SAB supports adult education

Lorraine Dlamini whose life has changed since she started learning to read and write and do some arithmetic.

Joy is etched on the face of 40-year-old Lorraine Dlamini as she speaks of the wonder of not being illiterate any more. No longer does the mother of three have to use her thumbprint to authorise a document, nor does she need to put a cross on the spot where her signature is required. She is one of beneficiaries of the program.

Taught in refurbished containers

The teaching takes place in refurbished containers named Philakahle (Live Well) Centres set up in various parts of the province: Msinga in the Midlands, Mtutabtuba in the north, Kokstad in the south and in Mbumbulu at Prospecton outside Durban. The containers were made and installed by SAB's regional Kickstart winner, Isivuno Containers.

The programmes have been running for less than a year and already 3,700 people have benefited from them.

Each container, supplied by SAB, comprises a training room and a consulting room, which are air-conditioned and equipped with desks, chairs and stock-in-trade blackboards. Monitors and facilitators employed by the Education Department give the tuition and training.

Zulu, English and numeracy lessons

Lorraine Dlamini is from Mbumbulu and is one of a group of about 20 mainly middle-aged women who began Zulu, English and innumeracy lessons there towards the end of last year and will graduate in July with a certificate from the Department of Education, indicating the type of training they have completed. During their time there they will also receive HIV/AIDS education and vegetable-gardening lessons. Her new-found knowledge has transformed Dlamini's life…

"I can now sign my own name. Just that small thing has brought me a lot of pride and freedom. I can also understand some of the writing on signboards and I'm getting better at reading every day."

Staff at SAB's Prospecton District regularly go out to the Mbumbulu centre to help with the upkeep and maintenance of the premises as part of their Corporate Social Investment involvement.

Nqobile Hadebe, SAB's East Coast Region CSI co-ordinator, said the company's philosophy was to build better communities to build a better province.

Empowerment through literacy

"We believe empowerment through adult-literacy skills is a key objective. Another focus for these venues is to introduce health-management issues, such as awareness of tuberculosis in HIV/AIDS patients," said Hadebe. "Skills training and tuition in health care will give these rural people the opportunity of empowerment, through the knowledge they get. We cannot solve every social problem ourselves, but we can certainly make a very real input by giving people the power to not only help themselves but others too.

"All four Philakahle Centres are in areas near our depots or breweries and this gives our employees the opportunity to remain involved and enjoy their CSI day at a centre," said Hadebe.

The Department of Education's co-ordinator for the programme in Mbumbulu, Lucky Mthetho, said about 800 adult pupils were involved in classes at the centre at present. "The department employs facilitators and monitors to run the courses, some of whom are trained and experienced teachers.

"The results so far have been rewarding for everyone involved. To see someone arrive at class totally illiterate and finish the course with a good grasp of the rudiments of reading and writing is a special experience."