By Jude Katende
Following the first Reading Day that was carried out here at the Busesa Community Library on behalf of the Kitakule Foundation last year, Enjuba, the organization behind this day, was here again last Friday. Enjuba is a catalytic education organization focused on improving learning outcomes of children. They were here last year for D.E.A.R. Day. Known for their Spelling Bee competitions on local TV, Enjuba showed the children an animation entitled “Moana”, which captured the childrens’ interest.
The Enjuba staff asked the kids what they had learnt from the movie and some of them responded with what they could remember. Thereafter, spelling sessions were carried out and later the children went through reading exercises based on their levels of ability and age.
The groups included nursery, primary one and two, then primary three, four and five while the third group had primary six, seven, senior one and two. It was an interesting interaction with some kids getting things correct immediately while others struggled to understand and others were not even aware that their books were upside down.
Enjuba staff used local language on occasion for the kids to grasp what was being explained. The exercise showed that the kids have a long way to go but they have the potential to make it if they are exposed to more books with increased reading time on a regular if not daily basis.
To make it worse some parents give their children few opportunities and little time to access the library. At the end of the reading, the children had a sumptuous lunch and were also given sweets and this had them thrilled and looking forward to another Reading Day perhaps after the end of the second term which starts this week.
