Training for Change: Djäkamirr in Galiwin'ku
- Dr Sarah Ireland
- Nov 4
- 5 min read
Yolŋu Country, Northern Territory. 4 November, 2025.
The Molly Wardaguga Institute in partnership with the Womb to Tomb Foundation, recently delivered six days of face-to-face Djäkamirr Training in Galiwin’ku. Six Yolŋu women stepped forward with courage and curiosity to train as djäkamirr, completing the theory component of the five-unit nationally accredited course. Our venue this time around was the comfortable Martharkal Homeland Health Service Training Room and we were thankful for the loan of the giant comfy floor cushions from Vicki at East Arnhem Regional Council.
Photo credit: Sarah Ireland. Djäkamirr graduates, teachers and students- all learning and sharing together at the recent Galiwin'ku training.
As the djäkamirr model continues to evolve, innovative yet deeply grounded in Yolŋu knowledge, the exact number of djäkamirr needed to meet the population needs of Galiwin’ku through customised gurrutu (kinship) matching remains uncertain. While there is some guidance from midwifery caseload research, those models cannot be directly applied here. Our approach depends on culturally appropriate gurruṯu relationships between djäkamirr and clients, as well as the realities of the often extended time spent away from community for birth.
At this stage, our best estimate suggests that between 20 and 25 active djäkamirr are needed to provide comprehensive, culturally safe maternity companionship across the island.
The students were picked up each day and arrived ready to learn: smiling, focused, and committed. They even managed this after a late night at a local community football event. One morning from the training room steps we spotted a barru (crocodile) cruising by! Luckily there were no kids out for an early morning swim.
Now that the classroom component is complete, these women will enter the next training stage: one-on-one mentoring to strengthen their confidence and practical skills as they begin supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care. To graduate, each student must demonstrate experience and competence in providing companionship and culturally grounded care through all stages of the reproductive journey.
Photo credit: Sarah Ireland. Can you spot the barru (crocodile) cruising by?
Our non-Yolŋu teaching team was joined by the passion, skill, and ancestral knowledge of senior djäkamirr and Certificate II graduate Helen Guyupul Wunungmurra. With years of experience as a Health Worker and Strong Woman Worker, Helen is, in every sense, the djäkamirr archetype: wise, nurturing, and grounded in Yolŋu ways of knowing.
Other djäkamirr also joined us intermittently throughout the training to share their stories of companionship, learning, and travelling to town for the 'sit-down' period and birth. One of these djäkamirr has been part of the journey since the 2019 pilot program, and it has been incredible to witness her personal transformation from a quiet and very shy young woman into a confident djäkamirr who recently supported a woman through a vaginal birth experience and at the mother's request stepped-up to cut the newborn baby’s umbilical cord!
In this way, we are gradually building a community of practice for the djäkamirr — a space where shared experience strengthens collective wisdom.
We were also fortunate to be guided by Professor Elaine Ḻawurrpa Maypilama and Senior Community Researcher Rosemary Gundjarranbuy, who provided Cultural Leadership and contributed deeply to the teaching program. Their involvement reminded us that this work is not just about training — it’s about strengthening Yolŋu-led systems of care that have existed for generations.
Photo credits: Sarah Ireland. Learning and exchanging Yolŋu and Balanda Knowledges during Djäkamirr Training with Rosemary Gundjarranbuy & Helen Helen Guyupul Wunungmurra.
Like all remote community-based initiatives, delivering the training required all 'hands-on- deck' and had its share of challenges. Our talented Djäkamirr Coordinator, Sh’ana Constable, was unable to attend due to illness, and several students and staff were impacted by Sorry Business - the period of mourning after a person has passed away. We took time to sit together, talk through these moments, and find compassionate, respectful ways forward, upholding cultural obligations while ensuring everyone could continue their certificate learning.
On top of all of this, a string of electricity outages turned the classroom into a sauna more than once, testing our patience and humour.
But as always, we adapted — with resilience, often laughter, and always teamwork.
Photo credit: Sarah Ireland & Renee Adair. (L-R) Collecting the Hire Cars from Benno's, Renee cooking-up a fishy feed for the team and Sarah mopping the Training Room.
Our Djäkamirr Training Plan and Handbook, now well tested across several training cycles, flowed beautifully. We’re proud of the quality, structure, and cultural integrity of these resources. Staying true to our developmental evaluation and participatory action research approach, each delivery cycle informs the next. In earlier years, that meant major overhauls. Now, our refinements are smaller, the work of fine-tuning, not rebuilding.
A special highlight of the training week was visits from PhD student Jessica Davis and co-researchers Joanne Dhamarrandji and Joan Malku, who joined us most days for lunch and shared insights from their ongoing research into Yolŋu understandings of the Namba Dhäwu (the number story). Together, we piloted their innovative communication tool, the Game of Chance — designed to help Yolŋu and non-Yolŋu participants reach shared understandings about the concept of chance in perinatal health.
The resource invites players to consider both modifiable and non-modifiable factors that influence outcomes for mothers and babies.
It was exciting to witness an “aha” moment as the students recognised how having a djäkamirr can itself be a protective factor — improving health, access to services, and cultural safety. Well done to Jess, Joanne, and Joan for their creativity and persistence in developing this simple but powerful tool. We can’t wait to see the next iteration of the resource.
Our training concluded on the weekend, and the following Monday we held a small DJÄKAMIRR Co-op member gathering with the djäkamirr graduates, current students, and members of the Gumurr’dhangiyunamirr Board.
Supported by the Molly Wardaguga Institute, it was a joyful and reflective evening — a chance for the Womb to Tomb Foundation to present graduation certificates to a few students who had missed the main celebration, share a meal together, and sit side-by- side to watch our first documentary: DJÄKAMIRR: Caretaker of Pregnancy and Birth. The room was filled with pride and laughter as stories and memories resurfaced, connecting the past and present chapters of our shared journey.
Photo credit: Sarah Ireland. Island sunset.
This project with the applied integration of intercultural research, vocational education training, community development and service innovation — all led by Yolŋu and shaped by community priorities — is an extraordinary privilege to be part of.
Each thread, whether it’s training, research, or service delivery, weaves into a larger pattern: a vibrant colored pandanus mat of Yolŋu and Balanda knowledge coming together to meet real needs, strengthen sovereignty, and nurture new life.
Alongside my colleagues and research students at the Molly Institute and partner organisations, I feel deeply grateful to walk this path — learning, teaching, and building together.
Learn more with these links:
Comments