Initiative
Kulila! ("listen, think and understand") language app supporting Anangu people.
Overview
Senior Anangu women from cross-border communities of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) region in Central Australia embraced new technology to develop the 'Kulila!' language app. The app records and translates health and medical terms into Pitjantjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra and English.
Traditional healers and interpreters use the language app like a virtual dictionary to record and translate the local Aboriginal languages and help people explain their emotions and health issues using audio, text and images.
Benefits
The app crosses the language barrier for more than 6,000 people in the remote NPY lands by helping them connect with health workers who provide mental health and suicide prevention services in the region.
Valuable community services can be delivered by partnering age-old healing knowledge with modern digital technology. The app also helps to protect the ancient languages spoken across the NPY region for future