Rotary Club funding major literacy project in Dixon’s Mills, Greensboro

Rotary clubs around the world have joined with Rotary District 6880 of south Alabama to fund a literacy project in Greensboro and Dixon’s Mills.

The $34,505 Rotary International Global Grant will fund “Self Organized Learning Environments” (SOLE) to benefit more than 200 students in under-served rural areas. The sites will enable to create children teach themselves with adult guidance. It is designed to benefit both grammar school students and out-of-school youth as well as engaging seniors to take part as mentors.

The matching grant was made possible through donations of clubs in the Alabama district and from Rotary districts in India and South Korea.

The grant project is a partnership of Rotary, the Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization (HERO) and the Marengo County Schools system.

Each location will have at least four computer stations for four to six students to use together to solve problems and explore answers to questions posed by volunteer mentors. Each site also will be provided with a 60-inch monitor for Skype sessions.

In Greensboro the SOLE kiosks will be designed and built by out-of-school youth. HERO will maintain the kiosks in Greensboro. The Marengo school system will supervise and maintain the location at Marengo High School.

Pam Dorr, executive director of HERO, and William Martin, IT specialist and technical coordinator for Marengo County schools, will supervise the purchase of equipment and building materials for their respective sites and recruiting volunteers to work with the youth,

Purchase of equipment and construction of the kiosks is expected to begin within the next month. Training of the volunteers should be completed before the opening of school in the fall.

The idea for SOLE originated with Dr. Sugata Mitra, professor of educational technology. As an experiment, he placed a computer in a wall in a slum area of an Indian city and observed how children interacted. Within days the children had taught themselves how to operate the device and use it to search for answers. Mitra’s work was the basis for the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.”

“Rotarians in South Alabama have been building friendships with Rotarians in Korea and India for many years,” said Bob Callahan of Fairhope, District Governor for District 6880.

“We have collaborated with our friends on many projects, on scholarships and cultural exchanges,” he continued. “Our friends in India and Korea have, through these experiences, recognized that we also have communities in need of assistance and offered this year to assist with funding a project in Alabama. We are grateful to our friends for their generosity and the love they have for Alabama and our people.”