International Children's Day 2021: Keeping It Real (KIR) Foundation — Reading Project
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To mark the International Children’s Day celebration, Keeping It Real Foundation (KIRF) organized Special Reading Sessions on Friday, 19th November 2021 — in different schools across different states of the Federation. The Reading Sessions was done in collaboration with YALI Portharcourt.
I am glad to have participated as a KIRF volunteer, and happy to have connected with young leaders from YALI Portharcourt, who brought a lot of passion and energy towards the realization of the Reading project.
As I reflect on the activities of that day, I can’t forget a few memories that will always be at the top of my mind.
Firstly: The kids were very engaging and loved the story in the novel read by Winnie (YALI Volunteer), titled: Kunle, the Village Boy.
Seeing their faces lit with smiles and enthusiasm, reminded me of when I was in their position many years ago! Time flies really fast oo!
Secondly: During the Q&A/ Spelling drill time, I thought them how to spell the word, C-O-L-L-A-B-O-R-A-T-I-O-N, which simply means: To work together.
At first, many of the kids struggled with the spelling, but gradually they grasped and it was easy from that point.
Thirdly: One of the questions in the book we read was: “who is your best friend?”
I was particularly impressed when I asked one of the kids (Promise) who her best friend was and what she loves about her best friend.
She responded that her best friend was “Chidera” and that she always “said the truth”. So we rewarded both Chidera and Promise for having a key leadership trait: Honesty.
Lastly, in order to simplify why I asked them to spell the word, C-O-L-L-A-B-O-R-A-T-I-O-N; i decided to make it a team game, so I set a class rule that says: “For the next question, I will ask one of you to point at someone else, who will then answer the question. And both players must not be sitting together”.
I noticed the kids sat close to their friends, so I wanted to see how well they can all work together as a class. On this note, we also rewarded both “Abubakar” and his partner for playing this team game well. Also, as you can see in the picture, Promise was the Co-tutor who helped to show the rest of the class how to spell the new word: C-O-L-L-A-B-O-R-A-T-I-O-N.
In all, we rewarded 10 kids with new books for active participation — based on the book stock we had; but we encouraged them to not read alone — but they should share together. I believe the message was well assimilated.
We learn by doing. Team work is essential in everything we do, and it is at this formative stage in a child’s development that core leadership traits — such as honesty, team work and mutual cooperation, etc — can be better nurtured.
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I am proud of my Colleagues (Maryann, John and Winnie) who volunteered from Keeping It Real Foundation and YALI Portharcourt, including those who visited other schools, nationwide. Together, everyone achieves more (TEAM)!
Grateful to my mentor, Mrs Bitebo Gogo for giving us this platform to empower the younger generation. KIR Foundation is making a great impact!
The best is yet to come!
From,
Chukwuemeka U. Orukwowu,
KIRF Volunteer | November, 2021.
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