ABOUT US
The Rainbow Serpent Foundation was created in 2001 by Gerald Fitzgerald. Gerald and his friends wanted to help Indigenous children around Australia to achieve a better education. The idea of creating this foundation started when Gerald and his friends were doing humanitarian work in an Indigenous community in North Australia. Gerald was working with Indigenous children who were not receiving an education. The name of the organisation came to Gerald after he heard the Aboriginal Dreamtime story about The Rainbow Serpent. In this story, a giant rainbow snake wakes up from its slumber and goes out into the barren earth. The earth had no trees or animals or anything except for this snake. One day, the snake got bored and called out for the frogs. Then, a small group of frogs emerged from a cave and the snake tickled their bellies until they laughed out all the water they had stored in their stomachs. This torrent of water caused plants to grow all over the earth and the snake felt very proud of what it had accomplished. The story goes on and the snake uses various animals to create the earth as a fair place. Then, all the animals that helped the snake create the world were rewarded by being turned into the first humans. These humans were promised that their land would never be taken away from them and so they believed this for thousands of years.
Gerald decided to call his organisation The Rainbow Serpent Foundation as the snake in the story created a perfect world in which all animals are treated equally. These animals, once turned into humans, lived together as equals. They taught each other and helped one-another whenever they needed help.
Gerald sadly died in 2012 when he was bitten by an Coastal Taipan while working in an Indigenous community in Western Australia. However, his legacy continued on in the hearts of The Rainbow Serpent Foundation members.
Created by Dominic Nisbet, 10GEO