Lighting the fire within

The Foundation for Indigenous Sustainable Health's Cultural Healing and Awareness Project run in Casuarina Prison aims to support the participants in gaining a deeper understanding of the generational impact of trauma, how that affected them to bring them to this point, how to begin to be able to rebuild their lives and create hope and a plan for the future.

One of the challenges has been that in the past, and even today, is that funding is focussed on training, education, employment, housing etc. While this is important, if your spirit is broken it is difficult for change to occur and be sustainable. First the healing of the spirit needs to occur. 

Foundation for Indigenous Sustainable Health's Aboriginal Elder Koodah Cornwall states "you first need to light the fire within. Heal your spirit. You need to put the horse in front of the cart where as we keep putting the cart in front of the horse. Unless your spirit is healed change becomes difficult."

FISH's focus is to heal the spirit and Koodah's fire lighting ceremony forms an important process in helping the young men light the spirit within and begin the journey of healing.

We need to focus funding in the justice space on what brings real, positive,#justice long term sustainable change instead of funding building more prisons and initiatives that data and research shows does not work.