Anyone who has done FIFO or DIDO probably has countless stories about their camp experiences. Equally positive and negative I am sure.
Having spent over a decade doing FIFO myself I was recently reflecting in a discussion, with a new graduate on what my experiences were like.
The old days of construction camps with shoe box sized rooms and shared bathroom facilities, open showers and toilets that made an Indonesian prison look like a 5 star hotel, are for the most part a distant memory.
Regardless of the facilities, or maybe because of them, FIFO jobs can be some of the best roles you could do. Why? One word – Community.
The best jobs are where a community existed on and off site. Where people interacted with each other, touch footy was a weekly event and Hash House Harriers were a part of every mine community across the country.
When I hear the current about how FIFO is destroying lives, it saddens me to think of what camps could be like again if people invested themselves into their camp community.
Time to put down the iPhone, switch off Facebook and go cold turkey on TV for just a couple of hours a week and create or join a community at your FIFO site. Trust me it will change the way you think about camp life.
Written by Simon Cohn (Managing Director)