The Long Walk 2013 cultural exchange program is currently underway with four students from North West Metropolitan Melbourne and two supervisors visiting the Northern Territory.

This year The Long Walk aligned the program to support Essendon Football Club’s Indigenous programs combining two key relationships the club has with the Tiwi community and the community of North West metropolitan Melbourne.

The aim of the exchange program is for the two communities to share their cultural experiences and stories.

After leaving on Monday the group has spent time touring Darwin, visiting the Tiwi Island including students at Tiwi Collge and a visit to Litchfield National Park.

While in Tiwi the cultural exchange from the North West Metro Melbourne students took place in the form of presenting The Long Walk’s school program Walk the Talk at Tiwi College.

Walk the Talk tells the story of Michael Long’s walk to Canberra to get the lives o Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people back on the national agenda.

The program introduces Aboriginal studies into the classroom while encouraging students to create change.

Students are encouraged to tell their own story through the presentation, as a way to promote their identity and cultural knowledge.

Essendon Football Club and The Long Walk continues to be proud of its relationship with the Tiwi community and its growing relationship with the community within North West metropolitan Melbourne.