Contributing to a prospering community
Evelyn Maughan
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Carol and Greg Stubbs with their four sons (from left) Daniel, Samuel, Andrew and Benjamin. |
When Carol Stubbs was growing up in rural Queensland she knew she
wanted to be a missionary, a youth leader or a teacher. At Morapoi
Station, 180km north of Kalgoorlie, which she now runs with her
husband Greg and their four children aged between five and 11, she has
achieved all three of her teenage ambitions—and much more. |
Carol is accustomed to challenges. She trained for two years at Bible school to be a youth leader, completed three years of teacher training, taught in a primary school for three years and then led the Children’s Workers for Scripture Union in Queensland. When she married Greg, she took on new and exciting challenges at Morapoi Station in the west.
Earlier this year I was asked by the Retired Educator Volunteers for Isolated Students’ Education if I would like to assist Carol to supervise nine children from kindergarten to Year 6 on School of the Air. I readily agreed to go for a month accompanied by a friend Jean Evans, who is also a retired educator. Jean and I were about to discover just how much one woman can do.
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Jean Evans and Evelyn Maughan travelled to
Morapoi Station to provide Carol Stubbs (centre) with
some help teaching local and School of the Air students. |
By day one the enrolment had grown to 10 and by the end of the first week to 15. A typical school day began at 7.45am when remote students logged on for the first School of the Air lessons. Between the supervision of School of the Air lessons in one room and set work for students in the classroom, we were constantly on our toes. While four children were doing air lessons, there were 11 who needed teaching in another room.
Although Jean and I were kept busy, we marvelled constantly at what Carol did single-handedly for most of the year. As well as guiding the children through their schooling each day, she makes the round trip of 360km each weekend to take children to sport in Kalgoorlie and helps Greg in their tourism venture.
Morapoi Station is an Aboriginal pastoral lease. The station provides outback camping, bush tucker tours, and children’s school and youth camps. Greg and Carol also operate one- to threeday Indigenous cultural packages for a wide range of groups. Morapoi has a range of accommodation facilities for up to 100 people.
Morapoi is an Indigenous community which provides housing, employment and training for young people and families in need. At the time Jean and I were at Morapoi about 30 people were living on the station, as well as short term tourists.
On-going education and training for adult community members include driver training, safety courses for mining operations, Certificate II and Certificate IV Tourism Leadership courses through Challenger TAFE and First Aid courses with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
I asked Carol what keeps her going. ‘A strong faith and trust in God, a strong commitment to improving the lives of others and encouragement from other people,’ she replied. Carol wants ‘to make a difference, culturally, and with children and families’. Carol’s father has been the inspiration in her life. A man who contracted polio at the age of four and who never let any disability stop him—he demanded that his children gave their best, at all times, in every situation. Carol fights disappointment when things don’t work quickly enough and says she regrets not having enough time to help the adults in their community.
With their cross-cultural tours Carol and Greg aim to build bridges between Indigenous and non- Indigenous people. The visitors and mining groups we encountered during our stay were all impressed with the professionalism and learning experience at Morapoi.
It seems to me that Carol and Greg provide rich, meaningful and productive opportunities for everyone they come into contact with. The families at Morapoi have a safe, loving and supportive environment in which to grow and visitors to Morapoi leave with very positive impressions and some insights into Wangkatha culture.
It was indeed a privilege and inspiration to work alongside Carol. I look forward to returning to spend more time with the Stubbs family at Morapoi in the near future.
About the author Evelyn Maughan is from a farming family in the Great Southern. She then lived on a farm in the eastern wheatbelt, where she brought up her three children. She has travelled extensively throughout the world and taught in Merredin, Geraldton, Morawa, Perth, Pemberton, England, Scotland and India as well as Aboriginal communities (Tjukurla and Papalunkatja) in the central desert. |
