Author: bdun3438

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/

The organisation that I have chosen to work with for my project is Kentlyn Rural Fire Brigade, which is located in the community of Kentlyn. Kentlyn is a small community in the Campbelltown region, surrounded by Georges River and a vast nature reserve, where the minimum subdivision of land is 5 acres. For this reason, there are a lot of areas that are at risk of being fire hazards. This first became of interest to me as around the time that this semester began, there were a couple of rather dangerous fires and hazards in Kentlyn where the Fire Service needed to be actively involved. Seeing the hard work that the Fire Service puts in for my community, I thought this was the perfect opportunity for me to give back.

The first barrier that I encountered with KRFB is that fact that they are a voluntary service, and do not meet on a standard regular basis as many other organisations do. This was particularly challenging as I awaited confirmation that they would like to work with me, as I was struggling to think of any back up ideas and wasn’t sure of what I would do if they did not think my project was appropriate. During this time, I took it upon myself to look into the voluntary Fire Brigade a little more to gain a deeper understanding of the role that they played in the community. It is through this that I began to realise the vast history of the community of Kentlyn which intrigued me into this project even more. How could this community have such a fascinating history yet there was no collective memory of it all?
After a few (stressful) weeks, KRFB responded to me and said they would be happy to work with me, which was great! I met up with Ben, a member of KRFB and discussed my project in a little bit more detail. It was in this meeting that we arranged some further time for me to spend with KRFB to find out even more about what they do and the role that they play in the Kentlyn community. At this point in my project, I have a basic understanding of the role that KRFB plays in my community and I am excited to build on this and create an online space for the community to gain further knowledge about the great history that we share and the importance of KRFB, particularly in such a fascinating area of Campbelltown.

Our visit to the Sydney Jewish Holocaust Museum was very interesting for me as it allowed me to see the relevance of public history. It was through this experience that I realised the way that public history can provide a great space for many people to come together to recognise the past and appreciate the struggles and successes of particular people. For this reason, I am even more excited to continue working with KRFB in the aspiration that my small project may act as a piece of public history for years to come.