|
Geoff
Guest Petford Camp
Geoff Guest Petford
Camp
Written
1994 Last Updated April 2014. CONTENTS OVERVIEW OF THE GEOFF GUEST PETFORD YOUTH CAMP A BRIEF HISTORY OF GEOFF GUEST SOME DETAILS OF THE GEOFF GUEST PETFORD YOUTH CAMP · Living and activity
expenses · Horse riding and horse
care activity Map of Far North Queensland and location of Geoff Guest Petford
Youth Camp Cover
picture: 'Geoff Guest' by Remy Johansen This page provides a brief overview
of what Petford was like when it was very active as a Youth Training Camp.
Geoff is now his mid eighties and no longer runs residential youth programs.
Now Geoff may take on assignments helping communities and families with
advice on nutrition and resolution of behaviour disorders. He may be
available for consulting work, support for youth attending court, running
workshops and as a speaker and workshop leader at conferences. Geoff also has
a consulting practice where he sees adult clients in Atherton in the Atherton
Tablelands a few days a week. He also may take on Adult clients as short term
residents at his Petford Farm. With these other activities, Geoff has ceased
having youth for residential stays at his farm. . OVERVIEW
OF THE GEOFF GUEST PETFORD YOUTH CAMP Geoff Guest OAM established the Geoff Guest Petford
Youth Camp back in the late 70's. The camp is located in the bush, near the
small town of Petford in Far North Queensland. Geoff and his wife Norma, affectionately known by young people as the 'Old Man' and 'Aunty Norma' are well known around the country and overseas for their outstanding success in working with young people, particularly young Aboriginals. The Camp developed primarily to help
young people, who are suicidal, suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, petrol
sniffing, aggression or habitual offending. The overall aim of the camp is to
confirm and strengthen the young participants' identity and pride in being an
Aboriginal, to elevate their confidence, self-esteem and respect for
themselves and others. The primary activity of the Geoff
Guest Petford Camp is horse riding and horse care. Other activities include nutrition, neuro-feedback
therapy, leather work, swag making, eucalyptus and tea-tree oil production,
tin smelting and pewter ware, and health and illness education. The Geoff Guest Petford Youth Camp operated independent
of government funding. Young people attended the camp living with the Old Man
and Aunty Norma as members of their family. They were responsible for the
cost of their own board and keep. . Old Man and Aunty Norma A BRIEF HISTORY OF GEOFF GUEST Geoff Guest was born in 1926. His early life as one of
the stolen generation is explored in the paper Old Man -
His youth as a Stolen Generation Member . Geoff spent much of his life in the saddle and has the
reputation of being one of Queensland's best horsemen. Geoff was separated
from his Aboriginal mother when he was three and fostered by a white family
at a time when light-skinned Aboriginal children were taken from their
families for "the chance of a better life". Geoff ran away from his
foster family when he was nine and went on a lone 7,000 km walkabout with
three horses. He started working as a rabbit controller and then as station
hand when the owner discovered his skill as a horse breaker. "I had it
tough" he said, "but because I was fair-skinned I could always go
places". At 16 Geoff joined the USA army in a small group that
took 50 Australia stock horses across India and the Himalayas into China so
the Chinese solders could use them to breed mules. The group came under fire
from the Japanese army and the Chinese soldiers had Geoff use his surgery
skills to treat a wounded mule. On seeing his skills they used Geoff as their
surgeon when they were injured. Over the years, he has taken up a number of
occupations, including trochus diver, timber cutter, buffalo and crocodile
shooter, tin miner, soldier, mounted police drug enforcement officer in South
America, rodeo trick rider and stockman. Overriding all these occupations,
Geoff has an extraordinary understanding of, and love for people and has
spent his entire life helping others in one form or other. Back in the early 70s Geoff would draw a crowd of
Aboriginal boys to watch him break in horses. Many of them were heavy
drinkers and were getting into trouble with the law. He invited them to stay
with him on his property while he taught them to ride and to develop the
necessary skills to get work on stations. In those days he employed up to 10
staff to care for up to 40 young people living on his property, all paid for
by his substantial tin mining operation. In the late 70s he developed a
special relationship with a local Aboriginal woman named Norma and they have
been living together ever since. In time, Geoff and Norma's outstanding work with young
people caught the attention of the state welfare department, police and
magistrates. These people were on the lookout for effective programs and
asked Geoff and Norma if they could refer young people to them. Geoff has
testimonials of countless numbers of former residents and thousands of
national and international supporters, including; past and present State and
Federal members of parliament, Judges and Magistrates, psychiatrists,
doctors, psychologists, social workers, teachers, police officers, university
professors, and the list goes on. They have all publicly confirmed the
effectiveness of Geoff's rehabilitation methods.
Old Man, Aunty Norma and a group of young residents GENERAL THEORETICAL BASE The Geoff Guest Petford Youth Camp is guided by the
belief that many socially disruptive and self-harming behaviours, such as:
suicidal behaviour; drug and alcohol abuse; petrol sniffing; aggression; and
habitual offending, are the product of the person and their environment. The
camp helps these young people to change their behaviour by providing them
with a new, more positive environment supporting their self-help in
developing a better life. Most of us would like to believe that our personal
values, belief and feelings are much stronger than our surrounding social
forces. Often surrounding social forces are much stronger, with penalties for
non-conformity ranging from unpopularity, loss of status, loss of livelihood,
exclusion, or in extreme situations, death. The more we deviate from the
group-shared attitudes and beliefs, or norms, the greater the pressure the
group will tend to exert to bring us into line. These forces can be seen at work in the stories of many
young people. Take for example the following words of a 17 year old
Aboriginal boy from Mossman Gorge Aboriginal Community: ·
"You can't stop the drinking
here, it's too strong. If you want to stop others will force you into it, you
can't say no, they will make you. If you don't drink with them they think bad
of you. The only way to stop is to get out of this place". And again, from a 16 year old boy from Wujal Wujal
Aboriginal Community trying to explain why he committed a number of offences:
·
"I never thought about it before,
all the other years I was just going to school, but then I was hanging around
too much with these other boys and started getting into trouble". In situations where a young person believes that their
family or group environment is having a bad effect on them and want to get
away for a while, the Geoff Guest Petford Youth Camp may be able to provide
them with that opportunity. The Old Man and Aunty Norma have the ability to
directly interact with young people and point out their irrational ideas and beliefs
and provide them with ways to overcome them. The goal is that eventually the
young person will learn new ideas and beliefs that are more effective. Unlike many therapeutic programs, the Geoff Guest
Petford Youth Camp is not conducted in a closed artificial environments
applied by psychologists or other professionals. In contrast, the Camp is for
young people who have chosen to leave their community for a time and live
with the Old Man and Aunty Norma who model more effective beliefs and values,
in an environment that provides them with new activities and valuable life
skills.
The Old Man giving some young people an introduction to
horse riding SOME DETAILS OF THE GEOFF GUEST PETFORD YOUTH CAMP Aim and Objectives The aim of the Geoff Guest Petford Youth Camp is to
help young people live happy, productive, and respected members of their
community. The objectives include: ·
to create a safe, supportive environment
for young people to develop and enjoy their lives without doing harm to
themselves and others; ·
to provide knowledge and skills
relevant to living and working in rural and remote areas; ·
to develop greater confidence,
self-esteem, self-discipline, self-reliance, respect for themselves and
others and their property. ·
to reduce boredom, anxiety and
depression; ·
to improve physical health and
fitness; ·
to promote an understanding and
respect of the natural environment; ·
to promote a social and political
awareness of issues which may affect them as indigenous people. Geoff and
Norma do accept non-indigenous youth. In addition to the objectives, the Geoff Guest Petford
Youth Camp can provide the following opportunities to young participants. ·
The opportunity for young
Aboriginals from different parts of the country to gain a greater
understanding of each other, to live and work in cooperation and develop new
friendships. ·
The opportunity for young
Aboriginals to gain new ideas and learn practical skills that can assist them
to establish their own enterprises that may generate a livelihood and help
provided autonomy and economic independence. Young people referred to Geoff Guest Petford Youth Camp
from outside the area live with the Old Man and Aunty Norma as members of
their family in their home on the bank of Emu Creek. The camp is not funded
by any government department and Geoff discourages welfare dependence which
robs people of their independence and dignity. Young people attending the
camp are therefore required to pay for their own living and activity
expenses. The various ways they can do is explained at the time of referral. Young residents saddling up to go riding Horse riding and horse care activity Young people who attend Geoff Guest Petford Youth Camp
are often withdrawn, low in self-esteem, mistrusting of adults and authority
figures, or a believe that they have little control over their lives. Geoff
knows how horses can be used to help rehabilitate young people and he has
been doing so for most of his life. When young people attend the Geoff Guest Petford Camp
they will be given a practical education on riding and caring for horses and
the parallels between the behaviour of horses, themselves and others. Through
expert riding instruction the young people develop courage, self-confidence
and control. They will learn that horses have personalities like people and
with proper care and attention you can earn their trust and respect. They
will be taught how to take responsibility for the needs of their horse, as
well as their own needs. Horses, according to Geoff, are great levellers;
"It does not matter what you look like or whatever your past, it all
means very little to a horse, they will take you as you are". In addition to their therapeutic potential, horses can
provide employment and income. Horses are Australia's third biggest industry,
when taking into consideration the horse racing industry, national and
international breeding sales, rodeo riders, stockmen, show and pleasure
riding and working horses. With this in mind, Geoff has developed a horse
management course. Topics covered include: ·
Overview of the horse industry ·
Growth and development ·
Reproduction, fertility and
lactation ·
Breeds and breeding ·
Horse behaviour ·
Caring for horses with bush
medicine ·
Feeding, Nutrition and digestion ·
Care, grooming &
identification ·
Pests and diseases ·
Stables and yard construction ·
Halters, bits, saddles and
stirrups (including making and repair) ·
Beginning, intermediate and
advanced riding skills Geoff is always willing to try out new ideas in order to
help young people improve the quality of their lives. For the past 4 years,
Geoff and others have been pioneering the use of neuro-feedback therapy to
help young Aboriginals over-come a number of disorders including ADHD and
Tourettes type behaviours. All human behaviour originates in the nervous system,
of which the brain is the most important part. The nervous system is made up
of thousands upon thousands of individual nerve cells called neurons. Neurons
communicate to each other by using electrical impulses and chemical
secretions. Neuro-feedback therapy involves placing small sensors against
certain areas of the skull, which are able to detect some of the small
electrical impulses taking place within the brain. These impulses are then
relayed to a computer, which is programmed to display these electrical
impulses in a visual form on the computer screen. In this way the
participants are able to view their own brainwave activity on a moment by
moment basis. This visual neuro-activity feedback can then be used as
a form of neurological skill training whereby participants can learn to
self-regulate and influence their brainwave patterns to achieve a more
balanced mental state. Neuro-feedback therapy is being used by a number
professionals around the world for the treatment of drug, alcohol and food
dependency and addiction, dangerous offenders, learning disabilities,
Attention Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,
certain types of depression and other mood disturbances, and certain
closed-head injuries. Geoff has testimonials from academic and practitioner
world leaders in neurotherapy stating that Geoff's work is 'state of the
art'.
The Old Man connecting up a young boy to the
neuro-feedback computer Nutrition Geoff has had significant
success in changing long term behavioural issues through changing
residents’ food habits Geoff speaks of having clear boundaries. Here at Petford boys get for perhaps the first time,
clear boundaries as to what they can and cannot do. We have no white sugar
and no white flour at Petford. These two things messes their brains. We also have no cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. These also
set the boys back; they lose their confidence - I can tell if they have had
just one cigarette - it shows in
their confidence and ease in working with the horses. This same point about white sugar and white flour is made
by psychiatric anthropologist John Cawte (1974, 2001). Annie Jubb and David Jubb
(2003) report the experience of teachers and staff at Central Alternative
High School in Appleton, Wisconsin: Most aberrant behaviour that we see around us in the
world, such as crime and violence, can be corrected or greatly affected
through proper nutrition. This was dramatically demonstrated when staff and
teachers at Central Alternative High School in Appleton, Wisconsin, took
action against the violence, gun-toting, wisecracking, and truancy that had
become regular behaviour among the students. In 1997, they challenged the
system and changed the menu at the cafeteria, and removed all of the candy
and soda vending machines. The cafeteria switched from offering hamburgers,
hotdogs, French fries, cookies, cakes, chips, and soda to offering wholesome fresh
fruit and vegetables, hormone-free eggs, cheese, and meat. They cut out all
food containing the preservatives BHA, BHT, TBHQ, and synthetic colours and
flavours. They started preparing meals using old fashioned recipes. Principal
LuAnn Coenen now files stunning figures each year with the state of
Wisconsin. Since 1997, she has reported a figure of zero dropouts, student
expulsion, and for students discovered using drugs, carrying weapons and
committing suicide. Zero. These problem behaviours simply disappeared when a
wholesome diet was introduced and the worst chemical additives were removed.
One student summed it up, ‘Now that I can concentrate, I think it is
easier to get along with people.’ Major Project in Central Australia Seven remote communities in Central Australia have
asked Geoff and Aunty Norma along with other skilled people linked to Geoff
to come and teach them healing ways so they can support their own youth who
are having major problems with petrol sniffing and other addiction. In November
2001 one small community had six boys die from petrol sniffing. Independent funding is being sought for this project.
Please Email us if you can support or know someone who can.
Map of Far North Queensland and location of Geoff Guest
Petford Youth Camp REFERENCES Cawte, J. (1974). Medicine is the Law -
Studies in Psychiatric Anthropology of Australian Tribal Societies.
Honolulu, University Press of Hawaii. Cawte, J. (2001). Healers of Arnhem Land.
Marleston, SA, J.B. Books. Jubb,
A. P. & D. Jubb, 2003. LifeFood Recipe Book – Living on Life
Force. Berkley, CA : North Atlantic Books. Links Link to other indigenous and self help action. |
