Malpa

An exhibition of Indigenous art sourced in Central Australia will soon open in the Westpac Bank in Gordon.

 The art includes works by Gracie Morton Pwerle, Mary Jones Nangala and Andrew Spencer Tjapaltjarri.

 The show gives Sydneysiders a chance to get an insight into life in Central Australia and to experience the rich cultural heritage and to understand the work of Malpa and our partners in Central Australia.

 Malpa thanks Branch Manager Duncan Payne and the Westpac Bank.

Everyone understands that alcohol addiction is responsible for many problems for Aboriginal people.

Now, thanks to the generosity of Alan Amodeo, co-owner of NXGen who manufactures an injectable “time release” blocker, about three hundred Aboriginal will people will be offered the chance to beat the grog.

Don Palmer has been in conversation with key people in Central Australia who deliver drug and alcohol services about introducing the program. The program would include a “back to culture” component so people can re-connect with those things which keep them strong. The program is also being used in urban and regional centres.

The drug – Naltrexone – is actually injectable. The injection effects last for a month and make it easier for people to get their lives back in order.

Naltrexone is a drug that blocks alcohol and opiate drugs from reaching the receptors in the human brain.  Naltrexone has been available for about 30 years but its use previously required daily, oral doses.  While the clinical effect of Naltrexone has been known for many years to be excellent, the delivery means was not suitable for sustained use by alcoholics and drug users who wished to break their addictions.

When Naltrexone is used by people with addictions to alcohol or opiate drugs they do not enjoy the “highs” or other perceived benefits of the alcohol or drugs they are using.  People will still become physically intoxicated or drug affected but they will not receive any satisfaction from use and importantly they will not crave the use of alcohol or drugs while using Naltrexone.  In this way the “cycle of use” of alcohol and drugs can be broken.

NxGen have developed a truly innovative delivery system for Naltrexone.  Naltrexone can now be delivered in a “time release” form that allows people who want to break the cycle of alcohol and drug use to be free of the desire/craving to use alcohol or opiate drugs for periods of one, three or six months through either subcutaneous pellets or injections.

We are very excited to share this photo of one of the dialysis machines painted as part of the Painting the Future project. This particular machine is on display in the Atrium of the Fresenius Medical Care Headquarters in Bad Homburg, Germany. Fresenius Medical Care is the world’s largest, integrated provider of products and services for individuals with chronic kidney failure and is a partner of Malpa. Other machines painted by Alice Springs artists have been displayed in various locations around the world, including Hong Kong and provide a forum through which the story of chronic illness among Indigenous Australians can be told.

Dulcie Brown Nampitjinpa

The Warlpiri Town Camp on the edge of Alice Springs was turned into something more like a Sydney beach as children played with inflatable Donate Life beach balls.

 The balls were given to the parents to hand out to their children and in no time the Camp was filled with laughter and squeals of delight as they  bounced around on the red dust of Central Australia. Four days later they were still being played with.

 Don Palmer, the Malpa project Director took the balls for his visit Alice Springs to have discussions with elders about the Circle of Hope project.  Warlpiri artists were responsible for the painted dialysis machines which have found their way around the world to Frankfurt, Rome and Hong Kong. Now some artists are being commissioned to paint stories of hope for an exhibition in Parliament House, Canberra in August. Paintings will come from Indigenous communities across Australia to help politicians and policy makers focus on the un-met health needs of Indigenous Australians.

 For more information about Donate Life head to http://www.transplant.org.au