Shine Literacy Program

Shine is a non-profit organization i volunteered with, for the past 6 months. the agency, run completely by volunteers (with the exception of 1 paid administrative staff) has grown and flourished in the years since it has been founded. And now, it has centers that work on improving the lanuguage skills of weak grade 2 children in 4 schools.

The fabric of this organization seem to be that of human relationships, be it volunteer-child, volunteer-volunteer or volunteer-organizer. it is definitely a H-A-P-P-Y place to be at.

the centre that i volunteered at, zonnebloem primary school is a place of social gathering for volunteers (a majority of whom are women in the 40s and 50s), where they happily chat away before sessions start. And the good spirit is transfered to the kids during the teaching times, and this makes the shine center programs a time that children look forward to coming. (there were a couple of kids who sneaked in to read with us, although they are not on the list of children who needed help with english language). 

This is the scene i look forward to everytime i go to the center; the sight of children running up the small hill to the center, with books they had borrowed the week before in their hands. when they finished their little race up the hill to the center, they are reward by the smiles and hugs that the volunteers shower them with.

the next hour of learning is not the conventional learning. instead, shine uses resources such as games, puzzles and volunter-children relationships to encourage children to develop a love for reading and equipping them with the skills to do so. the above picture is that of a kid learning to make up a sentence with the items that is in the puzzle he just put together. 

the energy level of the volunteers are encourage to be kept high, so that the children enjoy the activities conducted.

At the end of the hour long session, the children each receive a 'praise card" which the volunteers writes to explain how well they have done. this not only boosts the kids' self-esteem but also makes them want to learn to read these words by themselves. 

for children that are not in the program, they could make use of the "Swap Shop," or an informal library system that allows them to take home a book each weekend.