June 25, 2012
By Marcus Priaulx
It’s been a long journey for radio announcer Chrissy Bond … from being the only “blackfella” living in a small Victorian town to finding family in Queensland and a new life in Cherbourg.
Along the way she’s tasted life on the streets and tried drugs until she wrote her life challenges on a piece of plywood and smashed it into pieces.
She felt exhilarated.
The then 19-year-old had been adopted by white parents at birth.
At school she was pulled from classes to be taught Indigenous culture and history and wanted to know why her classmates weren’t being given the same lessons.
In fact, she wondered about a lot of things; where’d she’d come from, who her “real” parents were and who she was.
She lived in constant self-doubt. To cut a long story short, she found herself living on Melbourne’s streets by the time she was 17.
Australian professional flyweight boxing champion Henry Nissen – the son of Polish Jewish refugees – visited the dive Chrissy called home one day.
The former boxer, known as the Angel of the Street Kids, told Chrissy: “You don’t belong on the streets.”
It was pivotal moment in her life.
She’d hit rock bottom and almost died from an overdose.
Henry got her into a Break the Cycle program. She remembers it as tough wilderness survival challenges and projects to build mental confidence. This led to her smashing that piece of plywood.
After completing the program Chissy found herself a job but in the process discovered Melbourne was not really for her.
She lugged all her heavy belongings onto the footpath and left a note to say they were for the taking if people wanted them. She then packed her clothes and a camera and caught a train to Sydney.
But as soon as she stood on the platform in Sydney, Chrissy realised this city was not for her, either. She hocked her camera and used the money to buy a fare north.
In Brisbane, Chrissy got in touch with people from Queensland’s Break the Cycle program and met former Young Talent Time star Karen Knowles, one of the program’s patrons.
She took Chrissy to the Brisbane Murri radio station 4AAA for an interview where Chrissy was asked to tell her story on air.
Chrissy told the listeners her mob was from Cherbourg but she had no idea even where the town was. She soon found out …
Calls came in the following weeks and Chrissy found herself united with uncles, aunts and a blood brother and sister.
Chrissy kept visiting Cherbourg before deciding to settle there permanently in 2001.
She worked as a teacher aide in the primary school before moving to the radio station five years later.
Chrissy says Cherbourg has undergone great changes in the past 10 years.
“I went walking up to the school the other day and realised there’s now so much pride being shown,” Chrissy said.
“Pop John (Stanley) does a deadly job there keeping it tidy and the kids seem to have respect for it.”
Chrissy would now like the government to change the law so people can buy their own houses within former missions, such as Cherbourg.
Residents are currently only allowed to rent.
“It would give people pride of ownership,” she said. “They’d fix things and do their houses up. That would lead to our mob buying land and starting their own businesses.”
Chrissy wants the young to be prepared for when that day comes, or should they decide to live in other towns.
“That’s why school’s so important,” she said.
“We need our children to go to school every day so they can get the skills they need to get a good job they enjoy doing, own their own home and provide for their family.
“They’ll lead a happier life. There’s so much opportunity for our children today compared to when I was a child.
“Schools are doing everything they can to make sure our children are being prepared for a happy future.
“We just need our young and their parents to take the opportunities that are being given to them.
“They need to smash that piece of wood with their life’s challenges that sits in their heads and power on.”
