Read For Life

Read For Life Logo

Australian author, Dr Kathryn Fox aims to increase the life expectancy of Indigenous communities with one tool – a book. For every year you increase a teenage mother’s reading age, it is possible to increase the life expectancy of her child by up to four years.

“One person can make a real difference. We are facing extinction of the oldest continuous culture on our planet, for the cost of a book. Something had to be done” … Kathryn Fox

THE FACTS:
• Australian Indigenous people have a life expectancy 20 years less than other Australians.
• In remote communities, literacy rates are as low as 7%.
• These children are: 4 X more likely to die in the first year, have 1 in 2 chance of diabetes and are up to 24 times risk of being raped.
• Australia has the world’s highest death rate from acute rheumatic fever. A simple antibiotic is the treatment, but if a mother cannot read, she can’t follow simple instructions on the medicine bottle,
• Sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse are endemic in indigenous communities, in which unemployment rates can be 100%
• Up to 80% of kids in these areas suffer from chronic ‘glue ear’, a complication of middle ear infection. Untreated, it can delay speech and development and cause permanent hearing loss.

THE SOLUTION:
Create a culture of books, and introduce a world of hope and opportunities

Kathryn started the “Read for Life” project as a way of introducing books and reading to young mothers and children in these communities where books are scarce or non-existent. Books are collected from schools in the cities and urban areas of Australia, donated by publishers and booksellers, and transported to the remote communities where they are distributed by a network of community health and education workers. Thousands of books have been put into children’s hands by giving them away to homes, pregnant women, mother’s groups, health clinics and even pubs (where children often wait for their parents). Experience shows that each book is read by up to 7 other people.

Illiterate mothers are now picking up books to “read” to their kids. They are learning with their children and a change in culture can begin. The program’s slogan is simply: “Look, Talk and turn”. Look at the pictures (and words), talk about what you see and then turn the page. Literacy and education can empower these girls and their children to help stop the endemic sexual violence and chronic health problems in these communities.

The next stage of the project will be to encourage children and their mothers to write their own books – to draw pictures and tell a story. These personal books give the child ownership of their own special, culturally relevant story. This is an incredibility effective and fun way to encourage reading.

This project is not only tackling literacy and health problems but is also building bridges between city and rural communities. Government agencies told her it was too difficult to do, but it only takes one person with a good idea to change lives for the better.

Read For Life Stewart House Thank You Certificate