Arriving on Thursday, November 4, the van welcomed 40 First Nations women for a free breast screen over two days.
When the van last visited in 2019, 48 women attended for their check over a span of five days.
Rumbalara’s health and wellbeing executive manager and proud Wamba Wamba-Jarra woman Shannon Drake said it was a great effort.
“We’ve had a wonderful attendance with the breast screen van,” she said.
“Given we’ve run it a couple of cycles now, the community know that November, that’s when they (BreastScreen Victoria) are coming to Rumba, and they’re having it done.”
The visit was also part of the Beautiful Shawl Project, encouraging First Nations women to feel safe and empowered to get their check-up with BreastScreen Victoria.
This year’s shawl was designed by local Bangerang Gunditjmara artist Rebecca Atkinson and Ms Drake said it held cultural significance for the women attending.
“It certainly connects them back to a cultural reason, like a cloak, that they’re able to have that protection because culturally (cloaks) had that protection,” she said.
“For some (attending) it’s been because ‘I need it done, because that’s important to my wellbeing and my family’.
“Others, has been specifically, ‘can I come in and can I get that shawl?’”
The BreastScreen van’s visit also created social opportunities for local First Nations women to get together, Ms Drake said.
“They come to Rumbalara for that social aspect,” she said.
“So that’s that social connectivity and that’s that cultural connectivity because this is a community controlled organisation.”
Since the program was launched in 2018, the Beautiful Shawl Project has visited 16 communities and reached more than 450 First Nations women.
The initiative is in partnership with BreastScreen Victoria, and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO).
BreastScreen Victoria is scheduled to visit Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative again in November 2023.
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