In My Own Words

Raw, heartfelt, sometimes painstaking but often funny, In My Own Words follows the journey of adult Aboriginal students and their teachers as they discover the transformative power of reading and writing for the first time in their lives. In Australia today between 40–65 percent of Aboriginal adults are functionally illiterate in English. But out in north west New South Wales moves are afoot to whittle away at this appalling statistic, and give hope to some of the most marginalised people in our country. Using a Cuban method called ‘Yes I Can’, a group known as the Literacy for Life Foundation are moving into towns, setting up classrooms, and offering Aboriginal men and women an opportunity to learn to read and write. And it seems there are no shortage of takers.