resigned her position. New Guinea and Beyond Due to her interest in the children of New Guinea, Gum was appointed to work in the Methodist Overseas Mission school in Raluana, New Britain, New Guinea. In the following year she was appointed to the school at Halis, New Ireland, New Guinea, where she worked with three New Guinean teachers and one trainee student in the village two miles away. In English lessons in New Guinea, Gum used the "Words in Colour" reading charts which she and others had pioneered at the Ashford Centre. Around 1971, Gum was asked by Miss Ruth Watts, headmistress of the Methodist Ladies College, to take on a temporary position at the school. The position became permanent and Ms Gum again used the pioneering "Words in Colour" system. In 1975, at the age of 60 years, Gum completed her last years as a teacher with a double Grade 7 group in a large open classroom, term-teaching with two other teachers. Post-retirement In 1975, Gum returned to New Guinea to share the "One Hundred Years in the Islands" celebration. From 1976, she pursued various interests including chess, sketching, the Methodist Ladies' College Old Scholar's Association committee (including a time as president during 1979–80), university lectures, a world tour and time spent in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador with her nephew, Geoff Renner, Director of World Vision in the Latin American Countries of Central and South America. Gum became involved in the work of Marjorie Black House on King William Road, Unley, a voluntary organisation meeting place and support centre for people with mental health issues. In 1982, Gum became chair and co-ordinator of the work of Marjorie Black House, when it was threatened with closure. Gum's Tuesday Club, the last of the Marjorie Black clubs to close, held its final gathering on 16 August 2005. She participated in the transfer of the building to the South Australian Council of Social Service. She committed her Mondays to the Patchell Library Historical Centre at Annesley College, where she has, since the early 1970s, participated in the collection of and care of the college memorabilia. On 27 May 2013, Gum attended the unveiling ceremony of the Daphne Gum Playground at the Annesley Junior School. Until 2015, she lived independently, close to Ashford House, which is now a school for children with autism. On 24 January 2016, she celebrated her 100th birthday