Mary

Mary: My name is Mary inaudible (last name in language), and I’m form here but I’m staying in Darwin, for dialysis.

Tammy: So tell us again but say the name of the community.

Mary: Community right in Darwin?

Tammy: No here, what’s the name of the community?

Mary: Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island.

Tammy: So, alright. Now Mary, can you tell us, what do you know about NDIS? Or how do you use NDIS?

Mary: Um, what do you mean by that?

Translator: (Explains NDIS in language).

Mary: Nup, nup.

Translator: She doesn’t know.

Tammy: This one here? So you don’t know nothing about NDIS at the moment?

Mary: Nup.

Sheree: Do you get any disability support at the moment from-

Mary: Yeah.

Sheree: How does that work?

Mary: Ahhh get less money.

Tammy: Centrelink, she said she’s ineligible.

Mary: Yeah a hundred something.

Sheree: And how does it work, do you get money support or what do they do?

Mary: Supermarket. When I get that money, and I tap my money. Sometimes I tap with my key card. Yeah.

Sheree: Extra income.

Mary: Yeah.

Sheree: And what about getting transport and support across to dialysis, do they pay for that? DO you get support to Darwin and dialysis?

Mary: Yeah. I dunno, I’m not sure.

Sheree: Who organises it?

Mary: Doctor I think.

Tammy: Your flight?

Mary: No, I pay myself.

Tammy: Yeah.

Mary: To go back. Sometimes it’s hard for me to pay money, I have to ask family, to go back.

Tammy: When you go back to Darwin, you get support in Darwin aye, you stay in hostel or something?

Mary: No, hostel nah. I need someone to help me, for hotel. End up staying with family, I’m staying with my son, Thomas. Stay with him at Palmerston but he’s too far for me, for hospital, for dialysis.

Tammy: Do they pick you up?

Mary: Huh? They got a car.

Family: They have to find their own way. Sometimes the bus picks them up, like Tiwi mob that stay in hostels.

Mary: But I need someone to help me when I go back. I need to stay in hotel. Yeah.

Sheree: If you got somebody to help you, what would you get them to do? Or you need them to do?

Mary: I was talking to my boss, you know what she said to me, “if you got money, you’ve got to pay our time.” And I said to her, I don’t have much money only I get hundred something. Yeah, that’s why…I dunno. Little bit worried, yeah. My husband is staying in Darwin too, doesn’t help. Yeah, doesn’t help me, pay hotel.

Sheree: So you have to rely on your son and stay with him?

Mary: Yeah.

Sheree: And do you get money or support with the transport, getting into Darwin with the hospital, or your son has to help you?

Mary: Sometimes bus come and pick me up for dialysis. Sometimes I have dialysis at Palmerston, and the car comes and picks me up at my son’s place.

Sheree: If you could do dialysis here in the community would you prefer?

Mary: Yeah. That dialysis lady come and pick me up in the morning. Six o’clock in the morning.

Sheree: In Tiwi?

Mary: Yeah.

Sheree: How often do you need dialysis?

Mary: What?

Sheree: How often do you need to do dialysis?

Mary: Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Three times a week.

Sheree: And so you either do it here or in Darwin, it depends?

Mary: Sometimes I do it here, then when I go back, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Sometimes I’m catching bus too, to hospital.

Family: Town bus.

Mary: Town bus.

Sheree: So if you had um- the idea with the NDIS is that they can work with you and you can have some funding, and you can choose how you spend that funding, so however is going to make your life more easy. So if you had funding to make your life easier for the diabetes, what would you spend the money on? Like would it be transport, or how- what would make your life more easy like that?

Mary: Yeah. Like that money spend for when I come back again to visit my family and grandchildren, yeah.

Translator: For food, to help with food.

Tammy: Do you think about other things that you want to do in your life? That’d you’d like to do but you’ve got no support to do it? Do you turn on the TV and see things that you think aye I’d like to do that or go there.

Translator: Or any course, activity.

Tammy: Yeah any learning activities that you think about? Or are you just happy sitting down with family?

Mary: Yeah. Trying to think for, ya know doing painting, yeah.

Translator: Artwork.

Mary: Yeah.

Sheree: You doing much painting now?

Mary: No. Still waiting for…no money to get the paint, canvas, Yeah.

Tammy: But that would make you feel good aye.

Mary: Mhmmm.

Tammy: If you were able to paint.

Mary: (nods head).

Sheree: It’s a good way to spend money. Yeah. You ever use the phones, like this, with internet like that?

Mary: No.

Sheree: No. Would you like any more information about diabetes or treatment like that? Dialysis, is there any more information you wish you had?

Translator: Information about nutrition, about cooking?

Mary: Yeah, yeah.

Tammy: Like when you come back to Tiwi you know, if someone was here doing a cooking class do you think you’d like to go and learn about all that?

Mary: Yeah.

Tammy: And just like with this NDIS information, would you prefer to hear about this information in your own Tiwi language or is English alright?

Mary: Yeah Tiwi. Sometimes I don’t speak…only a little bit. I speak only a little bit. Only Tiwi.

Tammy: So you speak a little bit of English?

Mary: Yeah.

Tammy: Just tell me that again, say “I prefer Tiwi.”

Mary: Yeah, Tiwi. I need to be able to speak. But English, not really, only a little bit.

Tammy: If you turned on a phone like this here and could tap on something that you could hear information in Tiwi, is that good?

Mary: Yeah.

Tammy: That would be better?

Mary: (nodding head) Yeah.

Sheree: Okay good. One last question, if you could have anything at all in the world, what would it be? In your life, if you could do anything at all.

Mary: Um, I’d like to do painting, that’s all. Painting, yeah.

Tammy: Do you ever wish for anything? Or hope for anything?

Mary: No (shaking head).

Tammy: So your hope is, and your wish is to be with your family?

Translator: Grandchildren.

Tammy: And your grandchildren? And to do painting?

Mary: Yes.

Tammy: And like teach them too?

Mary: Yes.

Tammy: And when you’d do your painting and that you’d have your grandchildren with you?

Mary: Yeah (nodding head).

Tammy: Do you ever think I’d like to take my grandchildren to Gold Coast or anything like that?

Translator: To Darwin.

Mary: Yeah Darwin I think.