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Students from the Ambassadors' Program at an Australian outback
property. Photo courtesy The Nothern Miner, Charters Towers
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Every year four pastoral properties in north
Queensland turn into ‘classrooms without walls’ for up
to 3000 American students. The 12 to 18 year olds are part of the
People-to-People Student Ambassadors’ program whose aim is to
give the students a glimpse into a lifestyle far outside their own
experience. Julie Crough & Kate O’Donnell report
Trafalgar | Wambiana |
Pajingo | Benefits of
cultural exchange | Outback a highlight
| Traps for the unwary | Farmstays in the future | More
information |
When the Ambassadors’ program began in 1963, Europe and
Russia were the primary destination for US Student Ambassadors.
Australia became involved in the program as economic and political
difficulties plagued Russia in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Trafalgar, Wambiana and Pajingo Stations, all near Charters Towers,
first hosted groups of students in 1991. Back then, the
Ambassadors’ program had no ‘outback’ experience
in their Australian tour and all three properties—then
in the grip of drought—when approached, were keen for the
opportunity to diversify.
More than a decade on and the program is still running
strong—with another cattle station, Woodleigh near Mt Garnet,
run by Peter and Kate Waddel—also part of the program. The
Landsbergs, Blacks and Lyons have now hosted thousands of American
students, showing them a lifestyle that continues to astonish the
predominantly urban teenagers from the other side of the world.
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From Brooklyn to branding: students say the
farmstays are a highlight
Photo: The Nothern Miner, Charters Towers
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Jenny and Roger Landsberg, with their five children Jayne,
Bernie, Madeleine, Kate and Laura, manage the 32,000 hectare
Trafalgar, a Brahman stud and commercial beef operation, breeding
and fattening cattle for American and Asian markets.
Roger explains that his family aims to make the stay for the
students both an educational and cultural experience. Property
operations like marketing, mustering and land management are all
explained—with an emphasis on how the climate, global market
conditions and consumer trends all impact on the operation.
“I spend a half day with them explaining the environmental
aspects of managing a large pastoral property,” said Roger.
“In particular, Jenny and I emphasise the importance of
achieving the balance between productivity and protection of
natural resources.”
“But it’s not just learning, they also experience
our lifestyle—hearty home-cooked food, milking a dairy cow
for fresh milk for breakfast, the schooling system which involves
School of the Air and boarding school—as well as bush dancing
and singing around the campfire.”
The students, who are always accompanied by four or five of
their own teachers, are predominately from cities, with only the
occasional child from a rural area in the States. However, as Jenny
points, out, these students come from much smaller properties than
that which confronts them when they land at the Queensland
stations. Also, that such properties are run by families comes as a
big surprise.
“They just can’t believe such a huge place (even
though it’s average for this area) is run by a family,”
she said. “We do get the odd child whose family runs a few
head, but it’s nothing like what we have here in
Australia.”
Wambiana Station, 60 km south-east of Charters Towers has been
in the Lyons’ family since 1912. Ronda and John Lyons, and
their mostly adult children, Michael, Margie, Jim, Magella and
Daniel, run about 2300 head of Brahman cross cattle and can
identify more than 110 bird species on the property.
Here, the students stay at ‘The White House’, a
giant shed with all the comforts of outback living. But
there’s little time to enjoy the creature comforts once the
students arrive; they roll up their sleeves and get down to hard
work with drafting, dipping, branding and castrating.
Ronda and John Lyons demonstrate the practical and sustainable
management practices they use to operate their property.
However, the students also have opportunities to learn about
research associated with the grazing trial that Queensland’s
Department of Primary Industries has established on the
property.
The Ambassadors’ program has also had an interesting
outcome for Wambiana, with a former student visitor, now a
university lecturer at the University of Shippensburg in
Pensylvania, bringing her own crew of students to Australia. The
students visit central Australia and the coast, but also spend two
days at Wombiana where the grazing trial is of special
interest.
David and Jenny Black, the fourth generation to live on Pajingo
Station, run a 32,000 hectare property with children Adam, Andrew,
Stephen and Louise. Pajingo, Aboriginal for willy wagtail, is 105
kilometres south of Charters Towers with about 2500 head of Brahman
cross cattle.
The Blacks try to provide a snapshot of a day in the life on a
cattle station. This means hands-on activities and sharing in the
historical aspects of a long-term involvement in the land. Visitors
are accommodated in the ‘Coolaman’, with the rooms
constructed from railway freight wagons.
Students are not the only ones to gain from the program.
It’s also an interesting cultural exchange for the host
families—and in particular for the children of the three
properties.
“Our children have benefited greatly over the years in
terms of social skills and appreciating their own style of
learning,” said Jenny Landsberg. “The Australian system
of distance education is unique and very different from the way
American kids do it,” she said. “It’s good for
our kids to see that life is not just like it is on our property
everywhere.
“Our children appreciate their own lifestyle more by
meeting people who find their life incredible. Simple things like
seeing stars, taking a walk in the bush living and working with
animals are things we take for granted, but are totally foreign to
most big city dwellers.”
Currently, the stopovers on the four properties only last two
nights and a day—and many students wouldn’t at all mind
staying longer. Judging by the letters and emails that all the
families receive, it appears that the trips to the outback are a
highlight of the 19 days that they spend in Australia (that and the
Great Barrier Reef).
“Feedback through letters and emails is extremely
positive,” said Roger. “Many say that their Farmstay on
all four of the properties is the highlight of their trip.
“In particular, the students love the excellent
home-cooked food (a rarity for many whose diet comprises mainly
take-away food) and are amazed at the fact that a family has opened
up their home to 40 to 50 strangers.”
“Also, our kids give the introductory talk on the coach,
which the students love; they don’t have an adult talking to
them all the time.”
“I think most of them appreciate being treated like
individuals and the fact that we put in more than 15 hours a day
with them. In all, I would say they learn a lot from the
experience; it extends their comfort zone.”
For some students, however, their learning curve is especially
steep. A 13-year-old boy recently asked Roger “what are those
two big things hanging between the ‘cow’s’
legs?”; to which Roger quickly responded that “he is a
Brahman bull and is resistant to drought, so those things are where
he stores extra water reserves.”
Bush walks with toilet stops—without benefit of plumbing,
sinks or a comfortable seat—also come as an enormous
shock.
“It’s really foreign to them,” said Jenny.
“Sometimes you really have to explain what you mean because
they’ve never had anything like that before. They do take
some time to come to grips with the Australian sense of
humour.”
What are the future options for Australia’s involvement in
the program? There is enormous potential for growth, says
Roger.
“This was particularly evident in the wake of September 11
when Europe was no longer a considered destination; in excess of
10,000 program participants came to Australia instead. More than
3000 of these stayed at either Trafalgar, Wambiana or Pajingo over
the two-month period.
It was an extremely busy time for all of the families: the usual
one or two-day respite between the groups’ arrival was waived
and when one group of 40 or 50 left in the morning, another group
of the same number would take their place in the afternoon.
However, the normal work of the property had to go on, and for the
women this included conducting lessons for their own children who
are still of primary school age. The major hurdle now is insurance
premiums for properties to be involved in such programs. In the
last year rising public liability insurance and the perceived
potential for litigation has caused insurance premiums to rise in
some cases by more than 250 per cent.
