Kia’s local school in her home town of Wujal Wujal had just 41 students. Her teachers there describe her as kind, smart and beautifully-mannered with a lot of potential.
But there wasn’t an opportunity for her to continue her studies outside of Wujal Wujal. Until now.
50% of Indigenous students in remote Indigenous communities do not complete secondary school and in more remote regions, have no access to secondary schooling locally.
Kia and 24 other brave girls made a huge move from their homes to Townsville for secondary school. All these girls, aged between 12 and 17 years old, are from isolated and disadvantaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Together with our partner NRL Cowboys House in Townsville, we are doing everything we can to make sure these girls have the resources they need to unleash their full potential. The doors to the Girls Campus opened in January 2019 to welcome these 25 young girls with supported accommodation and free tutoring at the Variety Learning Centre.
While government funding covers the girls’ school fees, there is no government funding for their back-to-school basics like shoes, uniforms and books. Variety supporters rallied to provide Kia (and 24 other girls like her from remote Indigenous communities) with school shoes, books, uniforms and other essentials to prepare her for secondary school.