Two Special Ladies - Part One - Josie

One of the privileges of this job is the opportunity it provides to meet new people and to experience different places. On recent trips to Enngonia and Weilmoringle we met up again with two ladies well known to Julie - Josie and Ruby.

        Josie, you have met before. She lives in Weilmoringle in a house at one end of the small village. Earlier in the year Julie and Josie had met up at the tennis,drumming and preschool community day held in June and she was the inspiration behind the Book Buddies project through her discussions about pre-school.

Josie ,in a familiar role,surrounded by kids.

 Josie, a retired teachers- aid, runs a playgroup and at the community progress meetings in Weilmoringle had been pressing for a preschool to better prepare children and families for school. This is where Julie met Josie and now they work side by side; Julie to bring expertise, ideas and make contacts and Josie; living and working each day within her community, having ideas and advising on local context, to improve opportunities for the people of Weilmoringle. 

Weilmoringle Primary school and playground

After the Book Buddies day we had dinner in the teacher house near the school where we were staying for the night. Josie and her sisters were invited to share a meal with us. We had a wonderful time and talked freely of many things. We felt we had the privilege to glimpse something of the perspective of women descended from a very ancient culture,where the people love the land and understand it well. 

As they talked that night of the land and life in the village, it reminded those there, who had visited in June, of the time Josie took a small group to see the scar tree. What started as a walk with a mission in mind became an interesting journey as Josie explained aspects of the land to the visitors. She talked about the uses of various plants and pointed out significant landmarks. She knew the area in great detail and shared aspects of her knowledge with her visitors. 

It was a very special time, one of those which stays in your memory, as they saw the land through new eyes.