When I was first introduced to the major project of this unit, my first instinct was to be worried and concerned as I have never engaged in a task like this before. With limited experience working as a historian, I felt as though it would be difficult for me and a hard task to complete, in addition to the fact that I had no idea what organisation I would would with. At this time, my community was under threat from bushfires and I was well aware through social media of the strain that the local voluntary bushfire service was under. With a cause so close to home, tt was this that made me feel as though I wanted to give back to my community in this way, by helping KRFB.
While KRFB was happy to take me on, they were not sure of what I could offer them. Together, we came up with the idea of creating a website. Personally, I did not know much about the role of KRFB outside of addressing fire hazards in the community, so I thought this was a great idea as i’m sure many other people in my community are in the same boat. Furthermore, the Kentlyn community is rather small and there is not an abundance of information about the History of Kentlyn available, which is another reason I felt that making a website would be so beneficial. In her text History in Communities, Sear discusses the way in which community histories remain as relevant as academic histories. This is a notion which was very important to me as academic history is not always accessible to the community which makes it difficult to be relevant. I really wanted my project to be something that people could easily use to understand a history of Kentlyn as a community as well as the work that KRFB do.
My project has allowed me to gain a deeper appreciation for not only the work that my organisation does, but the community I live in itself. Having the opportunity to gain deeper knowledge about where I live and how it has developed has given me a chance to appreciate the history of Campbelltown and how it has developed. Working with the organisation has allowed me to understand the complexities involved with being part of a voluntary community service organisation and their passion for keeping the community safe is inspiring in so many ways. While the creation of my project has not been without challenges, I have greatly enjoyed learning about my community and creating a space where KRFB can be appreciated.
Here is the link to the website that I made for my major project. https://krfb.weebly.com/