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Cooling down in the Western Desert

27 July 2018
Community Punmu
Children and Schooling
Several Aboriginal children play on a concrete slab under sun shade amongst various water features. On the left is a small train with carriages made from barrels and on the right is a building. In the distance is open ground, more structures and bushland

After much ingenuity and work, the remote community of Punmu, WA have turned a bare concrete slab into a water playground, just the thing to beat the heat in the Western Desert.

The remote Western Australian community of Punmu has done it again. Not content with leading the world with new and innovative ways to get kids to school the community has turned a disaster into triumph.

When a transportable building collapsed, and the debris cleared away, all that was left was a large concrete slab.

With summer days in Punmu often reaching 50 degrees Celsius, what better thing to build on the slab than a water playground.

Since opening day the children and adults of Punmu have been cooling down, travelling to school and the water park by their unique barrel train.

And cooling down after a hot day in the desert is not the only benefit. With Trachoma a health issue in the community, it is hoped that wet, clean faces will help to fight the disease.

Video courtesy of Donald Graham.

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Watch for the credits at the end to acknowledge all those who made this possible.