> Suggestions from Gilbert Lawrence: > How about statewide or district wide essay writing competitions? How > about spelling bees in schools, villages, talukas and state-wide? How > about debating competitions? How about elocutions competitions? > > If schools and teachers are too busy, the Parent-teachers can take the > lead. Rotary, Lions, chamber of commerce can also lead and provide the > backing. But it has to start with one or a core group of interested > person(s)... And don't get the government involved.
Perhaps before you joined this network (Goanet), we were talking about the possibility of expats and locals joining hands to build and support magazine reading centres in local schools and institituions. We had then calculated that for the sum of US$100 per year, it was possible to get access to 25 or so magazines, each month, for an entire year. Four to five schools in Goa have already taken up this initiative in some way. In Saligao, my neighbourhood school which Florina D'Souza and others supported, the school claims students are doing better in inter-school competitions after the attempt to spread the reading habit. In Aldona, the initiative was supported by Frank D'Abreu and another individual offered the support. It took longer than expected to however get off the ground at the Aldona Institute... and happened in a smaller than anticipated way. I've not been able to keep track since. There are many other less-affluent villages, where alot could be done. I don't want to give the impression that I raked up this debate with the intention of promoting my pet idea. I didn't. But I do sincerely believe that it was the reading habit that made a difference in my life, and open wider vistas, and gave not just a profession which I enjoy terribly but also a chance to reach places one would have otherwise never got a chance to go to. In the knowledge-century that we've embarked on, this is going to be only more important. And, using the style of the Internet, we have to work on projects where a lot of positive change can come with miniscule investments. It's possible. One model that has long impressed me has been that of the Free Software movement and GNU/Linux (lots of volunteer involvement, huge amounts of networking, minimal involvement of money, minimum energy to get maximum results). Besides, our investments should be more in people and less in concrete or land... this is one view. But to make this work, one needs (i) supporters abroad, not so difficult to find and (ii) good implementors at the ground, who can push things further and share the dream. But the latter is more difficult to locate. With the spread of the Net in Goa (50+ members on Aldona-Net in under six months!) this is going to become easier with time. Also, there should be transparency in where the money goes and what's actually done with it. It's best if it reaches the beneficiary institution (school, club, whomever you trust) rather than going through a chain of intermediaries. This way, accountability could be maintained too. Will it's worth trying? Unless we attempt it, we'll never know.FN PS: If anyone would like to take this idea forward in their own localities, contact me offline. There's a list (needing updating) of value-for-money mags worth subscribing to. Mostly Indian magazines, since these are so inexpensive and offer a wide range of ideas and information. Usually these come at 1/10th the price or less of a foreign mag. Finding the right partners in your village is usually the most difficult part of the job, and one doesn't have any easy ideas on this. PPS: At the end of the day, this is a tiny initiative toward tackling on a wider problem. The lack of reading among Goans... But it's something *we* can perhaps do within our own abilities... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.org http://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.com http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks ------------------------------------------------------------------------- T: 0091.832.2409490 or 2409783 M: 0 9822 122436 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################