ROTARY INTERNATIONAL LITERACY PROJECT 

The Kenton on Sea Rotary Club has adopted the RI Literacy Project wholeheartedly, with Rotarian Stella Swanson in charge.  Donations from Kenton News Agency, the Blue Lighthouse and Rotarian Tjaart Barnard meant that preschool books could be donated to Klipfontein Pre Primary School. There was great joy at the school when Stella Swanson and volunteer Joan Davis took these books and helped the children use them. The simple books are also being used to teach older children at the Klipfontein School to read in English. Rotarian Mary Cunningham organized a wonderful donation of excellent Afrikaans readers (each a lovely story with a moral lesson which can then be discussed) from Heartlines. These books were donated to Kenton Primary School.

Stella, Mary Cunningham and Tjaard Barnaard with the headmistress from Kenton Primary School and children.

Rotary International (through its Reach Out to Africa (ROTA) programme) provided Usborne Illustrated Dictionaries at a reduced cost and Kenton Rotary Club bought a large number of these beautifully presented books. Some have been donated to Ikamvalesizwe School in Kenton and Stella Swanson has held a number of Dictionary Workshops there to introduce teachers and pupils to this amazing resource. The lessons have been very “hands on” and fun filled and the children have enjoyed practicing their newly acquired dictionary skills. Lessons will begin again in February 2011 with the new Grade 6 class. Kenton Rotary is donating a steel cupboard to the school so that the dictionaries can be safely kept at the school for use in the classroom. Stella Swanson will give more dictionaries to the Nompucuko School in Marselle in 2011, and will then run Dictionary Workshops there. To round off this project, Stella would like to organize an Inter – School Dictionary Quiz in 2011, so that pupils have a chance to demonstrate their new skills. Prizes will be in the form of books or book vouchers to further promote literacy and a love of books. 

 New Generations:

Stella is planning a dictionary quizz between three local schools as well as a workshop to encourage teachers with low resources. Rotary will supply snadwiches to matriculant puplis at Ekupumleni School.