PHOTO: Campaign Project Officer Gail Turnbull with Yes I Can graduates Phemise (BJ) Jones and John Murphy showing the petition they’re asking people to sign to keep the Literacy for Life campaign going in Coonamble.
Staff of the Literacy for Life Foundation in Coonamble say they were gutted to learn that funding has not been secured for the coming year.
“We found out last month,” said Campaign Project Officer Gail Turnbull. “Our management said they were still looking for funding but didn’t want to give us, or the community, false hope.”
The Indigenous adult literacy program arrived in Coonamble in 2022, conducting a comprehensive household survey to assess the need and interest, before kicking off what was meant to be a long term campaign in February 2023.
“From that survey we know there are 255 people who said they need this support,” Ms Turnbull said. “That’s across 215 households.”
So far 29 adults have graduated from the program, with more indicating they’re hoping to join in.
“Having large numbers is just not going to happen straight away,” says Gail.
“It’s a trust thing for any organisation to start any new program.
“A lot of people will sit back and watch for a while before they decide they want to do it.
“We’ve been here, we’ve proven ourselves but we’ve hardly touched the surface.
“You can see the transformation, that’s why we want to be here for the people in the community.
“It’s heartwarming really, you can see the change in people.
“When things start and stop like this our community feels they’ve been set up to fail, over and over again.
“We know we need these programs.”
Two of the participants, Phemise (BJ) Jones and John Murphy, say it’s made a big difference in their lives.
“Since I’ve been here it’s been very very good,” said BJ, who is 65 and joined the campaign throughout 2024.
“These people have helped me and I’ve learned how to use a phone and write sentences which I’ve never done before.
“Being here among other people, you have fun, you enjoy learning.
“It can help you get a job or get a licence, and just better yourself down the track.”
“It should go for another five years.
“I’m learning computers now which is something I’ve never done, now I can google, text, read maps, take selfies – it’s fantastic.
“If you’ve got local people here that encourages other people to come if you’ve got someone you know.
“It’s the best thing I’ve done since I left school.”
John Murphy, now 56, says he joined because he wanted to learn computers and improve his handwriting.
“I went to pretty good schools in Newcastle but I didn’t know how to turn a computer on and I was ashamed of my handwriting.
“I wanted to get better.
“I can write but I’d write a whole page without a full stop or a capital.
“I’ve learned all that, and I’m happy with my printing, my running writing is okay if I take my time.
“I enjoyed coming here, they made it learnable.
“You couldn’t wait to come in and you didn’t want to go home, a bit different to school.
“I had two great semesters.”
John believes that the campaign could help get teenagers back into learning and back to school.
“Everyone is streetwise but writing is something different,” he said.
“There’s a lot of people in the same boat. They don’t know how to fill a form in and if something is needed they have to get someone else to do it.
“I was ashamed to sign my own name, now I can go to a funeral and sign my name.
“It’s a great thing, people are just too ashamed to come but when they do come they like it.
“This town needs it, it’s really important.
“You can’t have someone from out of town because they don’t know how to talk to us.”
Professor Jack Beetson, who leads Literacy for Life, says he wants the community to know they will continue to fight for funding to continue, and is still speaking with state and federal governments.
“It’s disappointing for that community. It took a long time to get it over the line,” he said.
“We are already starting to see these signs of change.
“That’s why it’s just a real shame to cut the throat of a campaign that’s going well.
“They’re called campaigns because you’ve got to work at it over time.
“The whole point of it is to turn a community with low English literacy into a community that values learning.
“There’s not a shred of evidence anywhere in the world that says you can do this quickly.”
The Literacy for Life campaign has several components and stages.
Ms Turnbull says the ‘socialisation and mobilisation’ goes year-round, the Yes I Can classes run in blocks of six weeks, followed by the Everyday Literacy phase which shows people additional literacy life skills, from how to read a recipe or the map app on a mobile phone, to applying for a TAFE course.
The Yes I Can lessons are certified under the Australian Core Skills Framework and 70 per cent attendance is compulsory across the four-day-a-week program.
“The model is to observe, listen, repeat every day,” Ms Turnbull said.
“That repetition is what makes a difference when you’re retraining an adult brain.
“Because it’s Aboriginal run with local Aboriginal facilitators they’re in a place that feels safe and comfortable, and because they’ve helped set it up and they make the rules, it’s their place.
“This is now seen to be a neutral environment for everybody.”
The staff in Coonamble have now launched a petition, which is rapidly gathering signatures, and will be collecting expressions of interest from Indigenous adults that they hope will show the need and interest across the community.
But with funds set to expire in December, time is running out.
“I just really hope to find the funding,” Mr Beetson said.
“If we didn’t have those people there in town doing all the extra stuff they do to encourage people, it just wouldn’t work.”