SUCESS!!!! and vote of thanks :)

Hello fam,
So december 3rd has come and gone, and not only did the event fly :) We had a blast!! (but not without many hiccups :)) . Special congratulations go to ADESHINBO of the Nigerian French Village Staff school, Badagry for winning the spelling competition. We had 34 schools compete in the bee, some schools were not present as end of term examinations are going on, but all in all it was a huge success.
PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE FOR PICTURES AND VIDEOS :)
Our sincere thanks go to:
A child's destiny, UK
Sabtech Computers
Afrikano Koncepts
Farafina Trust
Bola Oluwa
Emamode Edosio
Georgenah Bellucci
Chriss Aghana Nwobu
Temi Halim
Teni Olafisoye
Kingsley Momoh
Lekan Buari
Badagry LGEA
Edafe Edosio
Matysoul
And every one that supported morally and otherwise :)
We pray God blesses you in abundance.
Please watch this space for more updates, God bless.

ITS ON!!!! :) :)

Hey Fam,
So how have you been? Great I hope?
Plans are underway for the project and we are super excited! Barely less than 12 days will find children from over 65 schools!!!! yes over 65 schools, slug it out in a fun, friendly atmosphere. Yes our spelling bee is at hand and we got special people to thank because, phew, its not been so easy..

We must thank FARAFINA, who have showed readiness to put smiles on the faces of the children on that day, the ACD have offered us some support, both materially and emotionally, they rock!, We also met with Children's book author, Temi Halim (of TENKA and his magic drum fame), who donated books for the cause as well as some serious support and input.... Ok, she actually put tears in our eyes :)

Much thanks to Chriss Aghana Nwobu, Photographer extraordinaire amongst other good things.

We cannot fail to thank those who are giving their valuable cause and talents to this cause, Our compere, Kingsley Etamesor Momoh, our judges, Lola Talabi-Oni, Ade Bantu, Chiedu Ifeozo, and co-ordinators, Georgenah Bellucci, Adeola Ojedokun. Our woman film maker, Ema Edosio, to mention a few..

There's still room for support and donations towards this, and future projects.

LET US MOVE NIGERIA FORWARD, A STEP AT A TIME.
God bless us.
Feel free to forward questions, comments, suggestions to ireadafrica@gmail.com
Peace and Love! :)

New Update! :)

Hi guys,
So plans are really coming underway real fast on our event and we are super excited! Yeah.... but not without its many hardships.. We really need more volunteers, funds are super slim and although we are panicky, we are really trying to stay calm.

We have visited over 50 schools, and after meetings with the local education district, they have decide to step in and send memos out to every other school in the regions. They also are compiling a database of public and privates schools for us, this way, nobody gets left out :)

This also means we need to expand our budget to be able to provide lunch for these children.
We currently need the following for this event:

1. Technicians
2.Ushers
3. Mics and speakers
4.Rental chairs and tables
5.Lunch/Refreshment for the children
6. More co-coordinators

Currently invited to be judges for the spelling Bee, are Musician, Ade Bantu/Poet and engineer, Chiedu Ifeozo, Musician, Ego Ogbaro, and Farafina's Lola Talabi-Oni. More updates will be made available to you as times goes..
Thanks a lot, please remember to forward your questions, inquiries and suggestions to ireadafrica@gmail.com, or call us on +2347039456333. You can also join us on facebook by searching for iRead Literacy NETWORK. Thanks a lot :)

iREAD LITERACY'S SPELLING BEE..Dec 3rd..CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS N SUPPORT :)

Hey guys....
I'm sure by now, many of you have heard bout the iread literacy project www.ireadafrica.blogspot.com , and our Spelling Bee that comes up December 3rd 2010.

The spelling bee is targeted at primary schools, both public and private located in Badagry and Seme environs, due to the neglect they suffer by reason of being on the far outskirts of town. The Spelling Bee aims at rewarding bright academic promise in children and comparing the educational standard between schools in these areas, and those in Lagos proper.

We need volunteers for the project in the following areas:

1. Spelling Bee Co-ordinators

2. First Aid specialist(s)

3.Technician/Electrician

4.Handy man

5.Ushers to serve lunch to the children

6. Transportation

7.Presents for deserving children

8.Consolation prizes (because while some win more than others, everyone's still a winner)

Please we need all hands on deck for this project, if you cannot afford to volunteer time, pls kindly consider monetary donations to help towards this project.

We partner with our beloved sister organization in the UK ACD on this project, you can check out their site on

http://achildsdestiny.org.uk/

Thanks so much fam, peace n love

Our New partner!

Hi, a quick one, peeps, This is to inform you that the iRead Literacy project has patrnered with the ACD (A child's Destiny), a non profit organization based in, but not limited to the United Kingdom.

Heres hoping our marriage :) yields positive rewards for the people of Africa and subsequently the world! Please check out their website http://www.achildsdestiny.org.uk
Cheers.

Remember to forward your comments, suggestions and observations to ireadafrica@gmail.com or call +234 (0) 7039456333.
Much love and thanks to Bola Oluwa.
Bye!

Local Government's insensitivity and our SPELLING BEE!!

Watsup fam,
I'm sure everyone knows by now, that I'm not so great with typing long messages and such, I'm sorry.
Neways to make a really long tale short, I'll have you guys know that we have a date for our spelling bee.. yaayy! After much considerations, we decided on DECEMBER 3rd, 2010. This is to source for more sponsorship, allow the children enough time to prepare and also tie up other loose ends.

The spelling bee is targeted at primary schools, both public and private located in badagry, and aims at rewarding bright academic promise. We need volunteers for the project, as well as funds for rentage of hall, seats and diesel for the generating set at the venue. We appealed to the badagry local government to allow us free use of space but true to form, all appeals were rejected. The officials went as far as asking us to pay all the costs for the space to 'show we really love the children'.... I was both appalled and dumbfounded.

So there you are, that's most of what we've got now. Pls feel free to email us at ireadafrica@gmail.com or call +234 (0) 7039456333 to offer suggestions and/or pledge your support. We really need that now.
More updates on our adult evening classes to come! We also have a new partner... yay! soon to come in the next post!
Bless

Update!!

Hey folks!
How have you been? Hope good.

The literacy network has decided to hold a spelling bee competition between pupils of primary schools in Badagry, as part of our events lined up for the last quarter of the year.
We are looking at the 2nd week in November for this project. Badagry region was chosen due to the neglect it suffers due to distance from Lagos. This is the first time a non profit organization will organize this kind of event in this region :(

We have gotten a nod from FARAFINA Books, to award deserving children with educational literature at the event :) We are also having talks with a UK based organization who seeks to partner with us.

Special thanks to those who are sending books and writing materials to us, we really appreciate! We have a logo now, thanks to Ola, will put it up soon!
Pls keep watching this space for more info!
God bless...

NEW GIST!

Watsup fam?
Gotta dash out soon. Here's what you should know.
Things are looking up, I'm back in Nigeria and we are ready to work! work! work! lol
Meetings are underway with some sponsors interested in the project, and some goodhearted people have started donating reading and writing aid.
We still need your aid. Volunteers from any fields are much welcome.
I shall be unveiling our logo soon.
Please keep the project in your prayers!
With love....
Ps: Sorry for the silence, na hustle cause am :)

So far....

Hello folks :)

How's it going? Just a quick update... I am currently putting together reading/writing resources I can find, as well as hoping for volunteers.

Wednesday will find me knocking on the doors of Dzorwulu primary community school. I hope it goes well.

This is also a call for volunteers, as well as donations of used/new books, writing materials and learning aids.

Thanks for your support!

ABOUT THE iREAD LITERACY NETWORK

Hello everyone, my name is Veronny Odili, I’m a human being, musician and poet who in that capacity is referred to as Sistasoul. I’m an African living in Africa.

Contrary to what the media, particularly the western media says about Africa, we are hardly all about hunger, wars and diseases. We are a blessed continent with great people and vision.

That is not to say we do not have our own fair share of problems. We do, just like every existing society out there. Ok, maybe a little more J

Many of our problems however, can be traced to ignorance. When we KNOW, then we are empowered. We cannot speak up with one voice most times because there is conflict of interests and unawareness from the larger percentage of the people. The ones who are in the know are generally fewer.

The iRead literacy network is a voluntary movement of many people with one goal; Stomp out illiteracy by teaching people, particularly children how to read, I say children, in particular because of their natural curiosity which ultimately creates the willingness that ultimately leads to the absorption of knowledge.

The benefits of literacy are limitless. We are using this network as a tool to impact knowledge, promote understanding between our cultures, improve self esteem, as well as giving people an avenue for sharing their gifts through volunteer teaching and mentorship.

In due course, there will be many programs which are centered around our goal J but for now; we start with giving our time and knowledge to children in public schools who do not have enough teachers and those in children’s homes who are orphaned and/or those who ordinarily cannot afford teachers.

This is a call therefore to you, my good people. If you are moved to join the network, please by all means do so.

Presently, our first port of call will be at a children’s home/public school in Accra, Ghana.

Please join us if you can, and/or alternatively reach us with suggestions, ideas, questions and comments via any of these means:

i-Read Literacy network.

Email: ireadafrica@gmail.com

sistasoul001@gmail.com

Read our blog posts on: www.ireadafrica.blogspot.com

Phone: +233 (0) 541855661

Thanks so much and God bless.