Gayangwa Lalara: ‘My family are from Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory. There is a sickness in our family – it is called Machado Joseph Disease (MJD). It is a bad sickness that makes our bodies stop working properly and we pass it on to our children. It is coming to the children earlier than the parents. It takes away our talking and our walking and makes everything very hard. We need help to do every little thing. It does not hurt our thinking though. We can still think very well. It makes us very sad but our family stays strong to help each other.’