Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation is hosting an event for the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and service providers this Friday, June 24, between 1pm and 4pm at Tharawal’s grounds in Airds.
The event is to launch the Djurali Program at Tharawal. The Djurali Program is a commonwealth government funded program to help local community members Live Well – Live Healthily by raising awareness about the positive health benefits of eating healthy food, getting physically active, and quitting smoking. The Djurali Program is also offering specific activities to the community to help them make these positive lifestyle changes.
The Djurali Program allows us to provide long needed support for our community, and to build on other programs that we have in place. We are diagnosing and managing too many community members with chronic disease, and this needs to change. The Board and staff of Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation and the Djurali Program Team will be working very hard over the next few years to help our community to turn this situation around” stated by Mr Darryl Wright, CEO of Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation.
Miss Christine Carriage Chairperson Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation supports this view further. “Too many people in the Aboriginal Community suffer through poor and failing health as a result of chronic disease. Many of these diseases could be avoided if people were armed with the knowledge that some of their lifestyle choices were going to make them very ill, and potentially end their life prematurely. All of us have loved ones who we wish could still be with us today that could have benefitted from this kind of information and support.”
The Honorary Warren Snowdon, the federal Minister for Indigenous Health, and Dr Tom Calma will be attending the event to support the roll out of the COAG Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health National Partnership, through which the Djurali Program is funded. The event also demonstrates the use of resources from the national Live Longer campaign from the Commonwealth Government.
A number of activities will be available on the day for people to participate in, including cultural entertainment, a quick healthy cooking challenge, Koori Kiddies Boot Camp, and information stalls for the community. A healthy lunch and refreshments will be available on the day.