Empowering refugee mothers through books
A groundbreaking CQUniversity project is empowering refugee mothers in Toowoomba by turning their personal settlement stories into engaging bilingual books.
The project, titled Reading My Language, Your Language, led by Professor Margaret Kettle from CQUniversity’s School of Education and the Arts, was generously funded by the Scanlon Foundation through its Community Grants Program, which supports initiatives that foster social cohesion.
The project aimed to address the isolation often experienced by newly arrived refugee women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds by helping them to forge new social connections.
Building on existing relationships with Community Hubs at Darling Heights and Harlaxton State Schools, Multicultural Australia, and the Queensland Department of Education, Professor Kettle created a program to celebrate multilingualism and identity.
Professor Kettle explained that the project aimed to highlight the women’s home languages and lived experiences as the foundation for developing literacy in English
“The stories become more than just learning tools, they are a celebration of identity and a powerful bridge for cross-cultural understanding and social cohesion.
“The project brought together Arabic, Dinka and Swahili-speaking women from African countries such as Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ezidi/Kurdish Kurmanji-speaking women from Iraq,” Prof Kettle said.
“In the respective community hubs, collaborative story-writing workshops were undertaken with the women and hub coordinators (Ricky Adams – Darling Heights and Carmen Walmsley – Harlaxton) to create stories based on the interests and experiences of the women and their families.
“The Darling Heights workshops were also attended by a local author Emma McTaggart who assisted with the development of the storyline.”
Prof Kettle said the legacy of Reading My Language, Your Language extended beyond the printed page.
“By validating the languages and stories of these women, the project has not only produced invaluable educational resources, but has also fostered a profound sense of pride, authorship and community - strengthening the social fabric of Toowoomba,” Prof Kettle said.
The initiative has resulted in the publication of two unique, A4-sized bilingual storybooks, including Jamali about a boy who loves soccer.
The book explores key settlement issues, including navigating the Australian school system and reinforcing the important role of mothers in the family.
The second book, School in Iraq and Australia, looks at the differences and similarities between attending school in Iraq and Australia and carries a unifying message of ‘we are all at school to learn’.
The impact of the project is illustrated through the experiences of its participants who were deeply involved at their respective community hubs.
Participants contributed to the writing workshops, provided input on the illustrations and celebrated being named as authors on the front covers of the published books.
The project’s final phase will focus on sustainability and ongoing learning.
Class sets of the books are now being used in bilingual reading groups within the community hubs and local school classrooms.
