GUIR'S Evolution

Front line community mental health work in Redfern, NSW is a training ground for the uninitiated. Cultures clash and boundary lines are constantly redrawn, often documented in the national media. It is a space where morality is tested and for better or worse, personal qualities are revealed. It is also a place where human restoration, reconstruction and reconnection occur, it is the birthplace of many Australian heroes, and where Gamarada and the COURAGE Coaching Model sprung into being from humble beginnings with Gamarada Universal Indigenous Resources, Managing Director - Ken Zulumovski.

Ken’s tribal name is Kira-dhan, he is a Kubbi Kubbi first nations descendent. He is also a former soldier of the Royal Australian Army and a qualified mental heath practitioner. He studied the application of Dadirri, a traditional, Indigenous contemplative practice of 'deep listening and quiet stillness' for leadership, trauma recovery, and for health and wellbeing under Tribal Elder Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumanan of the Daly River NT. Dadirri involves an experiential process of generating acute awareness to the self, the present, and the task ahead by connecting to people and country, understanding circumstantial change, seeing what bonds us, and using tools to connect deeper and to manage the moment.

In 2007, Ken applied his knowledge and experience to developing and delivering free community 'Healing and Leadership' programs to support his community-based, not-for-profit organisation, Gamarada Indigenous Healing and Life Training Ltd. Dadirri now forms the foundation of the programs that he and his team deliver to communities. Gamarada has the longest continual, non-funded community Healing and Leadership program in Australia. This community work provides a fulfilling and rewarding purpose and adds value to GUIRs core business. “its bringing a deeper sense of peace and productivity into families, classrooms, sporting clubs, workplaces and social networks”. GUIR is building cultural capacity in organisations and with individuals seeking professional or personal advancement.

In 2010 Ken founded two companies the first, Gamarada Indigenous Healing and Life Training Ltd, a not for profit organization with charity status. The objects of this company are to:

• assist Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander individuals and families (Recipients) through the direct relief of sickness, poverty, suffering, distress and helplessness;
• increase social inclusion, family cohesion and economic engagement of Recipients to relieve sickness, poverty, suffering, distress and helplessness by bringing the community together and directly addressing barriers that exist between the Recipients and the rest of the community ; and
• undertake such other steps as are necessary or incidental to further the above objects.

The second company, Gamarada Universal Indigenous Resources (GUIR) Pty Ltd, is a 100% Indigenous owned company. GUIR