Yarralin community shows off for Australia

Posted December 24, 2016 09:55:44

When Mishanna Campbell tells people she's from the tiny, remote Northern Territory community of Yarralin, they've often never heard of it.

"It's still sort of not really out there, they still ask, 'whereabouts is Yarralin?' And you have to narrow it down to the nearest township," she said.

So she banded together with a group of other young residents of the community and created a calendar depicting day-to-day life to show off the community of about 500 people, a 730km drive south-west from Darwin.

The project is supported by Enterprise Learning Projects, an organisation that helps remote communities develop micro-enterprises.

"The calendar is titled 'Our Place' and when you go there you really get a sense of people's connection to country," said ELP spokeswoman Tanya Egerton.

This year, residents of Yarralin got their land back from the federal government after being embroiled in the longest land rights battle in history, but the win hasn't helped improve services: there's no phone reception and housing is in disrepair.

Ms Campbell said residents want to move on from the fight which defined the community for the past 44 years.

"For the younger people, most of them are bored so this helps them get out and do something for themselves," she said.

The money raised from the sale of the calendars will go towards helping kids get out of the community and improving buildings.