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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- A second group of Aboriginal Australians have learned to read and write in their own language with the Cuban literacy method Yes, I can, in the town of Wilcannia, in New South Wales, the same state where Canberra, the capital, is located.

The graduation ceremony gathered about 80 people, among which were those who just graduated and others that had done previously, with advice from experts from Cuba, Prensa Latina news agency reported.

Local authorities and parliamentarians who spoke at the event expressed admiration for the system used, given its contribution to improving the social conditions of the community, and advocated for extending the experience to other places of similar cultural background, and continue the educational process to higher levels .

Pedro Monzón, Cuban ambassador to Australia, presented certificates of apprenticeship to graduates, who read written words of praise for themselves, and at the same time thanked Cuba and offered a warm farewell to adviser José Chala, who concluded a year of work in the Aboriginal community.

According to Prensa Latina, this renowned teaching program, designed to suit the most diverse cultures and languages, had its first positive results in the same Wilcannia settlement, where 10 Aboriginal adults became literate in May this year.

At that time Jack Beetson, national leader of the native ethnic group, said that 50 to 60 percent of the Aboriginal population are functionally illiterate, hence the importance for these courses to be extended to other settlements of its kind in Australia, where there are about 400 ethnic groups and hundreds of languages.

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David K. Evans:

I find this very interesting and would like very much to know more about this Cuban method and whether it will apply to aboriginal languages in Central America where I work much of the time.

All the best...D.K.Evans, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology,
Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem,N.C., USA, and Owner and Director of "The Overseas Research Center- LLC.,
Ruby Lee Ridge, Roatan Island, Honduras, C.Am.

Bernadette Shiels:

A similar program could help Haiti a lot. Can you send me more info.