It is a Monday night in Western Australia’s largest remote Aboriginal community, Bidyadanga, and pool managers Linda and Scott Kendall are chopping 12 kilos of chicken thighs for a free curry night.
This is not your usual pool, and the job of aquatic managers like the Kendalls in eight remote Aboriginal communities managed by Royal Life Saving Society in Western Australia goes beyond teaching laps to being generous hosts.
It is 26 years since the first remote pools opened in communities like Jigalong and Balgo, says the state’s RLSS general manager Greg Tate, and they are making a difference.
“Water safety is at our core, but this program is bigger than that. It is about social impact, and the health and education and employment it provides to the local community,” says Tate, who, along with this masthead, is staying overnight at the Kendalls’.
Words by @julie_power_smh_journo and photography and drones footage by @tamati_the_yamaji for the @sydneymorningherald
