World Read Aloud Day Drum Beats

World Read Aloud Day Drum Beats

World Read Aloud Day drums are beating,
beating hard, loud and clear,
from the banks of mother Nile
to the peak of mighty Everest,
let the drum beats of literacy beat,
from the deserts of Arizona
to the rain forests of Brazil,
let its echoes traverse the Times Square of New York
and its rhythm soak the slums of Kibera
let the soothing beats reside in our hearts,
let them arouse the thirst of literacy in our people,
let the beats plant an insatiable desire for literacy,
FOR WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE TO YOU, IF YOU COULD NOT READ AND WRITE?

©Jacob Seje March 09, 2011.

Today March the 9^th is a special day to the human race; we mark the World Read Aloud Day. Just imagine how the world would be if you were not able to read and write? It is for this reason that Children of Kibera Foundation organized the Kenyan Chapter. We set out early in the morning and visited several primary schools where we held reading aloud sessions; this was to motivate the learners and their teachers to cultivate the culture of reading in their lives and to express the power of words from person to person- as LitWorld puts it. The CoKF Staff resolved to join the children of Kibera slums while exercising their right. To read and write.

The day was quite eventful as the Red Rose School received greetings from their counterparts in Polo Grounds New York; our Girls’ Club also got the opportunity to share the experiences of the day bay reading through telephone to the Girls Club in Bungoma (a town in western Kenya)

We at Children of Kibera Foundation shall continue to honour this day, for we know the future of this children lies in their literacy.

Visitors in Torrents

CoKF’s office was a beehive of activities as we witnessed a torrent of visitors paying us courtesy calls. Ken Okoth was in Nairobi and visited several of our projects with Ainsley Morris and Montana Stevenson from the USA. They visited Ayany primary School to evaluate the ongoing ‘KiberaOnline’ project, Kibra Academy, and Calvary School where we have built classrooms. Ken’s visit also coincided with the mid-term break for most of our High School Scholars and so amid involving chats and hearty laughter the CoKF fraternity had a lot to catch up on: ranging from their CAT 1 performances to the Class of 2014 scholars sharing their experiences in their various new schools and as expected, they had so much to say for most of them had never spent so many days away from their families in different company and environment.

We also hosted St Lawrence University students who for the last 5 years have been visiting The Red Rose School as part of their community service. They engaged the children in various activities; they taught in classes and even played fun games with the children during the lunch break.

The last week of February was quite involving and eventful; we are looking forward for the April holidays when our scholars will be back once more.

They are in good working condition!


Ken: Hello Scholars! How is the going so far?


The boys can't beat us!


Its time for a Kenyan Jig.


Who will do it first?