The residents of this Australian island are taking a unique approach to healthcare

Hope for Health is an initiative led by the Yolŋu people who live on Galiwin’ku, also known as Elcho Island, and combines western nutrition with traditional knowledge.

Hope for Health is an Indigenous-led initiative that is recruiting 60 participants for two retreats later in the year. Source: SBS News

For the residents of Galiwin’ku, also known as Elcho Island, tucked away off the east coast of Arnhem Land about 550 kilometres from Darwin, an airport visit can often be an anxious affair.

In many cases, the trip will mean seeing loved ones, battling chronic illnesses, leaving the island to seek treatment in Darwin, with family and friends worried about their return.

“Sometimes families living in the community have lost kids, they go away from community, only to come back in a coffin,” says Yolŋu woman and island resident Helen Guyupul.

For decades now, processed junk food has been part of the diets of Yolŋu on Galiwin’ku, with devastating impacts on residents' health.

Helen Guyupul says she's determined to see her people survive. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) of the 2,027 residents living on Galiwin’ku, 92 per cent identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. ABS data says the most prevalent chronic illnesses present on the Island include heart disease (6 per cent) and diabetes (3.9 per cent).

Meanwhile, across Australia, the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with other Australians is estimated at 12 years for men and 10 for women. About 80 per cent, aged 35-74, are dying from chronic disease including ischaemic heart disease, diabetes, disease of the liver, heart failure, respiratory disease, and cerebrovascular diseases.

Galiwin’ku receives supplies by barge. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole

Ms Guypul says she’s determined to see her people survive and believes education around nutrition and healthy living plays a key role.

“The only way we can look after ourselves is to encourage our community to be healthier, educate our community, so our loved ones are okay,” she says.

The only way we can look after ourselves is to encourage our community to be healthier.

Helen Guyupul, Yolŋu woman and Galiwin’ku resident

In 2014, a two-week educational retreat and ongoing health and nutritional support was established on Galiwin’ku. Hope for Health incorporates traditional health practices, including hunting and gathering, with knowledge of western nutrition.

The program hopes to reinvigorate the Yolŋu community with a model of nutritional education that is delivered in language, and in a culturally appropriate manner.

Helen Guyupul hopes the initiative will eventually be passed onto the next generation. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole

Ms Guyupul, who has participated in the program since it began, hopes educating adults in the community will help influence the next generation.

“We need to support the community, try to tell them what the good way is, bonding and connecting [through a program like this] will bring them one step closer,” she says.

“We see our people put on weight, get into a bad situation with their health. I now know good food makes you stronger, exercise makes you stronger.”

A common problem for remote communities across Australia is access to fresh food.

On Galiwin’ku this means waiting for a barge travelling from Darwin once a week, often resulting in fluctuating and exorbitant prices for fresh food and few alternatives.

Dorothy Yunggirringa has taken part in the Hope for Health program. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole

“Our ancestors understood how to be healthy, they would go out on Country, fishing, being with families, hunting and it was all good for our health,” said Dorothy Yunggirringa a Yolŋu woman who has taken part in the Hope for Health program.

“But nowadays, in modern times, we have to go out and choose things from the shop, and unlike in nature, not everything is good for us.”

Ms Yunggirringa says watching her people get sick is “painful”.

“It is like really hurtful, we want to see our people healthy,” she says.

“We need to all wake up, we need balander [western people] and Yolŋu to make this change happen.”

Tim Trudgen is the co-founder of Hope for Health. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole

Hope for Health’s co-founder and educator Tim Trudgen says the program endeavours to close this gap in knowledge.

“The retreat gives people an experience of how big an effect food can actually have on the body, even over just two weeks,” he said.

“So you combine that with the new knowledge around what's causing disease and incorporate exercise and healthy living parameters and it can make a huge difference.”

The program has had profound results, including weight loss, better control over diabetes, reduction of medication use, and half the participants quitting smoking. It's a framework that Mr Trudgen, says could benefit communities across Australia.

“We've had heaps of interest from Aboriginal communities from all around the NT and, and even Western Australia,” he said.

The program incorporates hunting and gathering and looking for bush tucker combined with knowledge of western nutrition. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole

“We think it would apply there too but it needs to retain some of its organic nature, such as being driven by local people in the community.

“The basics of the model and the storylines that we're working through can all be moulded into local culture and local language.

“So, it's about combining traditional knowledge, the education and the experience as well as the ongoing support that make the whole thing work.”

This year, the program will host two retreats over two months and aims to involve 60 Yolŋu participants, the largest group to date.

NAIDOC Week is a national celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, history and culture, and runs from 3-10 July. Join the conversation #NAIDOC2022 and find out more at NITV.