ROTARY INTERNATIONAL—LITERACY RESOURCE GROUP World Wide Literacy Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 9 From the Desk of Roger Hayward—North American Area Coordinator April, 2010 Another Rotary year is beginning to wind down. This has been another amazing year Special points of for the work of literacy activities around the world. One of the keys that must happen is interest: continuity from one year to the next. The • Teacher Training second key is sustainability. Is what we are • Character Literacy doing sustainable? in North Carolina The Montreal convention will soon be upon Inside this issue: us. It is certainly not too late to travel to ROTARY READS!!! Canada, the relatively old city of Montreal, This is a catalogue of literacy projects, scored when the weather will be wonderful. The for ease of implementation, and is available convention promises to be very worthwhile on the Zone 24 website. Just access the home The Rotary Club 2 and the literacy booths will all be together of Bombay page, click on Literacy and Education on the again (bigger and better than last year!) and left hand side, then click on Rotary Reads, Santa Fe, New 3 two literacy breakout sessions are planned. again on the left hand side of the page. Mexico There will be more details in the May issue This is an excellent resource if your club is of this newsletter. looking for literacy programs. Let the 4 Children Speak The Rotary Club of Stabroek, Georgetown, Guyana Toilets and 4 The Rotary Club of Stabroek, Georgetown, math, English, science and social studies are taught Literacy Guyana, recently expanded its literacy project to and outdoor sessions where time is spent learning Region 5 ( Mahaica/ West Berbice), which is about sports such as volleyball, football and cricket. “ This approach does not connote that learning will not 5 100 miles from Georgetown down the coast, a A Program in release from the club said. require some effort, but simply that learning is not Mumbai seen as monotonous.” According to the club, The literacy initiative commenced in March 2007 currently, Region Five boasts 14 literacy sites 6 with 50 youths in Buxton and its environs, the spanning from Belladrum to Rosignol which Scholarships in collectively serve an average of 200 youths per Tanzania release said, noting that current enrolment in the project is more than 300 and demand is increasing. week. Each site is run by a volunteer teacher who coordinates and implements project activities. The Imagination 7 According to the club, predesigned assessments “ This project will expand a successful literacy Library and anecdotal evidence indicates marked increase in numeracy and literacy skills of beneficiary instruction model to help youth struggling with students. “ The success of this project has propelled learning differences, providing a structured, caring Books for Hawaii 7 the club to expand its literacy initiative to areas of environment to help youth achieve academic need targeting vulnerable children who have success…,” the club said. Character 8 limited access to extra tuition.” The project Literacy encourages youths to see learning to read as a Rotary International sees literacy as a means to shared pleasure and a valuable skill, and is sustainable human development and the Rotary premised on the enjoyable aspects of reading and Club of Stabroek is demonstrating its commitment writing since it is underpinned by the belief that it to fulfilling this mission through its ongoing support is easier to learn something when actively involved for literacy initiatives. The club pledges its and having fun, the club said in the release. assistance to the projects through the provision of reading books, teaching aids, stationery, financial The youths meet for classroom activities where and moral support, the release added. THE ROTARY CLUB OF BOMBAY MID TOWN—Projects for promoting rural literacy The following article, submitted by Zone 4 B Literacy Coordinator Through the Rotarians’ own contributions, as well as a Matching Gulam A. Vahanvaty, highlights the positive impact one club can Grant sanctioned recently by The Rotary Foundation, the club is have when its members are committed to an holistic approach to providing the following facilities :- sustainable development, including addressing the issue of literacy and education: BALWADIS Bombay Mid Town club members have just completed a joint The entire Palghar-Jawahar tribal belt is a “region of darkness”. cooperative venture with the community of Baste village. A new Power and water are scarce; there is a woeful lack of educational and ‘Balwadi’ was required for about 30 pre-school students, who were medical facilities; in spite of having substantial rainfall, lack of literally being taught in the open, under a tree. An elderly widow forest cover results in precious top soil being washed away; wells in donated a plot of land, the villagers provided the labour, and the Mid the area run dry from February to June (when Monsoons normally Town club provided money for building materials. The new arrive); and women have to walk long, weary miles in the quest for ‘Balwadi’ has been completed and is operating. water. Students from Allegheny College, PA, USA, visiting on a “cross The Bombay Mid Town club has been contributing as best as it can, cultural experience program”, donated money to paint the school, with the help of Rotary Foundation projects, to tackle these major provide a tiled flooring, as well as a cupboard, teacher’s chair and problems. Villages have been provided with 81 deep bore wells (to a table. They also provided sets of basic text books to all four Balwadis depth of more than 250 feet) for drinking water, serving the needs of of Baste and Potkhal villages. more than 100,000 people. A generous member of our club is providing three sets of new To address the problem of top soil erosion and to provide plentiful uniforms to all children attending the new ‘Balwadi’. water for multiple crops, the club has embarked on a ‘Watershed Area Development Project” covering Potkhal & Baste villages of MIDDLE SCHOOLS Vikramgarh Taluka-- a total area of 673 hectares. Within 15 months, Both villages have a ‘Middle School’ each with classes from I to VII. over 50,000 saplings have been planted in a ‘reforestation’ drive. However, though government-run, their facilities for teaching are ‘Gully Plugs’ and “Contour Staggered Trenches” help control rain very primitive, as already mentioned. water flow and minimize its destructive force. Two large dams have been built across a nearby stream to save 2 million gallons of water Through a Matching Grant that has recently been approved, the yearly, for multi-crop agriculture. Another 6 million gallons will be following will happen: recharging the underground aquifer each year. Household incomes • 150 students of Class I to IV will be provided ‘joint bench’ are expected to rise dramatically. The entire project is woven around seating; an elected body called ‘Watershed Management Committee” which • oversees the work. All unskilled labour is provided by villagers who Supplementary seating will be provided to students of are paid daily by the Rotary club. classes V to VII by way of seventeen ‘joint desks’; • Seven black boards, with stands, will replace worn-out Simultaneously, the club is tackling the issue of providing better ones; education facilities, so that the educational infra-structure is • Twelve teacher’s desks , along with arm chairs, are being modernized and conditions made comfortable for students who today provided for Middle Schools & Balwadis; sit on the hard floor and bend for hours, scribbling on paper placed on the floor. • Thirty-six moulded plastic chairs are being provided for visitors; • Six steel cupboards and two library book cupboards will be supplied; • Both schools & Balwadis will be provided with eight stainless steel water filters; • All equipment is being provided to each school, so that students get a glass of milk daily, for improving their nutritional intake; • Middle schools will receive a lump-sum amount for updating their libraries and purchasing equipment for science experiments; and six adult literacy classes will begin by providing solar- power lighting and fees for teachers and study-kits for about 120 adults will be paid for. Volume 2, Issue 9 Page 2 THE ROTARY CLUB OF SANTE FE, NEW MEXICO Making a Difference with Struggling Readers The following article was submitted by Rotarian Lorraine In more detail, here is how it works: Goldman, the Chair of The Rotary Club of Sante Fe’s Rotary Reads initiative: • Each Rotary Reader is linked with a particular teacher. The Rotarian buys age-appropriate For the fourth year, the Rotary Club of Santa Fe (New books at Collected Works, a locally-owned Mexico) is working with elementary schools in our bookstore, reads to/with students (from community, where a large number of students are poor and individual students to an entire class) on a regular many are immigrants, struggling with English as a new basis (generally once a week), and then donates language. the books to the children's classroom library. Our project serves three elementary schools, from one of the At the end of the school year, one class per grade in each smallest with just under 200 students to the largest with over school takes a trip to Collected Works, where the students 700 students. The project has two parts: choose one book each to take home. A duplicate of each • Rotarians read to students throughout the school book is provided to the classroom libraries. The books are year; and purchased through a District 5520 Simplified Grant, a club • Rotary provides gift books to students at the end match, and donations from private individuals of the school year. Dictionary Corner The following article was sent in by Scott Allen, President United States, we are the world's largest purchaser of hard of The Rotary Club of Colorado Springs InterQuest and cover dictionaries with any supplier.