Photo courtesy of Mildura Rural City Council.

SuniTAFE Creative Design students teamed up with Mildura Rural City Council to participate in the Bilingual Storybook Project, which was launched at Mildura Arts Centre last night.

The Project saw students work with authors and translators to illustrate and design children’s storybooks which tell stories of home and community within the Mildura region.  

SuniTAFE students contributed to eight of the Project’s eleven books, all of which have been translated into several languages common to the region including Arabic, Punjabi, Dari, Kirundi, Filipino, and Uyghur.

SuniTAFE Education Delivery Manager, Creative Design Sophie Cook was thrilled to participate in this project.
“When Mildura Rural City Council Diversity Inclusion Officer Claire Galvin approached us about the Project, we grabbed it with both hands,” Sophie said. 

“It gave the students a really good opportunity to be a part of something bigger and with some really valuable outcomes, plus they got to work with different community groups and understand their experiences.
“Creative projects are a great vehicle for bringing people together.”

While the Project is an important expression of Mildura’s diversity, it was also a valuable professional endeavour for the students.

“Right from the beginning, the students interviewed Claire as the client to establish what the project needs, the time frames, the budget, and any special requests,” Sophie said.

“From that consultation, the students built their own project brief and worked on it like they would if they were employed in industry.

“A hard copy children’s book is something they probably wouldn’t do every day in industry so not only is it quite special for them to have this keepsake, but it is really great for their portfolio.”

SuniTAFE Chief Executive Officer Brett Millington was in attendance at last night’s official launch.

“It’s fantastic that our students have been able to contribute to such a worthwhile project,” Mr Millington said.
“Not only have they had a chance to showcase the skills that they have developed, but also to celebrate the diversity of cultures that we get to experience in our region.

“It’s also a great chance to advertise the great courses we offer here at SuniTAFE and that young people can pursue a career in Creative Design right here in Mildura.”

The bilingual storybooks will be available for download via Mildura Rural City Council’s website, as well as audio books.

Limited hard copies will also be supplied to schools and government organisations. 

SuniTAFE’s Creative Design courses can be found by clicking here. 

The digital versions of the storybooks can be accessed here.