NEWS, VIEWS & OTHER INTERESTING THINGS

help2read came about because at the end of the last century I was inspired by Nelson Mandela’s amazing achievement and believed, as he did, that there can be no true democracy without education and no education without literacy.

Having been a volunteer for an English organisation called Beanstalk, I saw how easy it was, with a little training, to open the door to education by helping struggling readers to learn to love books.  I thought that if I could find a school where I could try out my ideas I might be able to make a difference here.

In early 2005 a lady called Cynthia Pelman suggested I meet ‘a wonderful woman’, the then Principal of this school, and a meeting was arranged.  My wife Mai and I came to Muizenberg Junior School (MJS) with Cynthia to meet Dee Cawcutt, the ‘wonderful woman’.  Dee knew nothing about us, nor what we had in mind.  Cynthia, who in another life would have been a matchmaker, had simply told her she would be meeting ‘a wonderful couple from England’.

Dee had three representatives of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) in her office when we arrived, just in case we might have something worthwhile.  When we described what our project was, they were all very enthusiastic.  Dee immediately offered her school for a pilot scheme to start in the new school year in 2006.

Back in London, I went to see the CEO of Beanstalk and asked if my daughter Marielle could be trained by them as a Branch Manager.  Marielle was placed in the office of the North London Branch, of which, by this time, I was Chair, and shadowed the Manager and Support Worker through August and September 2005, as they recruited and trained volunteers to start in London schools at the beginning of the English school year in September.

In early November, armed with the knowledge she had gained and a training video, Marielle arrived in Cape Town with her dog Maya and took a tiny cottage in Kalk Bay which was to be home, office and training room.  She started recruiting on the beach, in the Olympia Café, in malls and through local businesses.  By the beginning of February, she brought six volunteers here to start, each helping three children to learn to read.

Six weeks later I got a call at home in London from Dee who said “I can’t believe my eyes!  Children who have never spoken or smiled are now coming up to me in the morning, wishing me good morning, going to their class rooms and sitting in the front with a book, even though they can’t yet read.”  The children had developed self-esteem as a result of the one on one attention they were receiving and were confident that they would soon be competent readers.

One of the three representatives from the WCED who attended in Dee’s office a year earlier showed a special interest and advised Marielle, and subsequently me, as to which schools would benefit most from our involvement.

Over the next twelve months when Marielle handed over the baton to her brother Cliff,  there were eight schools in the programme.  Cliff was tasked with converting what was literally a cottage industry into a proper business.  He found an office in Claremont and recruited three South African women to run the programme and two of those ‘wonderful women’ are here today and one still runs the Cape Town office .

So this is a story of wonderful women, who I now ask to come on to the stage for you to show your appreciation:

• Mai, my wife and supporter from my first mad thoughts at the start of the century,
• Dee Cawcutt, the original and authentic ‘wonderful woman’
• Berenice Daniels, Director of Inclusive and Specialised Education Support for WCED,
• and the two women recruited by Cliff – Janet Bruwer and Mandy Trevor, who took us from ten schools to more than 10,000 children.

There would have been five, as my daughter Marielle was proposing to be here, but unfortunately she has not been able to make it.

Please show your appreciation for the wonderful women of help2read!

Having said that this is a story of wonderful women, we do have male volunteers and they are a very precious commodity.  One in particular qualifies for the W word – he is one of the original volunteers who started on 6 February 2006 and he is still volunteering now, ten years later.  His name is Bob Jordan and I would like him to come up and join the ladies.

There are a number of other volunteers here who I would especially like to honour by naming them.  All have been volunteers for help2read for more than five years:

Now, if I may ask you to show similar appreciation for all of our staff, both past and present, and the hundreds of volunteers who have helped over ten thousand children to learn to read.  They are not just part of help2read they ARE help2read!

Alex Moss
Founder and Chairman