Graduation is a great step in the lives of all young people, it is a celebration time for parents and grandparents to show how happy they are of their children and grandkids.
When Sasha Mulungunhaway Yambulul graduated from Worawa College in 2015, it was a huge moment and a significant accomplishment. The college, which was formed in 1983 and is situated in Healesville, northeast of Melbourne, specialized in teaching young Indigenous Australians.
Sasha was raised in an secluded Indigenous tribe on Elcho Island in Australia’s northern coast.
It goes without saying that Sasha’s education and a totally new atmosphere was a significant one. Her students, on the other hand, were quite kind, and Sasha worked hard to achieve her dreams. When it came time to graduate, she received top grades because of her work ethic and discipline. She notified her family at Echo Island, and they were, of course, happy.
The happiest person of them all was Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurruwiwi, Sasha’s grandpa.
He is an elder of the Galpu tribe and rarely leaves his house, but when he learned that his granddaughter was graduating from college in Melbourne, he knew he should go.
Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurruwiwi doesn’t speak English and can’t tell you his age – however he like to dance.
He traveled over 2,000 miles to Worawa Aboriginal College, where his granddaughter Sasha Mulungunhaway Yambulul was boarding, to celebrate her success with a traditional dance famous as a Lunggurrma.
Sasha and another of Gali’s grandchildren have been studying at the university in Healsville, north-east of Melbourne, for almost two years.
Gali traveled a long distance to perform a traditional dance at Sasha’s 10 year graduation.
“I am happy of my grandkids Sasha and Alica,” Gali said his wife, who translated his words, “I am glad that this college has taken care of them and they have received a good education.”
“They need to know who they are and where they came from,” he continued, “and today Sasha walks proudly in both worlds.”
When Sasha and Alica are not at college, they lived on Elcho Island with their family, and the two girls had never been away from home before.
“I miss hunting, looking for oysters, fishing for mango worms, and dancing traditional, we call it bunggul,” Sasha added.
Sasha plans to continue her education at a different university in Western Australia and hopefully become a nurse.