The Jannawi Kids were used to educate and entertain a wide variety of audiences about the importance of preventing child abuse, neglect and domestic violence. The puppets were initiated in the early 1990’s by Jannawi’s former Director Chris Burke and made by Shelley Moses with financial assistance from Canterbury City Council, NSW Child Protection Council, Wirringa Baya, Department for Women and the Eunice Denham Estate.
They featured in the resource kits- Change Could Come and Creating the Future, and appeared at various events including conferences in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Following Chris Burke’s resignation as Director in February, 2004, a decision was made to focus on a different direction for Jannawi. The Board of Management with the support of staff made a difficult decision to discontinue the use of the puppets in November, 2005. This was based on the fact that they were rarely involved in direct work with children and families, and whilst we acknowledge the significant role they had to play in raising awareness of the impact of domestic violence on children, they took a significant amount of resources from our direct service delivery. They also contributed to a strong public perception of Jannawi which was not representative of the work we did on a daily basis.
The remaining kits are no longer sold by Jannawi, however they can be purchased from:
Gracie Productions
Phone/Fax: 02 9555 4030
Email: chrisburke@gracieproductions.com.au