This is ashamedly a very long overdue post. I’ve been an ambassador to the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation’s Wall of Hands program for two years. I’ve posed for the photos, I’ve said I’d be all hands on deck (so to speak; the campaign uses a raised hand as their motif) and I’ve failed to properly rally the troupes (that’s all you guys) to get involved and give a shit about this issue.
This issue being that way too many Aboriginal kids are missing out on a decent start. This is something you should know:
one in five children in remote Indigenous communities can’t read and write at the minimum standard
We can be all jingoistic about the Aussie ethos and our fair go heritage, blah, blah, blah….Or we can face the facts. These kind of statistics are disgraceful and reflect 100% on us. There. Said.
The ALNF, then, is working with Indigenous communities and schools around Australia to turn these statistics around. Their specialised programs are making a real difference and transforming lives in places few of us have ever visited: Tennant Creek, Mungkarta, Elliott and Ali-Curung.. For example – the ALNF recently launched