Australian journalist Jennifer Byrne is backing the Anglican Board of Mission's efforts to raise the level of women's literacy in Papua New Guinea.

Ms Byrne has returned from a ten-day trip to PNG to meet the women benefiting from the Kisim Save (Gain Knowledge) program.

"It's an extraordinary experience, to see how small, and for us, everyday things " a pencil, a book, a simple blackboard surrounded by flowers " can make such an enormous difference to people's lives," Ms Byrne says.

The educational program is funded through ABM's 2005 Appeal for Women's Literacy, which focuses on teaching women throughout PNG to read and write in Pidgin.

"This isn't a big project but an utterly appropriate one," says Ms Byrne.

"[It] touches everyone in each highland village " the voluntary teachers who share what they know, the determined pupils who nurse their babies during lessons on the schoolroom floor, and of course the Anglican Church which makes it all possible."

More than 36 per cent of people in PNG over 15 years old are unable to read or write.

In addition, poor retention rates mean that less than 60 per cent of children who start Grade One will complete Grade Six.

Consequently many children leave school at an early age functionally illiterate.

Traditional gender inequality means many women, particularly in rural areas, receive no encouragement to go to school.

Wendy Moino, from the town of Lae, was pulled out of school by her family at an early age.

"When I was eight years old my mother had a new baby and my father stopped me from going to school," she says.

The domestic duties of taking care of her little sister quickly replaced any hopes of receiving an education.

"When school children used to come to our house and read books about Moses and Noah and others, I used to cry. How can I learn to read?" Ms Moino says.

Seeing lives like Wendy's transformed has turned Ms Byrne into an ABM enthusiast.

"This was a spectacular trip, and I can't begin to express my gratitude to ABM for taking me to the Highlands to see their work there " specifically the literacy program, which seems to be spreading like wildfire, as good ideas do," she says.

Ms Byrne says the women's literacy program provides the church with a role right at the heart of the typical highland village.

"It touches every aspect of daily life in an active, practical way. It is a force for transformation," she says.

Donations to the Appeal for Women's Literacy can be made by telephoning 1300 302 663 or (02) 9264 1021, or by visiting the ABM website.