PROJECT LITERACY :: Site best viewed at 1024 X 768

Winnie was born in Siloam in the Venda area of Limpopo Province. She was raised by her Tshivenda speaking stepmother, and attended the local primary school Tshirolwe and local secondary school Mushaathama Jonathan.

Winnie developed a passion for early childhood development while working for Thusanang an organisation that specialises in skills development for children living in rural areas of South Africa. While working for Thusanang, Winnie used to carry out needs assessments in the communities. It was here that she realised that the biggest need in these areas were for pre-schools. Parents of children from these areas are mostly domestic workers although some of them work on the farms in the area. They earn very little and cannot afford to send their children to pre-school. As a result, children are often left at home alone putting them at risk of abuse and rape. Therefore, some parents feel they have no choice but to stop their older children from attending school in order to look after the younger siblings.

Winnie's past work experience spans eleven years from working in community based organisations in a training capacity to helping out as a pre-school teacher.
Winnie said "I've been volunteering in the community pre-school for nine years. My job as Chairperson has included managing meetings and workshops with parents, transporting children on their school trips and volunteering to tell children stories during storytelling times".

Winnie finds her work as a Fieldworker for the Run Home to Read project very challenging. She says, "Visiting families is more challenging than facilitating workshops in the "parents meeting". But as the programme works with the caregiver and the child, and the caregivers are supported, we see changes from week to week. It is motivating to see the parents and caregivers read to their children with so much more confidence than we saw six months before".

Winnie points out that although the Run home to Read programme focuses on children who are between one and seven years old, everyone in the family benefits from it as the caregivers, elder brothers and sisters have also improved their reading skills. An added benefit is the incorporation of library orientation into the programme. Most caregivers did not know the benefits of being a member of a library. Now most of them have joined the library and regularly take out books for their children and their older children too.

The highlight of Winnie's work on the Run Home to Read project has been to see how the children have developed the learning skills of reading stories, listening to stories and telling stories. Making every home a reading home is a reality and to be involved in the children and their families road to discovery is a very rewarding experience.

We asked Winnie what her secret to success was. She replied, " I've created a good relationship with my colleagues, the Reading Champions, and I am friendly to the caregivers and children that I visit. They trust and respect me. After every visit I do a self-evaluation, which helps me with my next visit.

At home I am the caregiver and that gives me insight into the problems caregivers face. I think the fact that I speak Tshivenda, Sepedi and Xitsonga languages also helps to prevent any misunderstandings between the caregivers and myself.
And finally, I enjoy reading books, telling stories and explaining things and making practical examples to help the illiterate person understand better."