Tetra Tech International Development’s Journey to Reconciliation has been a true reflection of our vision, as a leading development consulting firm, to work with people and communities to achieve a positive impact. We proudly live our values as we deliver intelligent and co-created solutions across the development sphere. Through our values, we live and work to:
- Strive for achievement
- Be open and transparent
- Listen to and respect people
- Pursue curiosity and have a passion for learning
- Embrace diversity and collaboration
- Deliver solutions that make a difference
Here we highlight the story of the amazing, Sian Clarke, On-Award Enrichment Coordinator for Australia Awards Papua New Guinea, managed by Tetra Tech International Development on behalf of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In 2019, Sian took ten Papua New Guinean post-graduate students to the Garma Festival with Clyde Rigney Jr, our Director of Indigenous Consulting.
The Garma Festival (organised by the Yothu Yindi Foundation) is a gathering, that brings together business leaders, international political leaders, intellectuals, academics and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing Australia. But it is more than that. The four-day festival, held in Gulkula, north-east Arnhem NT, is also a showcase of Australia’s rich Indigenous culture.
The purpose of taking the group from Papua New Guinea to Garma was about real people meeting others with shared understandings and cultural experiences.
“They were amazed and delighted to meet each other, intrigued to learn about one another, sharing stories based around a common cultural framework,” Sian said.
“They had so much in common with each other, especially around kinship, land and ceremony – it was the most enriching thing I have ever done for anyone in my life!
“Garma has grounded all of us, inspiring us to look at who we are and the importance of our history and culture in our identity. It has changed the students’ lives and attitudes, but it has also changed me, forever.”
We share this insight into Tetra Tech International Development’s Journey to Reconciliation and the impact that it is having on our people, business, the clients that we work with and the communities that we live and work in.
Reconciliation is everyone’s business, and our Shared History is something that we should all hear, interact with and understand, for it is with this new lens of understanding that we truly can live our purpose of seeing thriving people, thriving communities and a thriving planet.
For more information on our Journey to Reconciliation please contact Clyde Rigney Jr.
