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Newsletter July-August 2018

We welcome Kasey and all things country.

Our AmbassadorJuly 26th, 2018 was the date that Australian country music singer Kasey Chambers announced to the world that she was the ambassador for Our Rainbow House.

Kasey visited our school in March and very quickly won the hearts of our students, staff and volunteers. Apparently we won her heart also. Since then, Kasey has maintained a keen interest in what is happening at the school. She has graciously offered to be our ambassador and we are absolutely delighted, honoured and humbled. Thank you Kasey.

Why was July 26th 2018 such an

important date?

Country music

We are grateful to photographer Brett Rutkowski for the above photo of Kasey, taken during a recent concert performance at Forster, New South Wales. Visit Brett at http://www.brettrutkowski.com/

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K a s e y m a d e t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t o f h e r ambassadorship through her social media. A visit to her Facebook page and Instagram is suggested. Perhaps visit the Our Rainbow House Facebook and Instagram also. These sites convey the overwhelming excitement about our new ambassador. The love that Kasey feels for those at our school is palpable and the possible contribution to the lives of our students is immeasurable.

From Kasey: Africa has been a very special place to me over the years and inspired a lot of my music from way back in “The Captain” days up to now on “The Campfire” album too. However, nothing has been more inspiring to me in all my travels than spending time at this incredible school. I feel honoured to now officially be a part of the “Our Rainbow House” family. These children mean so much to me and I am proud to be able to play a part in making a difference in their lives through music programs, fundraisers and just generally sharing the love that I have for them, their teachers, volunteers and their community. I am especially grateful of the singing lessons all the students are going to give ME now!!…..haha

From Alison: I have always been a fan of Kasey and to have her visit the school in March was a real hoot! Kasey is such a great person, grounded, generous, natural, loves the African children, unpretentious and so down to earth. That says it all about this special person. We are blessed to have her as our ambassador.

Loved by so manyThe Tamworth Country Music Festival, held annually in January, is a showcase of Australian country music talent. This year Kasey was awarded the Alternative Country Music Album of the year for her Dragonfly album. Her contribution to country music was further acknowledged at this festival. To her surprise and delight, Kasey was inducted into the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown, becoming the youngest inductee to ever receive this recognition.

The walls of our school still resound to the music of Kasey long after her visit in March. The title song Campfire from her album of the same name is a favourite with our students and a video recording of them singing this made emotional viewing for Kasey! Recent volunteers Jan and Denise can attest that spontaneous singing of Kasey’s country music songs resound through the school.

Our Rainbow House is indeed honoured to have Kasey as our ambassador and just saying thank you seems too little to say. We are however incredibly excited about our time together with the shared love and concern for our students and their guardians.

For some of us, country music is now a popular genre with Kasey Chambers our singer of choice.

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Index C o u n t r y m u s i c Page 1More country music Page 3Country supporters Page 6 Volunteers Page 10H a p p y b i r t h d a y Page 12Down to Business Page 13Off to Africa Page 16The fires of Our R a i n b o w H o u s e Page 20

Another reason to celebrate The QCWA will celebrate one hundred years of supporting women and families across Queensland in 2022. As at Gindie, QCWA halls can be found in many towns and cities and are the premises from which this well regarded organisation continues to provide support to local communities. We salute this high profile civic organisation.

Alison was delighted to attend the monthly country music day, Central Highlands has Talent, at the tiny township of Gindie, a short drive from Emerald. Here, local country music devotees gather in the Gindie hall to share friendship and music. There is always great interest in our charity and Alison is invited to give a little update each month. We so appreciate this interest in our charity.

Why is 2022 an important

year?

More country music and a country hall

Reason to celebrate The Gindie hall is one hundred and forty years old and a cake, adorned with Australian native plants, took centre stage at the music day.

The hall was built in 1878, to be the courthouse in the township of Comet, about seventy kilometres away.

The building then became the Comet schoolhouse before being purchased in 1934 by the newly formed Gindie branch of the Queensland Country Womens Associat ion (QCWA). Moved to its present site and renovated to better suit the needs of the organisation, the hall was officially opened in 1937. Since then, this hall has served the QCWA as well as the Gindie community.

If only the walls of the Gindie hall could talk!!

Gindie

Alison is pictured with Emerald identity Victor Cominos, who gave us this insight into the Gindie hall. Thank you Victor.

Dinner at Yowah anyone? Please read on.

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Chris Cook, alias Slim Dusty Nobody loves the music of the late Australian country s inger Sl im Dusty more than our director Alison. An evening with friends at Capella, listening to Slim’s music performed by Chris Cook, proved to be as fantastic outing with amazing music. Capella is a small rural community, fifty kilometres north of Emerald.

Capella

Did you know? Slim Dusty was the first Australian to have a number one international hit song, namely The Pub with No Beer. During his music career, Slim received the Golden Guitar award for excellence in Australian country music thirty-seven times! Slim also received the ARIA award on two occasions. Like our ambassador Kasey, Slim Dusty has been included in the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown.

Bush communities are indeed fortunate to have great country music singers such as Adam Harvey to visit and to entertain. So it was in Emerald on Sunday night with lots of people there to enjoy the great personality and wonderful music of Adam. Alison was there too.

Adam is an Australian country music celebrity, having won eight golden guitars at the Country Music Awards of Australia.

Emerald

Enjoying the country music of Adam Harvey was Anna Farquhar . second from left, along with friends. Anna is the daughter of our board member Jennifer.

Anna is a country music singer who performs regularly across Central Queensland and beyond. A visit to her Facebook page tells more of Anna’s music story. We wish Anna all of the best in her c o u n t r y m u s i c endeavours.

Bruce was at the Lions Club flea market on the weekend, selling his country music CDs. He and Alison enjoyed a long c h a t a n d B r u c e w a s particularly excited when she told him about our new ambassador Kasey.

Bruce has met Kasey’s father Bill and enjoys his music. With a tear in his eye, Bruce told Alison the high regard in which he holds Kasey. Thank y o u B r u c e f o r y o u r endorsement of our new ambassador.

Enjoying the concert are from left, Helen, Maxine, Robbie, Alison and Vicki. Helen has volunteered in Zambia. Both Maxine and Vicki have given great support to our charity.

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A l i s o n e n j o y e d t h e opportunity to visit friends in Alpha. Michael and Lee first came to Alpha as tourists from England some twenty-seven years ago. Falling in love with the little township of Alpha they settled there, with Michael working as the ambulance officer and Lee working as a nurse at the hospital.

What did Alison see en route to Alpha? Two girls, plus numerous dogs, droving five hundred head of cattle. The cattle are fenced at night and during the day they graze along the road sides. Current dry weather conditions across much of Australia means feed for stock can be scarce.

Alpha

The passion for country music took our director Alison on a recent road trip to Alpha, west of Emerald. She enjoyed great music and friendship in the Alpha Town Hall. Driving to Alpha, Alison observed countryside thirsty for rain, making the message on the Alpha hall curtain, painted during the drought of 1993, all the more poignant.

Cicadas are insects, known for their l o u d s o u n d , r e f e r r e d t o a s singing. They are the only insects able to produce such singing.

Michael and Lee have col lected loca l rocks to build their home. T h e y w e r e delighted to see Alison.

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Country supporters

The Rotary Club of Toowoomba Garden City is the Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) sponsor club for our charity. During the winter months, club member John Cutler and his wife Jessie set off on a holiday across Australia. John tells: We had a wonderful trip during June and July, traveling 10,800 kilometres in our utility with slide-on camper. We travelled on all manner of roads with something interesting every kilometre of the way. We saw gorges, waterfalls, aboriginal communities, droving cattle mobs, spectacular landscape and desert roads. Too many highlights to mention. This map shows our actual journey as recorded by the GPS. The blue line was during June and the red line during July. The break in the line was when the car stopped 120 kilometres west of Kununurra and went into town on a tow truck! Of course the big highlight on the return journey was a night at the Rays and meeting newer members of the Our Rainbow House team.

Rural Australia With the Australian population concentrated along the eastern and south eastern coastal regions, one does not have to venture far from the more populated areas of Australia to find a rural community. Many of these are currently experiencing devastating drought conditions and the support given by their city counterparts has been greatly appreciated. Rural communities are home or work places for many of our supporters. Here is a snap shot of a few of them.

Pictured here at the kitchen sink are three wonderful charity supporters, Terry Ray, John Cutler and Doug Core. Terry and Alison sponsor student Mary, John and his Rotary team members sponsor teacher Dean while Doug and Philipa sponsor student Esther.

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This handsome beast is the work of Bull Artist Katrina. Using kangaroo hide, paints a n d t h e s e w i n g m a c h i n e , K a t r i n a creates these amazing images of prize winning and most majest ic bulls.

Katrina is pictured at Beef 2018, Australia’s national beef expo, where she had a stall displaying and selling h e r a m a z i n g b u l l artwork.

K a t r i n a a n d h e r husband Ralph sponsor our student Mwamba.

Dean is an aircraft mechanic and flies to rural Queensland to service agricultural aircraft. Dean is the co-sponsor of student Faidess.

When Leslie, above right, is not working in the cattle yards or robbing a bee hive, she is supporting our charity in so many ways. She and her husband Bob sponsor student Langson.

The hose fitting service of Rachel, right, and her husband Wal support r u r a l a n d m i n i n g i n d u s t r i e s . T h e y s p o n s o r s t u d e n t Stephan as well as give generously to other charity activities.

About the time this photo was taken, rider Brendan was also sponsoring student Felix. It was Alison’s visit to meet Felix that was the catalyst to the foundation of Our Rainbow House. Imagine this in your back yard?

Renee and her husband are cotton farmers, generous supporters of our charity and sponsors of our student Kenny.

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Grazing and farming are rural pursuits of Kaye and Charlie who are supporters of our charity in so many ways, including the sponsorship of our student Elina.

Artist, teacher and wonderful supporter of our charity Maxine Thompson visited Alison in Emerald recently. Maxine tells: Who'd have thought that a kiwi dairy farm girl would so enjoy the Queensland outback? Making a career from art has given me opportunities I'd never have imagined twenty-eight years ago when I dared to call myself an artist.

For twenty years I ' v e r e t u r n e d t o C u n n a m u l l a a n d Yowah to teach from two to four days pastel workshops. The country folks are special characters, r e s p e c t f u l , r e a l , g r o u n d e d , w e a t h e r e d a n d passionate about t h e i r l a n d a n d s u r v i v a l t h e r e . Every year I see different and deeper into the land, the details and broad s c a p e s o f t h e outback. Pictures t e l l m o r e t h a n words.

From time to time, a beast is presented for sale at the Emerald saleyards with instructions that the sale proceeds are to be forwarded to Our Rainbow House. We have Ben, Tammy and Adrian to thank for this generosity.

Student sponsors and supporters Bruce and Sue are pictured here in Banff, Canada. This certainly is a far cry from t h e i r p r o p e r t y n e a r L o n g r e a c h , w e s t e r n Queensland.

Yowah One thousand kilometres west of Brisbane is the small community of Yowah. In true country style, Maxine enjoyed dinner cooked in camp ovens with the tray back of the truck as the table. Caterpillar tracks made the fire pit.

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Our Rainbow House at a rural showcase Ag-Grow is an agricultural field day, held annually in Emerald. Exhibitors are able to display the newest and best in the rural industry and this event attracts a large crowd. This year, our director Alison was there, sharing the display site of Central Highlands Auto, selling tickets in our car raffle and telling the world about our charity. So many familiar faces came to chat.

The son of our former administrative assistant Sam was keen to make a donation. A high reach!

L a n d m a r k e m p l o y e e Brighton was there and s t o p p e d t o m a k e a generous donation.

Hoping to volunteer at our project during 2019 is Janette from Marlborough. She is a lifelong friend of Alison.

John and Siobhan Randall from Mt Stuart. Country music fanciers? Yes indeed!!

Charlie and Lynette Prince from Capella. They enjoy following the news of our charity.

Why is Tuesday, November 6th

2018 an important date?

Someone wins a new car.

What else happens on November 6th? Our Rainbow House is hosting a Melbourne Cup Lunch. Further details of this will be published in the next newsletter. We would love you to circle this date in your calendar. Amidst the excitement of the running of the Melbourne Cup, the winner of our car raffle will be drawn.

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Mackay Mackay is a city on Australia’s east coast at the doorstep of the world renowned Great Barrier Reef. It is the service centre for many rural industries, notably sugar and beef production and mining industries and is also the home city of our most recent volunteers Jan and Denise.

Denise works as a teacher while Jan is a now-retired former teacher aide. For two weeks during July, Jan and Denise were at our school sharing their educational expertise and their devotion to young students. When they were not working with library books, helping individual students or taking a class, they had paint brush in hand, helping to decorate our walls. What a wonderful way for students to learn sight words and numbers.

Jan and Denise enjoyed getting to know our new project coordinator Mary and teacher Dean while being reunited with staff, students and their guardians. For everyone, two weeks is not enough! We are enormously grateful to Jan and Denise for their outstanding commitment to our charity that they share so willingly and generously. To you Jan and Denise we say a very big thank you.

Volunteers

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R e t u r n i n g o f f i c e volunteer Liz We welcome Liz back to our A u s t r a l i a n o f f i c e a s a volunteer. Liz had worked in our office before heading off on a tour of rural Australia.

She says: We enjoyed several Music Musters and many beautiful little towns along the way. I am very happy to be back with Our Rainbow House. Being able to help in a small way to better the lives of children that would not otherwise have a future is very rewarding.

Our next Volunteer Melita T h e n e x t A u s t r a l i a n volunteer to our school will be Melita. As a member of our board, Melita takes a very active interest in our charity and is keen to see first hand our project in Zambia.

Melita is the manager of Budget Steel in Emerald. Thank you Mel for using your precious holiday time in October to volunteer at our school in Zambia. News and photos of your time there will be eagerly awaited.

Anna: How our students have grown since Anna’s visit to our school in 2013. Anna has been a wonderful supporter of our charity and is the sponsor of our student Shilah.

Anna is now a fashion stylist, based in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast Before starting her own styling business, Anna travelled to Africa in 2013 with Alison. Anna tells: I look back on my time in Africa and think how much that experience has grounded me in the role I have today. Africans are so happy with so little, and seeing this has had a huge effect on me in my job as a stylist. There really is something in the whole 'less is more' and 'creating more with less’.

Catherine: This art work and more are on display at the exhibition of works by our former volunteer Catherine. From 5th-23rd August, her artwork can be seen at the Without Pier Gallery.

Catherine provided wonderful artistic guidance to our students and staff during her two volunteering times at our school. We hope she will return to our school soon. These days much of Catherine’s art work reflects our Zambian village.

Former volunteers

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Happy birthdayIt was time to stop momentarily and reflect on the past six years and to remind those who have helped our charity in so many ways just how precious they are to us. Morning tea on the verandah of Alison’s home, with Peggy telling those in attendance about her recent volunteering experience, was how the sixth anniversary of the official opening of the Our Rainbow House school was noted.

Why was July 19th a

day for a get together?

Hospitality students from Marist College assisted with the morning tea and we are most grateful for the donation of the delicious food, including raspberry cup cakes, mini quiches and chocolate cake they had prepared for us to enjoy.

There was much to reflect on, so much to laugh about and so much to hope for in the future years.

O u r a c c o u n t a n t S a r a h , p i c t u r e d right, along with Greg and his team f r o m W e s t p a c A g r i b u s i n e s s Banking in Emerald branch, above, were there to mark the occasion.

The school opening At the time of the official opening of the school, Jenny Ibell, left, was the volunteer. She recalls great participation by guardians, teachers, students, youth group and neighbours. The invited guests included the local councillor at the time, Florence Zulu and Major Michael Phiri who performed the official opening.

The students had been attending classes at our school since May 2012 with the official opening on 20th July, 2012. A glance back at some of the photos of that opening day show just how much our students have grown in the past six years. The role played by volunteer Jenny Ibell in the formation of the school and the establishment of our project was enormous and cannot be overstated.

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Down to businessCar Raffle To ensure funding for our project, the raffle of a car is underway. This bold move will only be successful if we are able to sell all of the tickets and your help is requested to do just that. Once again we are asking for your support.

Our Rainbow House Car Raffle 2018

Win a 2018 Hyundai Tuscan SUV

Closing Date—Monday 5th November, 2018

Draw Date—Tuesday 6th November, 2018

Prize Winner will be contacted by Phone and Mail

Visit www.ourrainbowhouse.org.au/car-raffle-2018/ for Terms and Conditions

$20 per ticket

Imagine this car in your garage? Some lucky ticket holder will be the proud o w n e r o f t h e Hyundai Tucson, with the winner to be announced at the M e l b o u r n e C u p Party in Emerald on November 6th 2018.

T i c k e t s c a n b e purchased on-line by visiting the Our R a i n b o w H o u s e w e b s i t e . Alternately, there are books of tickets a v a i l a b l e a t t h e Emerald office.

P l e a s e d o n o t hesitate to contact the Emerald office for more details about this raffle. Ph: 07 49874733

Thank you.

Whether you buy one ticket or ten, sell one book or five, your support will ensure the ongoing work of our charity. We acknowledge that asking others to buy raffle tickets is rather onerous but please to assured that your support of this fund raising raffle is appreciated.

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The hard sell has begun Our readers from Emerald may have noticed members of our charity out and about selling the tickets in our car raffle. We would love help with this. Maybe you could man a ticket selling table for us? Maybe get a book of tickets to take to your workplace? To continue funding our project in Zambia we need funds and as you know, they don’t grow on trees! Our car raffle is our major fund raising activity for 2018 and we would love your help.

Please contact Alison alisonjray@ourrainbowhouse.org.au if you are able to help

Welcome to a new board member We are delighted to welcome John McPherson to our board. John is learning all about our charity and has indicated his interest in the financial side of things. Here John tells us a little about himself: My passion for helping people stems from my connection to Papua New Guinea, where my mum grew up and also where my sister was born. About ten years ago, I travelled to Papua New Guinea, meeting many of my relatives for the first time. This certainly gave me perspective and also a drive to do something meaningful. While I haven't had experience in not-for-profit governance and compliance, I have a lot of experience in these two areas within the heavily regulated mining industry. In addition to this, I have commenced my MBA.

Board members Melita and John at the recent board meeting. We welcome John to our board.

Board member Suzie selling tickets to supporter William at Lions Flea market.

Director Alison selling tickets at Lions Club Flea Market on Sunday.

E m e r a l d Interact Club The members of this club met with Alison recently. T h e y d i s c u s s e d ways of working together with fund raising, as well as c r e a t i n g n e w m e m b e r s h i p i n both organisations.

Director Alison enjoyed a chat with Bill and Bill when they visited her raffle ticket stall at the local shopping centre.

Michelle and Anita We wish to acknowledge the wonderful work done by Michelle and Anita in the Emerald office. Both with young families, they are committed members of staff and have skil ls that are invaluable in our office.

They are pictured here volunteering their time at a digital business workshop for not-for-profit businesses.

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The date was correct but the country was not! In the previous newsletter I wrote that the theme for Marion’s afternoon tea was to be Italian. How wrong I was. Now I am delighted to tell you that the theme is “Out of Africa Experience” and who better to set such a scene than Marion who visited Africa earlier this year, spending time at our school before heading off on an adventure in other parts of Africa.

Why is Sunday, September 9th a date for your

calendar?

Marion and her husband John spent many years living in rural Queensland b e f o r e m o v i n g t o Rockhampton to live and work.

Marion is a wonderful supporter of our charity and for the fourth time is hosting an afternoon at her home. Funds from the “Out of Africa Experience” go to Our Rainbow House.

Marion was part of the tour g r o u p , u n d e r t h e leadership of Matt Collins of Tourica Tours, who spent four days at our school during March. In no time, Marion had the sewing machine out and was working creatively with students. Marion visited the home of some of our students and also went a l o n g t o P e s t a l o z z i Education Centre to meet our former student who now attends high school at this facility.

Of course, Marion shared time at our school with Kasey and saw first hand the influence of Kasey and her music.

Marion has sponsored our student Azelessi for the past five years.

Out of Africa Experience

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Off to Africa

The scholars were partaking in the Local Economic and Social Development in Extractives (LESDE) short course funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This course aims to assist African mining professionals to build the knowledge and skills necessary for them to engage with and contribute to the development o f communit ies that are impacted by mining and related activities.

Rural industries in Zambia. Farmers Day was celebrated nationally in Zambia on 6th August. A public holiday, this is the day to recognise the work of so many Zambians involved in primary production. Zambia relies on agricultural production to meet the needs of its population as well as to bolster the Zambian exports. Food crops, coffee, tobacco and cotton are among the products grown. Maize is the countries key food crop while other crops include wheat, sweet potato and rice. The agricultural industry is the main employer in Zambia. Maize, finely ground into mealie meal, is the staple food in Zambia. It is cooked and served as “porridge” for the breakfast of our staff and students. For lunch, our cook Mable makes a thicker porridge, known as nshima, and serves it to be eaten with the hands. Small portions are kneaded before being used to scoop up accompanying relish.

During the upcoming school holiday period, a bag of mealie meal will accompany each student home to ensure their nutrition during the holiday period. We are immensely grateful to Matthew Uren for the donation of this holiday mealie meal.

A f r i c a c a m e t o C e n t r a l Queensland Alison and her husband Terry were invited to a community dinner to share the evening with twenty-eight scholars from ten African nations. The Rays enjoyed this fantastic get together, although sorry that there were no representatives from Zambia. We are grateful to Janice Moriarty from the Central Queensland University for the opportunity to share a little about our charity with the African guests.

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Such a busy little place Term two is coming to a close, with August 10th the last day but not before end of term examinations and report cards. One month later, Monday 10th September, school will return for the final term of 2018.

Science, music and literature are all very important par ts o f our curriculum. So too are computer studies and with the three new lap top computers set up in teacher Dean’s classroom, our students are gaining in confidence as they learn to use these. This student, left, is sponsored by Bruce and Sue McClymont from Longreach.

This student is sponsored by Duncan Ray.

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On Friday you will be having your exciting sports day And we will be heading home on a plane, far away.

If you win your race, then "Congratulations" go to you and more good wishes go to the ones who come in at number two.

Number three is also great and so is number four Just representing your school with sportsmanship is all that we ask for.

And if you don't win a place, if it's not part of God's plan We know you will all try to do the very best you can.

You must not feel sad and lost and feel like you're a failure You're always going to be winners to us and all your families in Australia.

Sports Carnival Academic studies were put to one side on the day of the inter-school sporting carnival. This is a major day in the term two calendar with students and staff practicing in the preceding weeks. Jan and Denise were there to assist at these practice sessions. Teacher Evelyn, left, is seen practicing for the staff running race. Evelyn is sponsored by Edward and Gramae.

Four schools took part at this carnival held at the local sporting ground. Competition was fierce. At the 2017 sporting carnival, our school was placed second, loosing to the eventual winners by three points. With that in mind, our students were out for a win. However, yet again, our school was placed a close second and we could not have been more proud.

Our volunteers Jan and Denise left for Australia the day prior to the sporting carnival and Jan penned this poem which she read to the students on their final parade.

T e a c h e r D e a n announced the final results of the carnival. T h e s e n t i m e n t expressed in the poem by Jan is very true. To us, our students are w i n n e r s a n d o u r congratulations go to each and every one of them.

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A morning of examinations for these year six and seven students shows them hard at work in their container classroom. How nice it was to relax with some craft activities in the afternoon.

Back to work for everyone A trip to learn about farming practices was enjoyed by our year six and seven students. Our project coordinator Mary can be seen amongst the cabbages. Our high school students return for study sessions in the afternoons. All heads are down and working hard.

Term three For our year seven students, this will be their final term at this school. The national examination at the end of this year will determine their eligibility for high school. Further to be decided is the recipient of the Terry Ray Scholarship, which will provide secondary school education for a day student at Pestalozzi Education Centre. The completed applications have been received and the successful applicant will be announced at the end of the year. We acknowledge the commitment shown to our year seven students by their teacher Susan.

Congratulations Our congratulations and best wishes go to our teacher Dean and his wife on the arrival of their baby daughter.

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• Please continue with the amazing support you have given our charity. We appreciate what you do.

• Please come along to our Melbourne cup lunch on November 6th. It will be great fun! • Please help to sell some raffle tickets. Who doesn’t want a new car? • Please come along to Marions for afternoon tea on Sunday 9th September. • Please consider accepting the position of Grants Officer for our charity.

The campfire of Our Rainbow House

How can you help to keep the campfire of Our Rainbow House burning?

Contact details: www.ourrainbowhouse.org.au email: alisonjray@ourrainbowhouse.org.au Phone 49874733