Liz Ruttley & Ronita Ruttley

Liz: I moved to Minto in 1981. I moved from La Perouse. We moved into a Department of Housing place. It was scary at first. It was just me and my five children. The biggest difficulty in those days was being alone and not knowing anyone. Having good neighbours helped. Since then, Minto has got bigger. It’s not as safe as it used to be, with the crime and violence.

My children went to different schools including Campbellfields Public School, Sarah Redfern Public School and Sarah Redfern High. The low point for my children living in Minto is when we had the home invasion. Being together is our positive.

I work at Campbellfields Public School as an Aboriginal Education Assistant. I am happy my children stayed close to me and didn’t move too far away after they got married, my children and grandchildren. My family are the most important people to me.

I hope the community stays the same, as one big happy family. I will miss the people of Minto. They become like your family.

Ronita: We moved from La Perouse when we got our first house at Minto. I was only four years old so I can’t remember much about this time. What I know is the population has got bigger and the crime and violence has increased over the years.

The neighbours are pretty good. They look after your house when you go away. I’ve been to TAFE and got some certificates. I went to Year 10 in high school and I’ve done some work, for example, tutoring at Campbellfields Public School with Aboriginal kids.

The most important thing that has happened to me in Minto is, I had my daughter here. My family and my daughter are the most treasured things in my life because I like to be close to my family. I would like to see my daughter do well.

I have hopes that everything will go well in the future. It’s the people who make Minto so if I had to leave, I would miss the people.