‘WE’RE DANCING TO MAKE IT RAIN!’
These primary school students have come up with a plan to help bust the dust in their drought-stricken town
Disappointed faces gazed up at teacher Emma Wilson as she broke the news. “Sorry, we’ve got to stay inside today,” she told her class.
A dust storm rages at least once a week at their primary school in Trangie, NSW, turning the ground red. “It doesn’t seem like a big impact of the drought but to a kid it is,” says Emma.
It’s not the only struggle her Year 5 and 6 students have faced. “Most of the kids come from farming families and have had to help out a lot more at home,” explains Emma. “One little girl told me she won’t be asking her parents for the Christmas presents she’d like because she knows they can’t afford it.”
Despite the hardships they’re facing, Emma’s students wanted to help those also affected by drought. “We couldn’t ask people around here to donate money, because they’re the ones who need it,” says Emma,
28. “So the kids decided to try raising spirits instead.”
After listening to the song Raindance by Sara Storer, they had an idea to perform their own rain dance to cheer people up. They came up with the hashtag #bustthedust and filmed a video to post on Facebook, inviting other schools in the area to join them.
“We posted the video and it went viral – more than 100 schools had messaged wanting get involved,” says Emma.
On December 13, the students of St John’s Parish School in Trangie will dance up a storm hoping to break the dry spell. And even if it doesn’t rain just yet, they’re still overjoyed by the support that’s been flooding in.