One school excited about Indigenous Literacy Day is travelling over 3,000km from the Spinifex Country to Sydney to be part of the national celebration. A small group of students and teachers from Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School have a lengthy journey ahead of them on Sunday, a 700km drive through the desert to Uluru before boarding a plane and then a 3-hour flight to Sydney. The Indigenous children from Tjuntjuntjara are eagerly anticipating their weeklong stay in Sydney. For many of them, this will be their first experience of a big city.
The highlight of the trip will be on 4 September when the students take part in the Indigenous Literacy Day event at the Opera House. They will be performing a song they wrote about the book How Does Your Garden Grow? which was published by our Foundation at the start of this year. With the support of our ambassadors, the children will also share stories of their experiences, knowledge, interest and love of their community garden.
The trip to Sydney will also allow the children to be reunited with young Melbourne schoolboy Lachie Coman and his family. They first met Lachie back in 2011, when he travelled out to the remote community. How Does Your Garden Grow? was the result of Lachie’s journey and experiences in Tjuntjuntjara community.
“I found out that vegies aren’t the only things that grow in gardens. Friendships can grow in gardens, too”
Lachie Coman, How Does Your Garden Grow