Pama language Centre has embarked on an important initiative to enhance health education in Cape York communities by developing multilingual “Language for Life” posters and interactive flipbooks, aimed at raising awareness about health conditions, prevention, treatments, wellbeing and healthy living.
Pama Language Centre emphasises the intrinsic connection between language and health, drawing attention to the fact that language security is essential to overall health for First Nations peoples.
Aunty Phyllis, an esteemed Wik Mungkan language expert and accredited interpreter, recently travelled from Aurukun down to Cairns to collaborate with Ngak Min Health and Pama Language Centre.
Aunty Phyllis was keen to highlight the specific health needs and wellbeing of her community, including the importance of understanding medications and health conditions in one’s own language.
“Understanding the medication you take is crucial. All the medication I take helps me stay healthy and alive,” she said.
She believes that translating health information into ancestral languages will greatly benefit her community, where English is not the first language.
“We want the young ones to understand what Ngak Min Health is all about, that is an organisation that looks after families in Cape York,” she said.
During the workshops, Aunty Phyllis also spoke about how Ngak Min Health’s name is actually in the Wik Mungkan language. The term “Ngak Min” translates to “good water” however, given the organisation’s mission, she suggested that the name “Ngangk Min”, meaning “good heart”, would work as well.
The multilingual “Language for Life” poster series will be initially launched within the Wik Mungkan language community in Aurukun but plans are underway to expand this initiative to other Cape York speech communities, including Guugu Yimidhirr, Mpakwithi, Injinoo Ikya, and Kokoberra.
This collaboration marks a vital step in ensuring that health education is accessible and culturally relevant, promoting better health outcomes for Cape York communities.