ABOUT 20 of the Wimmera's Koori youth have started writing a song against smoking.
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The project was the brainchild of Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-Operative, together with Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and the Horsham Nexus Youth Centre.
Goolum Goolum tobacco awareness healthy lifestyles worker Jeremy Newell hoped the Koori Kids Social Media Program on Friday was the first of many.
"In the end, they opened up a fair bit," he said.
"We got a verse and a chorus done with the girls."
He hoped the next workshop would provide a male perspective.
"We're trying to empower the kids to say smoking's not cool," he said.
The health organisation's contractor Dylan Clarke and his sister Kathrine helped run the four-hour workshop.
"It was a really interesting learning curve for us today," he said.
"It's smoking in the home that seems to be annoying the kids more than anything else."
He said the participants' song could form part of a 15-second advertisement the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation was producing.
"The main thing for us is to try to get the kids to produce it and take ownership of it," Mr Clarke said.
The song-writing workshop coincided with NAIDOC Week celebrations.
Mr Clarke later performed as a DJ at Friday Night Live, the Wimmera's NAIDOC Week gig.
Horsham Nexus Youth Centre hosted the event.
Centre co-ordinator Alois Kniebeiss said it was the culmination of a busy two weeks.
School holiday events included a FReeZA Summit in Camperdown, a lighting workshop, a cyberbullying initiative and some chill time at Horsham Nexus.
Mr Kniebeiss said many of the events were made possible by the State Government's FReeZA and Engage! initiatives.