Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project 2019 Evaluation Report
Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project 2019 Evaluation Report Report
- Author(s): Togni, Samantha
- Published: 2019
- Publisher: Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council
Abstract: The Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project has:Created a forum and a platform from which the Anangu men can position their voice within the dialogue relating to family violence prevention;Enabled a place for consideration and learning about the complex factors and circumstances that contribute to family violence; Provided a safe and creative space for the team members to think, learn, teach, express feelings and ideas and gain clarity to inform and take action; andEnabled the Anangu men to develop their language around trauma and family violence prevention so that they can genuinely and effectively enter into these dialogues at a family, community, regional and national level. The Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project is: Developing a shared bi-cultural understanding of trauma, trauma behaviour, including violence, and healing from trauma; Promoting positive narratives and pathways for Anangu men; Building on Anangu men’s strengths to develop their confidence and capacity to support young people and develop healthy intergenerational relationships drawing on their cultural knowledge as well as Western knowledge; and Supporting the Anangu men’s personal growth, emotional capacity development and healing. Anangu team members are aware of the learning by the non-Aboriginal team members, which contributes to their willingness to share their knowledge; they want to teach non-Aboriginal people so that there is greater understanding, respect and ability to work together. One of the Anangu team members articulated the essence of the meaning of uti kulintjaku – to listen, think and understand clearly in this way: "So [the non-Aboriginal team members have] already learnt quite a bit, and they can recognise more about us, understand more about us, and they can respect and appreciate what we say, so when they're with us in meetings then they can see, yeah, that person has got a good point, or they've spoken well. And then there's more understanding. So once they've got more of that experience in listening then they can understand what we're actually talking about." Anangu Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Team Member (044), 2019. The Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project clearly demonstrates an initiative that aligns with current national priorities and principles for family violence prevention practice in Indigenous communities. The Project is taking a long view with regard to family violence prevention; it is not an intervention, it is an Anangu-led community capacity development and resilience strengthening initiative that is aimed at sustainable, transformative change. As such, it sits within an increasing number of innovative initiatives and programs in Indigenous communities that are part of a paradigm shift; these initiatives are community-led, holistic, strengths-based, trauma-informed and grounded in Aboriginal culture and knowledge.·The Project is showing much potential to contribute to transformative systems change in a similar wayto the women’s Uti Kulintjaku Project. This type of systems change is required to shift “the conditions that are holding the problem in place” (Kania et al., 2018:3). However, for the investment in the Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project to date to achieve its full potential, it requires ongoing funding in the medium term.The challenge is to find funding programs that support the implementation of the current national strategies related to Indigenous family violence prevention.
- Urls: https://web.archive.org/web/20200309003506/https://www.npywc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/Evaluation-Report_UK-Mens-Project_Sept-2019_FINAL.pdf
- Publisher Location: Alice Springs