It’s been quite a busy week back at Giant Steps. I had promised the Principal, Anne, that I would be available to assist with any tasks which were pressing but was surprised to see that a great many changes had been made while I was away.
Builders had put a new window into the Reception area, demolished a couple of fireplaces, and started to put a new passageway through from the Reception to the back of the school. There was still a bit to be done but they were planning to come back later in the week.
I’m delighted that these new projects will ’belong’ to Anne as I have a feeling that my ghost still hangs around the Centre too much. Once the projects that I initiated have been completed, Anne will develop more of a sense of ownership and I can steal away in the night.
Over the next couple of weeks, builders will transform part of the school into a new staffroom and kitchen. The last two days of term were a nightmare as the builders gleefully demolished old cupboards, removed walls and tore up floor coverings. Still, it will be worth it to see the new areas coming to completion. I've promised to keeep an eye on the progress while school is closed and deal with any problems which arise.
To start the process of moving on, I’ve told Anne that Marilyn and I will be leaving Deloraine by June 5th. Giant Steps is on holidays for a fortnight and we will take that time to move out of the house and establish ourselves in a caravan park, until we make some decision about what to do in the few months before we head for the Philippines.
We’ve looked at a few possible parks; the little one at Mole Creek is delightful and the bigger one at Longford looks great. However, they’re both a bit too far out of town so we’ve opted for Hadspen which is only ten minutes from Launceston and close enough to Deloraine to come back if necessary. We’ve committed ourselves for just two weeks and we’ll see what happens after that.
In preparation for more geocaching, I’ve downloaded about 60 sites, ranging from simple ones in the park at Hadspen to one claiming to be one of the hardest in Northern Tasmania - hard walk uphill for 3. 5 hours over steep rocky ground on to the plateau. We might leave that one for summer; we don’t want to be heading for alpine regions when there is the chance of high winds and snow.
I’ve even found the ‘first Tasmania cache’, placed by an American visitor, Jerry Medlin on February 25th, 2001.
One of the jobs I took on for the school was completing the visa application for a new staff member that Anne is recruiting from the Philippines. He is a Speech Pathologist and has been working at an autistic school in Laguna called First Steps. He is only 21 and will appreciate the chance to gain some experience and earn some Australian dollars. At any time, 10% of the Philippines population is working overseas and each worker is supporting an average of 5 dependants back home. This is a serious contribution to the Philippines economy which would be a 'basket-case' without the foreign dollars.
Australia doesn't train enough Speech Pathologists, and other countries such as New Zealand and the UK entice our graduates to try their luck overseas. In return we poach from the Philippines. Amon, the new staff member will apply for a 457 temporary business visa which will give him up to 4 years residency before he decides what he will do in the future. He will earn Australian wages while he is at Giant Steps and, with the positive exchange rate will be able to save enough in his first year to buy a house in his home town.
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