Publishing our Writing

Starting with issue 3.1, the Young Voices newsletter of the SRWP (Seli River Writing Project) will be publishing the writing of our Young Writers during the coming year. (Check out Young Voices 2.1).

All Young Writers receive a typewritten copy of their final drafts that to show their family and friends. Selected pieces will make it into the newsletters. To the extent that our finances permit, issues will be shared among the participating schools and to friends and supporters of the SRWP. Few of our students have access to the internet, but the newsletter will be posted here, too, so watch for Young Voices 3.1 and expect to see Young Voices often to catch up on what the students are writing about and on progress in the SRWP. This will give the students' writing wider exposure than do the in-school notice boards where some schools display Young Writers writing.

Would you like to support SRWP newsletter production during the year? Please make a PayPal contribution using the Donate button on the right! 

Library-in-a-Box

SELI has been carrying out a "Library-in-a-Box" project with Dankawalie Secondary School, one of the Koinadugu District schools in the SRWP.

Rural schools, and especially rural schools that are made extra remote by poor roads, have little access to books. So for two years now, SELI has taken some two dozen books each time we visit and exchanged them for the books from the last visit, and handed them over to the club facilitators. Most of the books are leveled readers—either classics or books written in and for West Africa. DSS students share their reading in the journal activity held at the beginning of the club meeting, or sometimes explain why they enjoyed their book in the morning assembly.

Thank you, Lorna and Sandra!

 Because Lorna Johnson and Sandra Leigh sponsored mother-tongue writers at the International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2012, SELI, through its Heritage Writers program, was able to offer five writing lessons for mother tongue speakers of an indigenous Sierra Leonean language. Participants in these classes then formed a writing group. SELI encourages writing groups to meet regularly to stimulate each other with feedback and support.

SELI offered five writing lessons in Krio from May 5th – June 9th, 2012. The instructor was Nathaniel Pearce, who has authored textbooks on Krio.

Krio is a creole language spoken natively by the Krio people in Sierra Leone. It is also the lingua franca of many people throughout the country. Some linguists say Krio stems from a widespread prototype creole; others say its history and grammar identify it as a Niger-Congo language which has borrowed and adapted a large number of words from English and other languages. Other linguists say it's both.

The Krio Five Writing Lessons class was a mixed group of working and retired people as well as students. We soon found that half the group already had mastered writing skills in Krio. Therefore, at each meeting while the beginners worked with Mr. Pearce, the writers took part in a writing workshop with the SELI director, where they were challenged to write personal experiences, do creative reflection, and write poetry in Krio and share it with their colleagues.

 The Krio Five Writing Lessons class now meets as one writing group, the Raytin Kabudu. Members read their work aloud to the group for constructive critique to help them revise. We thank Mr. Pearce for his offer to continue to work with this group on editing and other writing skills. While the Raytin Kabudu members are working on manuscripts, SELI is seeking funds to support publication because Heritage Writers aims to encourage the written literature of all Sierra Leonean languages.

Thank you, Simone!

By sponsoring a mother tongue writer at the International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2012, Simone Anderson made it possible for SELI, through its Heritage Writers program, to offer five writing lessons for mother tongue speakers of an indigenous Sierra Leonean language. Participants in these classes then formed a writing group. SELI encourages writing groups to meet regularly to stimulate each other with feedback and support.

Because Simone helped, SELI offered five writing lessons in Kuranko from April 6th – 21st, 2012.

Kuranko is a Mande language spoken by approximately 268,000 people in Sierra Leone with additional speakers in the region, particularly in Guinea. The language has a strong history of oral literature. Missionary organizations have taught literacy in the language but it is not widespread. The language itself thrives more fully in rural than urban settings, but many children are sent to cities for education. Children in urban areas understand some Kuranko but are more likely to respond in the lingua franca, Krio.

The Kuranko Five Writing Lessons class was a mixed group of working people with strong village oral language skills and secondary school students, some of whom joined under their own initiative and others whose parents saw this as an opportunity for them to get a firmer grounding in their family's language. I found it an exciting class with good, inclusive strategies. Some members have since met as the writing group, Tanyar°, where they are exposed to the writing-craft skills of free writing; of reading work aloud to the group for constructive critique; and of revision. The group was lucky to be visited by a Kuranko traditional poet and performer from New York, Kewulay Kamara, who challenged the members with the promise of an award for documenting Kuranko language traditions.

While the Tanyar° members continue to work on manuscripts with the occasional editing support of their Five Writing Lesson teacher, Saio Marah, SELI is seeking funds to support publication. Heritage Writers would like to see a stronger role played by Kuranko in Sierra Leone's written national literature.

ESL Classes at SELI

The Sentinel English Language Institute (SELI) offers beginning and intermediate-proficiency English classes in Tengbeh Town for teen and adult speakers of other languages who are residing in Freetown. Instruction engages students in all aspects of language—speaking and writing, reading and listening, and grammaring; the beginning students shown here are working on a writing task. The American instructor is an experienced, U.S.-certified ESL specialist. SELI's instructional materials are specifically designed for teaching adult ESL in an international setting.

And just think: all fees are paid to SELI, so ESL learners at SELI are, at the same time, supporting educational projects in other schools in Sierra Leone.

The SRWP is a Rural Program

Running Young Writers writing-workshop clubs in junior secondary schools (middle schools) in Freetown over the past 3+ years has been difficult.  The biggest challenge is finding the time and space for students to sit down and write, and share their writing with each other, after school. For the most part, junior secondary schools in Freetown operate in the first half of the day. They then hand over the school compound to a senior secondary school which operates in the afternoons. Often there is no space for the club to meet. We care about outcomes of the clubs, and infrequent meetings mean loss of momentum and motivation.

Therefore, we've made a change. From the 2012-2013 school year, Seli River Writing Project will operate exclusively in rural junior secondary schools that carry out full school days. We are conducting a Leading Young Writers facilitator training in August for teachers who wish to conduct Young Writers clubs in village schools on the Freetown Peninsula, and for new teachers in the Koinadugu District who are replacing departed teachers. Can't wait to meet our new facilitators!

Chapter Books

The Young Writers from the Seli River Writing Project who have written five or more personal experiences in their clubs, were given the opportunity at the end of the school year to prepare My Life booklets.

Each one chose the sequence in which their experiences would appear as chapters in the book.  They also prepared a dedication and an "About the Author" paragraph to appear at the end.

It's an exciting moment for all authors to walk off with their first new book in their hands, and a wonderfully validating experience for these junior secondary students.  We congratulate each one of them for the perseverance it took to get through so many drafts of at least five different topics.