Each year, Wanyara brings together Yorta Yorta children during their school holidays to facilitate an inspiring program in Shepparton that provides a foundation of pride in identity, culture, community and country. Cultural Connections, as it is called, took place this year over the September holidays.
Thirty youth participants were empowered to reflect on the standpoints from which they view their world, develop a sense of belonging, and build their own personal understandings of how they relate and contribute as an Aboriginal person within their communities and our nation.
Through the Victorian Government's Future Healthy initiative, Grow Hope was successful in securing funding from VicHealth to invest in the Cultural Connections program. With these funds, participating children were able to learn about Indigenous food and traditional cooking. The program was designed to provide children with the ability to make well-informed decisions around nutrition and health in the modern world while encouraging the use of cultural wellbeing practices used by First Nations peoples for thousands of years.
