Borrow a Living Book

March 19: 3.00pm
March 19: 4.00pm

$35 @ Big Esso – Mabu Mabu

 

 

Aunty Pam Pedersen as an Elder sits on the various Courts in Melbourne and Shepparton a position which she has held since 2005. Whilst living in Shepparton, Aunty Pam worked at Berry Street for many years working with young Aboriginal children and their families who came in contact with the criminal justice system as well as working in a capacity building role. She was also a Community Member of the Adult Parole Board for some six years. At the age of 50 Aunty Pam started looking at herself and thinking about our Aboriginal people who suffer diabetes and heart problems. She decided to take up walking to try and be a role model for them. By doing this she achieved as some of her people started to follow in her footsteps which made her feel proud. She remembers one year when the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service organised some 100 community people to take part in the Royal Children’s Hospital Easter fun run/walk over the Bolte Bridge. It was such a joy for her. Aunty Pam is a passionate person for her community and young people and is always willing to help whenever needed. She is a keen sportsperson taking part in half marathons and has represented Victoria in the World Masters Games in swimming and running and was also a crew member on a yacht named “Stilletto” winning the Devonport to Melbourne yacht race. Last year during COVID she participated in two half marathons which she is very proud of. Aunty Pam’s motto “If you dream it, you can achieve it”

 

Pattie Lees was born in Cairns, North Queensland, and was removed from her family at an early age and sent to Palm Island as a Ward of the State. At the age of nineteen she joined the Women’s Royal Australian Navy. She represented Australia as a delegate at several United Nations development forums. She is currently CEO of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Children and Youth Services. Married to husband Terry for 51 years, Pattie is the mother of four children, grandmother to twelve and a great-grandmother.

 

Uncle Larry Walsh is an Aboriginal cultural leader and storyteller. Inspired by his local Aboriginal community, plus his own Kulin ancestral blood connections to country, Uncle is one of the only senior Elders in Melbourne who focuses specifically on storytelling. A pure storyteller, his focus on the oral tradition, is an important expression and make up of Aboriginal culture. He wishes to express that Aboriginal people live as much in the modern world as intimately as they are connected to their past.