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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: MOZAMBIQUE READING CAMPS
HEADLINE: Community Volunteers Foster Reading Camps to Boost Education in Mozambique
TEASER: Determined to fight the high number of children leaving primary school illiterate, hundreds of local volunteers teach reading in the province of Manica
PUBLISHED AT: 8/7/23, 10:13a
BYLINE: Andre Baptista
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: MANICA, MOZAMBIQUE
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR:
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Anabela Guedes
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO X
TRT: 2:44
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVPKG/RADIO
EDITOR NOTES:
((INTRO))
[[Hundreds of volunteers are fighting illiteracy in the province of Manica, in Mozambique. They are creating reading camps that teach children to read in Portuguese. Andre Baptista reports, in this story narrated by Barbara Santos.]]
((NARRATION))
A group of volunteers are creating reading camps as a local initiative to change the precarious education rates in districts of the Mozambican province of Manica.
Carpenters, painters, and farmers are among the volunteers, who work under the guidance of professional mentor teachers and dedicate some of their free time to help local children learn how to read.
Arthur Marra is a 57-year-old carpenter. Twice a week, he switches from wood and nails to using white chalk and a classroom board.
((Arthur Marra, Volunteer)) (Male, in Portuguese))
“With my skills and the education that I’ve received until 4th grade, I can help improve the current situation. What I learned until 4th class back then was better than what children have in 10th grade now.
((NARRATOR))
Chila Jemusse, a ceramicist, is also teaching in her community.
((Chila Jemusse, Volunteer)) ((Female, in Portuguese))
“Child by child, they learn by singing each syllable while playing. We can use modeling clay or other things. We can also teach through ball games. We have several games we can give to children to help them learn.”
((NARRATOR))
The initiative targets 102,000 children in 102 public schools in Manica.
Officials say many students in rural areas speak local languages at home and do not learn Portuguese, the official language, until they start school
Samuel Lawrence, the director of education in Manica.
((Samuel Lawrence, Director of Education in Manica)) ((Male, in Portuguese))
“Some children learn Portuguese for the first time in school. It is a challenge, so there you must reconcile the methodology, look for semantics to precisely decipher some meanings.”
((NARRATOR))
Sociologist Reginaldo Muthemba says the local initiative can easily be implemented in other communities.
((Reginaldo Muthemba, Sociologist)) (Male, in Portuguese)
“They see the problem and the community join efforts to create a kind of functional equivalent, a reinforcement, which, in this case, replaces the absence of a capable teacher. So, this is an experience that, in my opinion, could be followed in other communities.”
((NARRATOR))
The initiative receives funding from the humanitarian organization Save The Children and classes are offered four times a week.
((For Andre Baptista in Manica, Mozambique, Barbara Santos, VOA News.))
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