Achieving amazing things every day

NAIDOC Week celebrations will be in full swing at Aboriginalled and Shepparton-based charity Ganbina next week.

However the celebrations won’t be wrapping up on July 10, with Ganbina continuing to celebrate local Aboriginal children and youth achievements throughout the year through its Aboriginal school-to-work transition program JOBS4U2.

“For us celebrating these achievements is really every week,” Ganbina chief executive Anthony Cavanagh said.

Ganbina was established in Shepparton in 1997 and is world-renowned for its highly successful Aboriginal schoolto-work transition program JOBS4U2.

The program supports Aboriginal children and youth in the Goulburn Valley from the ages of five until 25 years old with a suite of programs to help participants remain in mainstream education and successfully transition to the workforce.

Anthony said one of the keys to the model’s success was its embodiment of culture and emphasis on developing a sense of safe cultural connection in its participants.

“All of our programs look for opportunities where we can teach our kids about culture,” he said.

“In our Accelerated Learning program, for example, in addition to the English and maths support we conduct cultural yarning sessions, which is about storytelling.”

Anthony said there were several reasons for this, with extensive research confirming the benefits of instilling a sense of cultural identity in Indigenous children and youth.

Ganbina also celebrates Aboriginal youth achievement with its annual Ganbina Youth Achievement Awards, which recognise success in education, training and employment.

Former Ganbina participant Lena-Jean Charles-Loffel, who is today the Head of Impact at Clothing the Gaps Foundation and the first Ganbina participant to obtain a Masters degree, said the awards night was a highlight of her time as a Ganbina participant.

“When you’re an Aboriginal kid, you’re constantly hearing about how we’re not doing enough,” Lena-Jean said.

“It (the awards night) allowed you to give yourself a pat on the back and other Aboriginal students a pat on the back as well.

“The Ganbina awards provides the space to celebrate that in fact we are doing a lot. It made you feel inspired and motivates you to achieve and do more things in your education and career.”

While NAIDOC Week is an integral feature on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander calendar, Anthony believes we need to remember that Aboriginal people are achieving amazing things every day.

“NAIDOC Week is wonderful, but let’s remember to celebrate what Aboriginal people, particularly our youth, are achieving not just at this time of the year, but every week of every year,” he said.