Puuya Foundation supports next generation of First Nations leaders
A community program in the Lockhart River is successfully helping First Nations children and their families improve their engagement with schooling.
The Puuya Foundation are helping young First Nations people attend and engage with school. Puuya are supporting students to successfully transition to boarding school via their Strengthening Our Next Generation (SONG) program in the community of Lockhart River, Cape York (QLD). For many communities, no access to secondary schooling means young people have travel to boarding school to continue their educational journey.
The name Puuya means strength or life force in the local Kuuku Ya’u language, and this meaning is at the heart of Puuya’s engagement with community and the programs they offer.
Puuya is a family and community hub for the social programs in the local community. Emily Schuh, Puuya’s CEO shares that the Puuya Foundation has a focus on the early years, providing family support and supporting youth.
Puuya offer a range of before and after school activities to assist students most in need. Emily shares, “Our programs are after school, because we don’t want the programs during school because we want the children to stay there”
“We are strengthening our next generation through education so that they can become community leaders, family leaders and cultural leaders”
Photo: Students undertaking the Puuya Foundation's activities on Country
Among the activities enjoyed most by the children Puuya engages with are the activities on Country, connecting with culture and being outside, while learning and spending time with other kids and community members.
The Puuya approach focuses on creating the right conditions for community to flourish, which in turn drives long-term community success. This unique model has united local, Federal and state governments with corporate and philanthropic partners, supporting Puuya in facilitating dedicated capacity-building activities.
Involving parents and families in the program was a priority for Puuya to ensure students could succeed with their schooling.
Ashton O’Driscoll, teacher at the Lockhart River school shares, “It’s being run by people in the community from the community. It’s not just the kids who are succeeding. It’s the families and in turn the whole community.”
More children are going to school because of the program and retention rates of the children attending the boarding school remain high. It is a valued program by the community for the impact the program is having on the children and Puuya’s community centred approach.
The SONG program is funded under the Education Engagement and Attainment Initiatives (EEAI) funded by the National Indigenous Australian’s Agency.
More information
For more information on the EEAI visit: Education Engagement and Attainment Initiatives (EEAI) | NIAA.