00:00At this graduation ceremony in Western Sydney, 12 students are being recognised for six months
00:08of hard work.
00:09I couldn't be more proud of what you've achieved.
00:13The words escape me to say how proud I am and how moved I am.
00:18They've finished up a course with the Literacy for Life Foundation, which has given them
00:22the chance to develop and improve their reading and writing skills.
00:27It's been quite a big journey for me, personally, to read and write.
00:31It's a milestone some thought they'd never reach.
00:33It improved in my reading and writing and I didn't know much about computers, laptops
00:40and phones and I learned a lot of that and it was pretty great.
00:44In 99% of the cases, the education system failed Aboriginal people miserably.
00:51So they're brave enough to come back in and trust us enough to say, let's have another
00:57go.
00:58For Maxine, the lessons were a chance to revisit the basics in a supportive environment.
01:03Sometimes you're in a class where, oh, I didn't really understand that, but I'm embarrassed
01:08to ask, but here I wasn't.
01:11Literacy for Life is community led.
01:14Recruitment happens mainly through word of mouth.
01:17Having lots of yarns and cuppers and just making sure everyone has a full understanding
01:23of what Literacy for Life represents and how it benefits us as a community.
01:29The facilitators are local residents who understand the needs of participants.
01:34We come out, work with the community to do the work themselves, so we train local people
01:40that can read and write to teach the rest of the community.
01:43Learning, it seems, just as rewarding as learning.
01:46It makes me get up every day, you know, seeing the smiles on the faces of the students, walking
01:52away feeling successful, knowing that I've did a good job for someone.
01:57Reading and writing is only part of the curriculum.
02:00Navigating online spaces is also a key focus.
02:04After the full week of digital literacy, a couple of the students come to me and said,
02:09guess what, Mel?
02:10And I said, what?
02:11I can open an email.
02:12I know how to type in Google.
02:15Literacy for Life uses a model called Yes I Can, or Yo Si Puedo, which was developed
02:21in Cuba back in the 1960s.
02:23Over the 12 years it's been running here in Australia, more than 460 people have graduated,
02:29which is a much higher completion rate than similar government programs.
02:33Along with increased literacy skills, these grads are walking away with a sense of possibility
02:38and renewed self-confidence.
02:40Doing the courses give me a lot of confidence and I'm not afraid to speak up and yeah.
02:51This was the first Literacy for Life course in Mount Druitt, and it's been such a success,
02:56the next one starts in just a few weeks' time.
02:58I've already, you know, got a few people out there that are going to come and do this,
03:03ladies that I've known from my group from years ago and they're looking forward to it.
03:09It's the best thing I've ever been involved in in my life, and I say that without any
03:13fear of contradiction.
03:15Ringing endorsements all round.
03:17Ruby Cornish, ABC News.
Comments