Madeleine's Starlight Wish
I awoke with a start, hopped across my hotel bed and shook my older sister Charlotte and my younger sister Madeleine awake. The day was finally here - the day we were to go to Kuku Yalanji of the Mossman Gorge Rainforest.
We were on our Starlight holiday which was granted to my sister Madeleine (13) because she has CF. We had already discovered the Great Barrier Reef, visited Hartley’s Crocodile Park and been surrounded by beautiful butterflies in a gigantic butterfly aviary – not to mention all the spectacular beaches we visited and the fresh mangoes we picked off the trees in the street.
It was a sweltering day as we enthusiastically clambered out of our hire car and began the ascent to the small building just in sight. We joined a group of tourists and went on the rainforest tour with a very interesting Aboriginal who asked us to call him “Dingo”.
We learnt how to make bush soap, to fish with vines hanging from trees, which berries were poisonous and which were edible. We also learned of the sad history of the Aboriginal people and what white man had done to their families. It was much sadder hearing it from someone who was directly affected by it. Maybe my history teacher just lacks emotion.
When we returned we were delighted to see a small crowd of Aboriginal children complete with body paint and red loin cloths. Accompanying them was a man with a didgeridoo and another with wooden clap sticks. One of the elders came out of a hut and said he had a special announcement. He said a little girl, by the name of Madeleine, was visiting and that this dance was dedicated to her. Madeleine blushed as red as the loincloths!
When the children started dancing I couldn’t help but smile. I snuck a peak at Maddy’s face only to see a reflection of what I felt on mine. The youngest child, a very shy little girl was dancing away happily; she looked about three years old with the oldest boy around 16. The didgeridoo player was exceptional and could make many animal and bird sounds with his instrument.
After the dancing, the medicine man, Harold, and the medicine woman Judy, a tiny, toothless lady with gleaming eyes and a wide grin, invited us to spend the rest of the day with them. We accepted this kind offer, eager to experience more of this fascinating culture. They asked Madeleine if she would like to get her photos taken with the children and she shyly stood in the middle, a pale spot amongst a surrounding of darkness.
At first the other children were afraid to touch Maddy. It was as if she was scary but after a while they were all told to put their hand on one of her shoulders.
After we finished taking the photos, Judy the medicine woman asked us if we would like to swim in the rainbow water of the women’s sacred swimming place, deep in the rainforest. Before we did we had to be smoked with special herbs to rid us of negative energies. We stood in front of a fire and they wafted the smoke all over and around us. Luckily it was a hot day - the water was freezing. Judy watched us as we got in and swam around trying not to let our feet touch the bottom.
At the back of the water place was a small rocky hole and overflowing above it was a sparkling, clear waterfall. Judy told Maddy and Mum to sit under it and let the water run over them as it had special healing powers.
As we got out, shivering in the soft afternoon sun, we all put our arms around each other. Judy started to sing and chant and as she told us of her son who she had lost, started to cry. She told us the ancestors had visited her the night before in a dream to tell her of a special child coming to heal their tribe. That was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen or heard, this toothless old lady, tears streaming down her tiny face, as she told us about her lost son.
After we walked back through the rainforest and we were having a cup of tea, the medicine man, Harold, brought out a small tin cup filled with water. He sat Maddy down and started to wipe the sweat from his underarms and brow into his hands and then placed his hands on Maddy’s back. He kept dipping his fingertips in the little cup as he worked for ten minutes on Maddy, swear running down his face with concentration. He finally decided he had finished and he showed us what was in the cup. As I peered over the cold metal edge I expected to just see water but what I saw was so surprising if I had not seen it myself I would have never believed it!
The cup held what looked like, and I strongly suspected was, thick stringy brown mucus, which he had obviously removed from Madeleine’s lungs.
Later we went into the gift shop and Ernie, a tall, widely smiling Aboriginal came to us and gave us his most precious boomerang. But that day, he was not smiling, like many people he had tears streaming down his face. Betty, another lady, gave us a beautiful painting called “Sacred Women’s Business” and three Bernie beans which are used to heal sore muscles.
We said our goodbyes and left in the orange glow of dust. The last image I remember was seeing small children collecting mangoes from the side of the road.
Ever since our visit to the Kuku Jalanji people Madeleine has not been admitted to hospital and that was over a year ago. Her lung function is as a child without CF would be and she is happy and healthy.
I have a feeling that one day maybe, just maybe we will return to that special place in Mossman Gorge rainforest and maybe, just maybe Maddy will stay well.
Stephanie Wilcox
15 years
