‘From childhood on, women’s moral sense emphasises caring for others. This orientation to the experiences, needs and wishes of others leads women to attend to and nurture other human beings and to provide them with what has become known as “social support”’ (Belle, 1982). This provision of crucial support is often at a cost to the women involved. This paper describes a community outreach project which has been running for nine years with the primary aim of renewing and reinforcing women’s feelings of self worth. The project involves twice-yearly residential weekends attended by an average of one hundred and twenty women. The history and evolution of the groups and some possible reasons why they work will be discussed.

Today’s children are the custodians of tomorrow’s environment – and, with that in mind, an all-out effort is being made to educate South Australian children about their important role in the future of Australia as an agriculturally sustainable and profitable nation.

Thousands of trees are being propagated, soils are being studied, water is being tested for salinity, frogs are being counted, kids are singing songs about caring for the environment, and country and city schools are linking together.

Country life may not be as healthy for children as we would like to think. More rural children under five years of age die as the result of accidents than their city counterparts.

To raise awareness of this problem, the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia is conducting a Rural Child Safety Project with the Southern Mallee Councils Group in Victoria over a twelve month period. The project was launched in Swan Hill on 21 August 1991 by the Hon. Caroline Hogg, Minister for Ethnic, Municipal and Community Affairs. The launch took place at a local Primary School and was attended by local government representatives and community leaders.

THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE is very proud of his branch line. He thinks it is the most important part of the whole railway. He has two coaches. They are old, and need new paint, but he loves them very much. He calls them Annie and Clarabel. Annie can only take passengers, but Clarabel can take passengers, luggage and the guard.

(Awdry, 1986: 4)

In reviewing the literature on children living in rural cities or towns there has been to my knowledge nothing written on how children perceive their living environment. This paper attempts in a small way to present some of the positive aspects that children recognise in living in such an environment. However, to ensure some balance to the paper these children are also asked to present the positive aspects of living in a capital city with which they are familiar. The children are then asked where in the world they would like to live if they were given a free choice.

Weipa is a small mining town with a population of 3,000, located on the west coast of far North Queensland. The mining of bauxite and kaolin by Comalco Mineral Products provide the reason for Weipa’s existence.

Frequently described as a ‘closed town’, Weipa has no local government authority. All housing is supplied by Comalco and most of the working population is employed by the company. Those not employed by Comalco are mostly government employees or service personnel. Now twenty-six years old, Weipa is facing a possible change from company control to local government management, a move referred to as ‘normalisation’, and one which has evoked mixed feelings.

Many efforts have been made to determine the differences between the meaning of ‘rural’ areas and ‘isolated’ areas, and it is not until you are provided with the occasion to venture forth into outer rural areas that you realise the true meaning of isolation.

In my position of ‘Mobile Support Teacher, Wentworth Area’, working with primary school children in the south-west of New South Wales, I have the opportunity to visit many station properties and families, and have gained an understanding of how these families cope with isolation.