Musical Dispatch from the Front – Memories – August 2025

[Frank Baarda]

G’day,

When visitors to Yuendumu find out that Wendy and I have lived here more than half a century, they often ask me why we’ve stayed here so long.

I paid a visit to the Yuendumu Old Peoples Programme (YOPP) facility and got talking to some of the “clients.” A man spoke about how Nangala (Wendy) had taught him when he was a boy and mentioned the film ‘Not to Lose You My Language’ which features, inter alia, a young Wendy teaching English as a second language to a group of children in an outdoor “classroom.” I mentioned one of the children in the film who is recognisable and still lives in Yuendumu. By coincidence that woman walked in to check on her mother, so she joined the conversation. The woman contributed with a smile that “That tree is still there.”

A kardiya lady who works for YOPP and was listening in, asked if it was a sacred tree or if there was something special about the tree. “No” I explained “That tree happens to be the tree she sat under when a film crew filmed her being taught English by Nangala”

So there you have it. A significant part of the reason I have stayed is because I enjoy being surrounded by people who see the world through different eyes.

I hadn’t noticed the tree. Must look at the 1975 film again.

My memories did not encompass the tree, but I do remember this song;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EXUe6Vchr4  

SÍLVIA PÉREZ CRUZ "Mañana" (Videoclip Oficial)            

 

Enjoy,

Frank