Language is just one aspect of culture being shared amongst Fijian West Coast Eagles ruckman Nic Naitanui and Aboriginal students at La Grange Remote Community School in Bidyadanga.

AFL Multicultural Ambassador Naitanui has been catching up with the students regularly throughout the 2014 season via video conference facility ‘Lync’, in a pilot program partnership between the club, the school and Children’s Equity, a charity formed to help make the world an easier place for disadvantaged children.

Naitanui says he has learnt a lot from the students and hopes that they can say the same.

“Initially the kids were a little bit shy, but once we got to know each other through regular contact, they became much more confident in sharing their culture with me," he said.

“It was great to build a rapport with them through sharing some Fijian and Aboriginal language which was really important to begin with. I learnt a little bit of ‘Aboriginal English’ when I asked them how to say ‘hello’ in their language and they all replied ‘What now?’.

The program was initiated to capitalise on the work of Professor Michael Watson and specifically the Children’s Equity Remote Ear Disease program. This program aims to make the world easier for children with ear disease in remote communities by giving them back the gift of hearing and allowing them to start school with an equal chance to learn.

“Through their discussions with Nic, I think the kids at the Bidyadanga school have had reinforced the importance of maintaining a strong family culture and the importance of respecting their parent’s languages,” Watson said.

“I think Nic has also been reminded of how important his own culture is to him and how it has played an essential role in making him a well-rounded, humble person that commands respect from all those around him.

“This process has also been an opportunity for new partnerships to develop between the Bidyadanga school and between not for profit organisations such as the EON foundation (who provide the kids with a practical understanding of nutrition), Eagles Community, the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council and Children’s Equity”.

“By working together we have realised that we all have similar messages to share: respect yourself and your culture, eat healthy local foods, exercise and have fun, engage strongly with your local community (including your school) and communicate well by respecting each other’s languages.”

Healthy choices have been the overarching focus of the program, with a particular emphasis on choosing to drink water over other sugary drinks.

The students were also assigned a project to catch and cook some fresh local salmon in their community before putting together a PowerPoint presentation as a way to share the process with Naitanui and develop their literacy and information technology skills.

Bidyadanga-La Grange Remote Community School teacher, Peter Grantham, attributes the success of the program to the organic nature of the conversations between Nic and the students.

“Nic radiates health and positivity tempered with an unpretentious personality and an easy sense of humour," said Grantham.

"He was quick to break the ice with students and over a short space of time developed a fast rapport which meant that his positive health and education messages resonated with the kids.”

The program recently culminated for this year with a number of the students visiting the club with their friends from Swanbourne Primary School and being led on a tour of the facilities by Naitanui, as well as AFL Indigenous Ambassador Josh Hill and former West Coast Eagles premiership player Drew Banfield.