DREAM IT an DO IT!
If you can stay in school and obtain a high school diploma many doors will open for your future but young students need to Dream this possibility and Do what they can to make graduation a reality. This was the project slogan for Literacy Alive 4 – a Rotary International Global Grant project that took place in Belize, Central America in March 2018. The overall goal of the project was to improve literacy for children and adults through a collaborative venture between the Rotary Club of Red Deer, Alberta Canada and the San Ignacio, Belize Rotary Club.
Over 350 children participated in the very successful CAMP and approximately 100 Belize adults participated in training activities. Literacy awareness was strengthened in the community through public celebrations and recognition events including a Literacy Alive Parade and a song and dance public performance on the topic of ‘Dream and Do It’. Thousands of literacy-rich resources were distributed to students, adult participants, schools and libraries. The successes of the project exceeded the expectations of the planning team. A Vocational Training Team of 20 Albertans (teachers and community developers) and a Voluntravel Team of 10 worked with over 50 Belize educators, government officials, community volunteers and local librarians to combat weak literacy rates in the Cayo area of Belize. The focus of the literacy teaching was directed to a variety of target groups including a) school-age children b) preschool children c) parents of young children d) adult literacy e) English second language support f) community-based outreach literacy programs The project was funded by the Rotary Club of Red Deer, RD 5360, Rotary Foundations of Canada and Rotary International. The second phase of the project continues in August where an impact study will be conducted and additional training and mentorship will be provided to Belize programs. The Voluntravel Team completed construction of a deck to expand use the San Ignacio Library (funded privately). For more information on the Literacy Alive access the project website at literacyalive.ca
Ministry of Education Director for Literacy (Belize) commented:
To add to the success of the literacy camp was the wealth of knowledge shared by your Literacy experts providing coaching and mentorship by modelling the different activities to our Belizean teachers. During this time great friendships were also developed among the Canadian Team; Librarians and our Belizean teachers - something that will never be forgotten! For this and much more, I want to thank you! We from the Ministry of Education will ensure that the good work of the Literacy Alive 4 team is sustained in our schools and libraries. Again, words cannot express how grateful we are for all that you and your dynamic team did for our students, teachers and parents. THANKS A MILLION! (Ms. Isaura Williams)
