Our Dubbo Opportunity Hub — DHUB team has been working together with Dubbo South Public School and their cultural team this term to help young girls build positive relationships and support their Identity Journeys as First Nations Women through SistaSpeak.  

The SistaSpeak program aims to strengthen the mindset of young girls, teaching them skills such as resilience, expression, and self-care. Through weekly visits to the school over since the start of this year’s program, the team at DHUB gave students a space to explore important issues and discuss how to overcome them. The team are building up a strong rapport with the students throughout the weeks while they currently create art projects for this term. 

The program is designed to assist girls in developing positive relationships, teaching them to respect themselves and others around them and be proud of their Aboriginal identity. SistaSpeak is an incredible program that can be personalised at each school to zone in on the unique needs of each school and student. 

DHUB is working alongside the cultural team at the school, who deliver this valuable and culturally appropriate resource to support strengthening cultural identity amongst Aboriginal girls in years 5 – 12. It has been a wonderful experience to assist with the Friday sessions and get to know the students. 

DHUB Coordinator Kiara recently helped the Sistas participate in a session with Spear & Arrow around friendships and peer pressure. The girls learned the value of friendship and the importance of confidence in facing peer pressure. 

“I’m proud to be encouraging the students to participate with other community programs that help them grow and evolve,” Kiara said. 

“Watching the girls become more confident within themselves, create bonds with one another and understand the importance of respect, responsibilities and personal growth is exactly why I joined the DHUB team at Bamara.  

“These young girls are helping remove the stigma of being ‘shame’ and are learning to find their voices, let down their walls and become open and vulnerable to overcome barriers and be proud of their individual strengths and not be embarrassed to address hurdles in their lives and reach out for help.” 

Throughout these sessions, engaging the girls in activities opened a safe space to discuss issues they were facing and start the journey toward building their resilience.  

This term saw incredible growth for the SistaSpeak participants, and DHUB is looking forward to continuing the program at Dubbo South Public School next term. 

DHUB would like to acknowledge the hard work that is put into these weekly sessions by Miss Kent, Deb Morrow, and Kylie Crawford.

Without their sincere passion to break the cycle of the past and give these girls this wonderful opportunity, this program would not be as successful as it is. Kiara looks forward to continuing to watch these girls grow both individually and together as Sistas not only over the next few terms but throughout their transition into high school and for our younger Sista’s watching them become role models for those who will follow in their footsteps.  

To Miss Kent, Deb, and Kylie, the DHUB team cannot thank you enough for supporting and engaging the Sistas through your tireless hard work, passion and commitment and we thank you for giving the DHUB staff the opportunity to assist. 

Connect with our DHUB team

As part of the NSW Government’s OCHRE initiative (Opportunity, Choice, Healing, Responsibility, Empowerment), Bamara leads the work of the Dubbo Opportunity Hub (DHUB), a program for Aboriginal students in Dubbo and Wellington focusing on transitioning from education to careers and employment.

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