Nick and Lisa headed down to Yalata at the end of May to run energy efficiency training for the team of EEWs at Maralinga Village. We were once again joined by Melissa and Leanne from Uniting Communities.
When we arrived in Ceduna, we found out that only 3 of the 6 workers were available to attend the training. We called the workers in Yalata and asked them if they knew of anyone who would like to attend the training and work with us. By the time we had arrived in Yalata two hours later, there were two new recruits waiting for us with packed bags, ready to go!
The training was full of learning and laughing. We all chipped in and helped out with the meal preparation and cleaning up. As we self catered ourselves, the vehicles were loaded up before leaving Ceduna with food and our resources. One resource we could not bring was a white board. Don’t worry we got around that by sticking two brand new fridges together. We double checked our markers to make sure they were not permanent markers we were using. We also used the fridges for the house activity we all love (see photo below).
The EEWs wanted the training to be facilitated at Maralinga. We spent time walking around the village exploring the old buildings and watching old documentaries about the atomic tests. Those documentaries contained family members that had passed away and even some of the workers saw themselves as children!
As a team we are very grateful for Robin and his family for looking after us all at Maralinga. They all went out of their way to accommodate us. Robin even took us for a special tour one afternoon. He must have been exhausted as he also had spent the day taking tourists around the whole site. Robin has known most of the EEWs all their life and even some of their parents so there were plenty of laughs and catch ups on the tour.
