Ray Jounto did not get an easy start in life. His father died when he was six. His widowed mother couldn’t afford school fees so he never went to formal school. He grew up in the remote coastal village of Wasaka in far north Vanuatu, choosing the only livelihood that was available: fishing.

Today Ray is 37 years old. His life has changed. He joined his first adult literacy and numeracy class in 2015 and has been attending classes intermittently since then. The classes are run by ABM AID’s partner in Vanuatu, the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACOM). Actually, ACOM just provides teacher training and resources to a literate member of the community and that person voluntarily runs the classes.

When Ray first learned to write, he posted letters to his mother, who had moved to another town in Vanuatu. Soon he was sending text messages by mobile phone. He was even able to help his three children with their homework. Ray gave an example where one of his children was given a list of written words ‘like watermelon’ and had to match these with the correct pictures.

But Ray didn’t stop learning. Four years ago, Ray joined a two-week course in carpentry, also run by ACOM. He already had enough numeracy skills to understand the part about measuring centimetres. He applied his new skills by building his own house. Then he started getting carpentry contracts right around his island (Vanualava Island).

Ray smiles:

When I was illiterate, I felt left out. I felt I was no use to my community. But I learned to read, write and count. I can read the Bible in church. I was assistant foreman to build a new church in Wasaka. Now my community views me as a resource person.

ABM AID acknowledges ACOM and community volunteers for implementing this literacy and numeracy initiative in Vanuatu. And we thank Australian Aid for financially supporting the initiative.