Erste regionale LitCam Konferenz „Literacy and the marginalised“

The first regional LitCam Conference for the southern African region took place in Cape Town on Saturday, 31 July 2010, and lasted about half a day. The event was opened with a greeting of the consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany, Hans-Werner Bußmann. Penelope Vinjevold, the head of education in the Western Cape Education Department, presented the successful literacy work of the local government.

An impressive keynote speech by the South African literacy specialist Prof. John Aitchison provided an overview of the literacy situation in South Africa today (The current situation of literacy in South Africa). Prof. Aitchison, former director of the Centre for Adult Education and head of the School of Education, Training and Development at the University of Natal, now works for UNESCO, amongst other projects.
Two South African NGOs presented their projects. With her Mannenberg Community Project, Brenda Sonn from the University of Western Cape demonstrated that literacy work is also possible in areas with a high crime rate. And Andrew Miller, director of Project Literacy, presented his well-established project, “Run Home to Read”.

As a tribute to the World Cup this year in South Africa, the conference closed with a round table on the theme of “Football as a motivation to learn”. Goolam Allie, the owner of the FC Santos Football Club, Marion Keim from the Women for Peace Project “Kicking for Peace”, Karin Plötz from the LitCam Project “Football Meets Culture”, as well as a young football player from the townships talked about the opportunities that football can provide for young people.