Many have experience the magic of Lilla and the entire Watarrka Community! At the moment we are faced with the challenge of keeping our local communities safe during this COVID-19 crisis. As it is difficult to know exactly how long we are likely to be "Feeding the Watarrka Communities" any help would be appreciated!  Please take time to read the story below and donate if you feel moved... This is our Story Emergency Response re: COVID-19 in the Watarrka Community! The sad reality has come to Kings Canyon, our local community and Remote Tours. As the threat of the pandemic spreads throughout Australia, the tourism industry has come to a standstill in the Northern Territory. Tour companies that visit Kings Canyon have cancelled their tours, Kings Canyon Resort and Kings Creek Station are nearly empty.  Until the COVID-19 is no longer a threat on our local Indigenous communities Remote Tours has also had to cancel its tours.  The Department of Health is working hard putting plans in place to manage each community should an outbreak come to its area.  As the person responsible for the health of the local community I have worried that if the Corona Virus infects any of our local mob it may prove fatal.  Each community is a safe haven if the locals would just stay put, but how does one do this without having access to food?  Many of the locals drive into Alice Springs weekly to get food as Kings Canyon does not have a proper community store. The single one draw card for the community to go back and forth to town is food! Discussions were had with Christine (Watarrka school teacher) and Reg (Remote Tours) about the possibility of the Watarrka Foundation supporting a “Feed the Watarrka Community Program” which would include Ulpanyali, Lilla and Wanmara. This would help them get food and keep them safe from having to travel to town, and possibly bringing back the virus unknowingly. The Watarrka Foundation was contacted and agreed that they would love to help!  On Monday, 16th March a community meeting was held and it was unanimous that the communities would accept this help as a means to get through this crisis epidemic. Immediately Reg sprung into action sourcing food and supplies for the first week and organising a months worth of food to come on the next road train! Communication was had throughout the next few days - sometimes every couple of hours. You can imagine how hard it was to get food with all the shelves empty in most supermarkets! So amidst the stress of closing his business and cancelling tours for the next few months, Reg was buying freezers and sourced food from bulk food distributors and out of business tour companies to set up the Remote Tours Camp as a food Kitchen to feed 50+ adults and children for an unknown time frame. That week, one of Remote Tours camp manages Justin was released from a canceled tour he was on, freeing him up to join Reg in helping to make the mammoth preparations for the “Feed the Watarrka Community Program.” Justin arrived at Lilla Sunday afternoon, 22nd March with a trailer packed to the roof with food, supplies and two extra freezers. Christine, Marcus, Eric, Byron (my boys) and I helped him to unload and relocate the freezers. The new ones were installed at the Remote Tours kitchen (Lilla).  On Monday, Justin unpacked and sorted the kitchen and organised the menus in preparation for delivering the first meals.  Today, Justin worked tirelessly in preparing Tuesdays dinner, Wednesdays breakfast and Wednesdays lunch as this will be how each delivery will be given. I arrived at the camp around 3:00 pm. Wednesdays breakfast was packed into milk crates ready to go. Wednesdays lunch was portioned out in containers in the fridge and Justin was just finishing the last containers for dinner today. We then took the meals to the Lilla community. The looks on their faces were priceless as the ladies and kids gathered around while Justin took them through the meals he prepared. The meals were received with the same response at the Ulpanyali community. Sadly a lot do not realise how dangerous this virus is on the elderly and those affected with chronic disease.  We on the ground are so thankful we have a way to help prevent the virus from coming in and wiping out the most vulnerable in our community. If it were not for the Watarrka Foundation and the support of Reg (Remote Tours) none of this would be happening. Justin is a God send that he is willing to live in the community amongst the flies and heat we still have here at the moment, preparing the meals. I hope you are all safe until this is over and that this epidemic doesn’t take too many of our loved ones. Chris (Clinic Nurse - Kings Canyon)

Anonymous

Amanda Thomas

Helen Mcrae

Russell Deer

Tamsin Hughes

Emma Stevens

Jacalyn McGuinness

Jenny Davis

Joanne Stephenson 

Caroline Nelson

Watarrka "Feed the Community Program"

Watarrka "Feed the Community Program"

Still $20,600 to go. Help us build momentum.