Nothing like a good story
ALL it took was an invitation.
The thought of getting to do something a little out of the ordinary, which would surely provide for great conversation material at the end of a long day, was too hard to resist. Leaving her desk behind for a few minutes and stepping into a school with which her organisation has had an alliance for many years, National Family Planning Board (NFPB)Executive Director Dr Denise Chevannes-Vogel animatedly changed roles. She was thrilled at the opportunity to read for children at the neighbouring John Mills Infant, Primary and Junior High School as local schools observed International Literacy Day on September 8. International Literacy Day was being observed under the theme, ‘Literacy and sustainable development’.
From many quarters, including that of the local sexual and reproductive health agency, education has long been emphasised as a primary means to shed poverty and attain one’s life goals. Unfortunately too many children do not recognise and realise their inherent potential, a potential sidelined by truancy, pregnancy, and abuse. By encouraging children to remain in school and do well academically, the world opens up new horizons to them. Through reading our children are aware, able to reason and make sensible life choices including seeking accurate health information.
On completing their education they can be gainfully employed, contributing to the pool of highly skilled adults in the workforce who ensure the nation’s sustainable development.
The young children of John Mills certainly have that opportunity to live through the school experience and become active contributors to the country’s prosperity. It starts here, for if you have never been to the institution, winding corridors take you past interestingly painted walls that communicate lessons such as letter writing, synonyms, and professions from which to choose. The click of high heels on a mosaic of labelled floor tiles that literally impart a geology lesson, was coupled with the shouts of children at play. All this was before arriving at a classroom at the far end of the compound. This was Grade 1J1. On the inside, miniature desks and chairs are dwarfed by a “grown-up” version for the teacher, Miss Salome Palmer.
Following a brief introduction by Rhoena Mitchell, the school’s guidance counsellor, Dr Chevannes-Vogel, settled into one of the little chairs, to read Walter Lyon Krudop’s children’s novel Blue Claws, that proved to be a hit with the students who stuck close by her.
Dianne Thomas is director, outreach programmes, National Family Planning Board.
