Pintupi woman, Lorraine, grew up in Papunya, 300km west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Six years ago, after being diagnosed with kidney failure, Lorraine, 39, learnt that she had to undergo a lifetime of weekly dialysis treatment.
Deeply connected to culture, her mob and their dreaming, she is now living in a hostel in Alice Springs to receive treatment and desperately misses home. “I have to sleep indoors all the time. Someone cooks our food and cleans our rooms. I have no family here. I stick to myself. I am homesick.”
To keep her spirit alive, Lorraine visits The Purple House which was established in 2004 by Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation to support First Australian patients who have been dislocated from country and culture.
Caritas Australia is supporting a new income-generating social enterprise at the Centre – making and selling bush balms.
“My favourite balm is Irremenke Irremenke. It is a good bush medicine that our grandmothers used to make. It is good for pain and headaches. It is a cheeky plant, it is hard to find and hard to grow. I love the smell of the bush balm mix boiling up. It reminds me of home,” said Lorraine.
This bush balm program offers people aged 23-75 who are chronically unwell, a sense of purpose, comfort and wellbeing. It gives them the opportunity to pass on traditional knowledge and values, ensuring participants retain their connections with home.
Until the doctors say that Lorraine is palya (good) and she is able to receive local treatment, The Purple House and the bush balm program is her home away from home.
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