Students learn to be disaster ready

March 26, 2021

Throwing spears, making fires, building shelters and making ropes are not your usual school classroom activities.

But these unique yet practical life skills are being taught to Carinity Education Rockhampton students to help them be prepared for natural disasters.

Students learned these vital survival skills – and developed their teamwork – at the school on March 25 as part of the Community Recovery Challenge.

TV crews from 9 News, WIN News and 7 News came to the school to do stories on the event.

The skills activities were run by Rocky Instincts, which teaches the traditional skills and knowledge of our ancestors including basic fire-making skills and animal trapping.

Rocky Instincts Director Malachi Conway says the important skills he teaches can help people survive during and after natural disasters such as cyclones and bushfires.

The unique school event for students from Years 10 to 12 was the final item of the year-long Community Recovery Challenge, an initiative of Carinity Education Rockhampton to help people living in the Livingstone Shire to become more resilient both before and after natural disasters.

Community Recovery Challenge is activities have ranged from yoga and wellness classes, community art projects, and training a therapy dog, to mental health education, suicide prevention activities, and songwriting workshops for people overcoming adversity.

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