LITERACY INITIATIVES AWARENESS IN MONTREAL

This week let’s be sure to remind all of our clubs and districts about the major literacy events at the RI Convention in Montreal. Encourage all districts to form teams whose members will collectively listen to all presentations, visit all literacy booths and share what they learned with the clubs in their district upon their return from the RI Conventions.

Here is a brief description of the literacy learning opportunities those teams will find at the Institute and the Convention:

A. International Institute –DISCUSSION GROUP ON LITERACY – 15:45 TO 17:00, On Friday 18 June at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth

Presentations will be made by RID Antonio Hallage (Brazil), Extension of Rotary Committee member Jennifer Scott (Australia), RI Representative to the United Nations Anton Hilscher (Austria) and DGE Deepa Willingham, founder of the Piyali Learning Center for impoverished girls outside Calcutta. I will introduce that session with a short overview of the accomplishments of the RILRG and the relevance of the RILRG experiment to club and district literacy project planning in the future.

B. International Convention – SUITE OF LITERACY BOOTHS IN THE HOUSE OF
FRIENDSHIP

We will have the best ever collection of literacy project booths together in a very impressive “suite.” Thanks to Roger Hayward, Jesse Allerton and the RI House of Friendship staff for making that happen. The booths in the suite will be: THE RILRG FLAGSHIP BOOTH, Souns for Literacy, Andy and Elmer Four Way Test Book, CALS, Rotarian Books for the World, Teach Your Children Well, The Dictionary Project, The BrainWise Program, Guatemala Literacy Project, Dictionary 4 Life, Gift of Literacy, Adopt-a-School, and CLE in the Philippines. That is an eye-opening collection of literacy project opportunities which won’t be duplicated anywhere else in the world at least until the next RI Convention in New Orleans.
C. International Convention – LITERACY BREAKOUT SESSION – 13:45 to 15:15 on
Monday 21 June at the Palais de Congres – Topic: TWO KEY INITIATIVES TO  DEAL WITH LOW LITERACY LEVELS.

Roger Hayward will be the moderator. The two key initiatives to be discussed are CALS (Computer-Assisted Literacy Solution) and CLE (Concentrated Language Encounter). Past RILRG consultant Vince Walter will make the presentation about CALS. Current RILRG Area Coordinator for Asia, Saowalak Rattanvich will make the presentation about CLE. These are two of the special emphases promoted by the RILRG for the past five years. Let us hope that a large number of our districts show up to learn more about them…… and then go home to start CLE and CALS projects of their own.

D. International Convention – LITERACY BREAKOUT SESSION – 15:45 TO 17:15 On Tuesday 22 June at the Palais de Congres – Topic: ROTARY LITERACY PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD: BEST PRACTICES

I will be the moderator. We will have presentations by five of our present or past zone coordinators, each reporting on best practices in their zones. Presenters in order of appearance will be: Helene Kalfuss (U.S.A. and Africa), Lina Aurelio (India and the Philippines), Andre Marty (France – presented by PDG Bernard Attard), Joan Hayward (Canada) and Chico Schlabitz (Brazil).
Chico’s presentation ends with a dramatic proposal to eradicate illiteracy in Brazil. Andre’s presentation is a beacon of light for the rest of Europe. Helene and Joan will both make Rotarians from all over the world aware of how much more their clubs could be doing with literacy. And Lina’s presentation is a real “eye opener” for anyone not familiar with the impressive literacy projects taking place in India and the Philippines. Taken as a whole this group of presentations will impress all with what Rotary is already being done and what can be done by others in the next few years.
Make your district contacts aware of these opportunities and encourage them to take the appropriate actions!
Richard Hattwick
May 2010
PHOTOS: In front of my eye, Paul Harris, my father, family fine arts, prizes...; Kathy Feigley, Deepa Willingham - Piyali Learning Center Leader -, and Mary Jane Salvato, discussing Poverty and Deepa organization role over this problem; Roger Howard; Richard Hattwick; Chico Schlabitz (Brazil); Helen Kalfuss and Eleanor Corkle (Noon Club); Literacy icon; an  Library.