July 22, 2015
An effort to build a reading culture within Cherbourg and its surrounding towns was given a huge boost during NAIDOC week.
The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation (ALF) provided more than 2000 books to be given out during the Queensland town’s cultural celebratory day on Tuesday, July 8.
Outgoing Barambah Parental and Community Engagement (PaCE) coordinator Marcus Priaulx provided a stall for people to collect the stories and said they were a huge hit.
“We had books for all ages and children, parents, nans, pops, educators and day care centres collected them,” he said.
“I couldn’t have thought of a better way to finish the PaCE programme.”
This is because the program’s government funding has come to an end.
Marcus said the program had made a huge difference during the years he had been working in the town.
Its aim was to build an education culture so every parent sent every child to school every day.
Record graduation results have brought the Year 12 “gap” down to almost zero within the Cherbourg-Murgon district during the past two years.
And many of the students assisted by PaCE have since gone on to university, apprenticeships, employment and further training.
“Everybody from struggling mums and dads to Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss got on board to make a difference,” Marcus said.
“We were building a great partnership with the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation and it’s been amazing with its support.
“I truly believe something as simple as having parents read to their babies and children for fifteen minutes or more a day is the key to solving a huge amount of social problems that cause family misery and millions of dollars in costs down the track.”
Marcus said about 300 books remained at the end of Cherbourg’s NAIDOC celebrations and Building Strong Families founder, Nancy Bowie, took them to Brisbane’s NAIDOC festivities at Musgrave Park, which were held on July 10.
Kobo Readers, which allow people to download books, also remained and these would be given to local schools for class resources or handed to students they believed would benefit most from them.
Marcus thanked the ALF for the generous donations and the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council for its tower of support and guidance.
“From what I’ve been told, Barambah PaCE has provided many people with greater opportunities for their future,” he said.
“That couldn’t have happened without everybody getting on board the effort to make a difference.”
[Photos: Marcus Priaulx]
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