Wednesday, April 8, 2009

“THE Former Origin Greats” Billabong To Beaches Camp: Mudjimba 2009




Imagine surfing, abseiling, canoeing, mountain biking and archery with your heroes. What an awesome experience!! In fact, it was a life changing experience for a group of indigenous boys from Doomadgee and Mornington Island who recently participated in the ‘Billabong to Beaches’ Camp at Mudjimba.

The boys come from disadvantaged backgrounds with histories of alcoholism, substance abuse, violence and sexual assault. The Camp’s aim is to improve their life skills to enable them to make better life choices and motivate them into leading a positive life for themselves and their communities.

The 14 boys spent the previous week in Longreach, working on horsemanship and leather skills. After the camp the boys returned to Longreach for another week of honing their mustering skills. Most of the boys are aiming to get jobs on stations when they finish.

The Former Origin Greats organised for Australia’s fastest man, Patrick Johnson; 2x World Kung Fu champion, Luke C Gregory and Australian Triathlon representative, Chris Weier, to join the boys on the week-long camp. They mentored the boys through their challenges during the week.

Pat Johnson grew up in the small community of Leichardt River and experienced firsthand the same anti-social behaviours the camp is trying to combat. Johnson went to University in Canberra, before beginning his athletics career. He started running at the University Games at the age of 24. Since his relatively late start in the sport he has represented Australia at three Olympic Games and numerous Commonwealth Games, in addition to being selected in the Australian Athletics team to compete in the World Athletics championships in Rome later this year. His message was that the boys needed to be strong and chase their dreams.

“I want to be a 100m runner, like Pat” said Noel (pictured). Noel had his 16th birthday during the camp. He proudly wore the jacket his hero had given him.

The non-profit Former Origin Greats was established in 1997 by the late Richard ‘Tosser’ Turner. Its Indigenous Programs have been developed with a commitment to closing the gap for indigenous youth through mentoring and career advice. All 166 members are former Queensland State of Origin players. The FOGS have organised another seven of these camps over the year.

24 comments:

  1. I was wondering if you ever considered changing the page layout of your website?
    Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.

    But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
    Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2 pictures.
    Maybe you could space it out better?

    Feel free to surf to my homepage: women's gymnastics clothes
    my page > gymnastics clothes

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you make this
    website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
    Plz respond as I'm looking to design my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. kudos

    Also visit my homepage - future fitness centers

    ReplyDelete
  3. Currently it sounds like Drupal is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
    (from what I've read) Is that what you are using on your blog?

    Have a look at my page - yoga exercises for sciatica

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one! It's on a completely different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!

    My weblog ... analog to digital converter box antenna

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey there would you mind letting me know which
    hosting company you're utilizing? I've loaded your blog in 3 different
    web browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most.
    Can you suggest a good internet hosting provider at a reasonable price?

    Kudos, I appreciate it!

    Here is my web-site ... semiconductor physics ppt

    ReplyDelete
  6. Howdy would you mind letting me know which webhost you're utilizing? I've loaded your blog in 3 different web browsers and I
    must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest a good web
    hosting provider at a reasonable price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!


    Feel free to visit my webpage :: semiconductor materials and device characterization

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm not sure why but this website is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I'll
    check back later on and see if the problem still exists.

    Stop by my homepage - furnished rentals in mesa arizona

    ReplyDelete
  8. After I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on
    every time a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the same comment.

    Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me from that service?
    Cheers!

    Visit my site; easy diets that work

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which
    blog platform are you using for this website? I'm getting fed up of Wordpress because I've had issues with hackers and I'm looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

    my webpage :: short term rental orlando florida

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hola! I've been following your site for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Texas! Just wanted to tell you keep up the good work!

    my web site; crash diets that work

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am no longer certain the place you're getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend a while studying much more or understanding more. Thanks for wonderful info I used to be in search of this info for my mission.

    My website - Elevate GF Review

    ReplyDelete
  12. My partner and I stumbled over here from a different web page and thought I should check
    things out. I like what I see so i am just following
    you. Look forward to going over your web page again.

    Here is my homepage Zinn collection reviews

    ReplyDelete
  13. I’ve been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours these days,
    but I by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours.

    It is pretty worth enough for
    me. In my opinion, if all website owners and bloggers made just right
    content material as you did, the net can be a lot more helpful than ever before.


    Also visit my website all natural

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's awesome in support of me to have a website, which is useful designed for my know-how. thanks admin

    Feel free to surf to my page Idrotherapy Review

    ReplyDelete
  15. This web site truly has all of the info I needed concerning this subject and didn't know who to ask.

    Take a look at my blog post ... Goji Berry Review

    ReplyDelete
  16. Howdy! This is my first visit to your blog! We
    are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in
    a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information
    to work on. You have done a outstanding job!


    My web site - Zinn collection

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.
    I'm not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I'd post to let
    you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon.
    Kudos

    Also visit my blog post ... Lipo slender review

    ReplyDelete
  18. Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in
    accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
    Anyway I will be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement
    you access consistently quickly.

    my web site; Wrinkle cream

    ReplyDelete
  19. What's Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I've discovered
    It positively useful and it has helped me out loads.
    I hope to give a contribution & aid different users like its aided me.
    Great job.

    Also visit my web-site weight loss pills

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi superb website! Does running a blog similar to this require
    a large amount of work? I have absolutely no knowledge of
    programming however I was hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
    Anyways, if you have any suggestions or techniques for new
    blog owners please share. I know this is off subject however I just wanted to ask.
    Appreciate it!

    Here is my website; Cosima revival

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
    you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is fantastic, as well as the content!



    Feel free to surf to my web page ... Buy Garcinia Cambogia

    ReplyDelete
  22. I truly love your blog.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you build this amazing site yourself?
    Please reply back as I'm wanting to create my very own blog and would love to find out where you got this from or what the theme is called. Thank you!

    Also visit my web page Lost longer

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi there! I could have sworn I've been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it's
    new to me. Nonetheless, I'm definitely delighted I found it and I'll be bookmarking and
    checking back frequently!

    Have a look at my page muscle supplements

    ReplyDelete
  24. I drop a comment whenever I especially enjoy a article on a site or
    I have something to contribute to the conversation. It is
    caused by the sincerness communicated in the post
    I looked at. And after this post Queen Of Charms

    Stop by my blog post - what is going green (myintap.com)

    ReplyDelete