These words of home-spun wisdom from an Aboriginal Australian woman capture the profound change that education has the potential to bring about in the lives of individuals and communities. People aspire to a better quality of life, to move beyond where they are today and leave behind situations which dehumanize them. Disadvantage, in a myriad of forms, often highly correlates with lack of education, and results in such outcomes as poor health and lower life expectancy; illiteracy and decreased employability; poverty or economic dependence; lack of protection under the law and lack of access to the justice system. Education offers the possibility for individuals and communities to challenge, move beyond and even transform these situations of human limitation.