week was ‘Be Brave. Make Change’, challenging all Australians to tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation.
On Friday afternoon, 20 camp coordination volunteers from six participating fire and emergency service agencies and community groups were welcomed onto Kamilaroi country by Aunty Rona and Aunty Marg, who stayed after the welcome to yarn with everyone. While Girls on Fire Cultural Inclusion Programs aim to teach our young mob, a significant focus is also placed on educating our camp coordinators. Sharing and truthtelling of our history and connections to land, flora and fauna is enlightening, humbling and inspiring.
Girls on Fire is incredibly fortunate to have the help of Fire and Rescue NSW Aboriginal Engagement Lead and phenomenal cultural facilitator Peter Jensen (PJ). PJ is a firefighter, a huge advocate for cultural inclusion and a champion for building the capacity of our young mob through education, lived experiences and creating pathways around the barriers of social inequities.
PJ did a great job of contextualising the stories of the Aunties and taught all the camp volunteers how to make fire, throw spears and understand the ways to build trust with Aboriginal communities that will improve their connections with the fire and emergency services.
The camp participants arrived on Saturday 4 June and were welcomed to country by Uncle Len Waters and Quarralia Knox. The group heard stories, including several that were sung, in a powerful invitation to learn, grow and leave a legacy for others. The young mob then got to spend time with PJ, learning about fire and scar trees, throwing spears and boomerangs, yarning and experiencing the magic of PJ playing the didgeridoo by the fire.
The program then built on the cultural knowledge component with introductory sessions delivered by the various agencies. In these sessions, the young women learned to bowl hose, get water onto a fire, use extinguishers, cut a fire line and use handheld radios and navigation apps. They wore the uniforms, rode in the vehicles under lights and sirens, and practised response scenarios.
They were mentored by the camp volunteers who are members of the emergency services, youth workers, teachers and other community leaders.
Above The Girls on Fire Camp mentored young girls and built their confidence to consider a career or volunteer role in fire and emergency services. Left Camp participants tried on uniforms and used firefighting equipment as an introduction to the industry. Below NSW Aboriginal Engagement Lead Peter Jensen showcased traditional fire methods to the camp participants.
The visibility of broad diversity sets an example for the participants and inspires them, while the program’s culture of belonging and empowerment fills the teenagers with confidence and safety.
Girls on Fire introduces teenage girls to the volunteer and employment pathways available to them in the fire and emergency services. Each participant received a showbag that detailed the steps they can take to pursue further education, join local agencies and work towards a volunteer or career pathway. For most of these young women, this is their first exposure to such opportunities, and you can see them grow in confidence immediately. Being in the gear, using the equipment and seeing themselves in these different roles plants the seeds that help them broaden their dreams, but also to have a better understanding of the fire and emergency services and their role in community safety.
While the focus is on mentoring our young people and building their confidence, there is huge satisfaction in collaboration between agency members. The camp volunteers were so thankful for the opportunity to learn about culture, their history and the needs of their communities. Everyone left the program reflecting the story told by Uncle Len in the welcome to country: the butterfly sheds its wings, its colours left on the ground, nurturing the seeds that grow into the flowers that will host the next butterfly. And so goes the legacy.
Girls on Fire is privileged to connect with our Aboriginal communities and collaborate on our Cultural Inclusion Programs. We are simultaneously teaching and learning with every program we run, building capacity in our emergency services, building resilience in our communities, and encouraging young women to be part of the fire and emergency services sector.
