KCP - Catholic Diocese of Broome

"I was born in Broome in 1950 at the Native Hospital, also known as the Back Hospital. The Front Hospital was for the whites and the Back Hospital for the blacks. I first lived at the Morgan divers' camp which was on the foreshore of Roebuck Bay. My mother later worked as a domestic nanny to a pearling master and lived in the servants' quarters out the back of the house.
My mother was a very devout Catholic and was a very strict and pious woman who worked down at the Church. It was the same for the other Aboriginal women who worked for the Church, especially those who had grown up in the missions like Auntie Liz Puertollano".
At some time, Baamba was brought up on Kennedy Hill and the Kennedy divers' quarters in Dampier Terrace and went to school at St. Mary's in Broome.
"It was a very caring society that I grew up in. I was the altar boy to Father Kevin McKelson and Father was one of the people to teach me basketball. I went to church just about every day."
After attending high school in Rossmoyne, Perth, Baamba started an apprenticeship in 1965 as a diesel mechanic in Perth. Music came naturally to Baamba and this led to him travelling around Australia in 1971 while working in various jobs in the Northern Territory and Queensland. He finally moved into tertiary education which led to a senior appointment in Aboriginal education in Canberra. He was instrumental in redressing the teacher ratios in Aboriginal schools and the establishment of two university campuses in Broome.
When Baamba returned to Broome in 1980 he had been away for nearly twenty years. He never ceased in the quest to assist his people and was involved in establishing a number of community organisations utilising the skills he had acquired working in government.
"In 1990 I joined up with 'Bran Nue Dae' written by Jimmy Chi and then 'Corrugation Road' another musical by Jimmy".
Baamba now works on community projects, runs tours of Chinatown and works with Mark Bin Bakar (Mary G) touring nationally and internationally.
"I've been lucky enough to be involved in the transition from when we were at the bottom of the heap to now where I can see my own people getting involved in different industries.