Lilla 

Lilla is the story of a remote Indigenous community in the heart of Australia, and their efforts to better themselves. A key issue faced by such communities is their ability to source fresh, healthy food. Lilla itself is over 300km from the nearest town, in Watarrka National Park; distance and money are barriers that prove impenetrable in terms of having adequate access to fruit and vegetables that don’t come out of a can or a tin.

As well as Lilla, the Wanmurra and Upunyali communities also live in Watarrka National Park. Lilla is the central community, as it is home to Watarrka School, which all the local children attend.

In 2014, the international, not-for-profit organisation Slow Food visited Lilla and established community gardens, in the hopes of teaching the people of Watarrka how to grow and harvest their own supply of fresh food.

Reg Ramsden is a key figure throughout this story; he established the Lilla Foundation, and engages private schools across Australia in community service trips through his company Remote Tours.

I spent four nights at Lilla in September 2014 and wrote about the community for my final Journalism portfolio for university. 

To read my full story, please click here