November Newsletter

Helens Happenings
Wow, its the end of the year! What a year it has been. Despite the frightful upheaval of Pauls departure from this mortal coil the Learning Centre and the service we provide adult learners in North Otago, has continued. There are more than ever on our books. Many of whom have made great progress and some have gone on to new jobs and other study. The Regional Hui was held in conjunction with Literacy South Canterbury at the end of March. Many of our tutors gathered to welcome all the other Poupou from the South Island, network, learn and eat and to which Paul was able to contribute with a laugh, as always, before was all went our different ways. The tutors have batted on delivering their best. Karen and Helen escaped overseas for alternative views of the world. They returned enlightened but thankfully, keen to stay. As I write this we have 9 new tutors in training and the opportunity to meet them, along with our national trainer, Garland Tonihi, is on 30th November. We can only take one step at a time and sometimes the surprises round the corner are not always to our liking. As the great man said, daily to his family, Adventure, excitement, opportunity! Viewed through that lens, there is potential in the good, the bad and the ugly. Seasons Greetings to you all and heres to other excitement around the corner.

Helen

Important Dates
24th November 30th November 21st December 21st December 30th January Stakeholders Drinks and Nibbles 5.30pm Open Learning Centre All governance, tutors and stakeholders . Hangi at Helen Js 5.30pm, Governance, existing and new tutors Student Morning Tea 10.30am Open Learning Centre Open Learning Centre closes for Christmas and holidays. Open Learning Centre opens for students.

Stakeholders Meeting 24th November

Last year representatives from over 40 organisations with whom we have a relationship met with the Governance Committee, some tutors and staff for drinks and nibbles This year we are holding our Stakeholder meeting on the 24th November. It is an opportunity to express our thanks to them for their support and to introduce our Governance members to the diverse range of groups that we interact with on a daily basis. We hope that Governance members and as many tutors as possible can join us to meet and mingle with our very important Stakeholders

Thursday 24th November 5.30pm Open Learning Centre 34 Ribble Street

Welcome to New Tutors

By the 30th November 9 new tutors will have completed their initial training with National Trainer Garland Tonihi . We welcome these new tutors to Literacy North Otago and look forward to getting to know them as they continue to work along side existing tutors, staff and learners. To celebrate the end of the course we are holding a Hangi at Helen Jansens on Wednesday 30th November at 5.30pm. There will be a charge of $5.00 to cover the cost of the meat. Please bring a desert to share and a chair as Helen does not have many. We would love to have as many Governance and existing tutors to join in this event and welcome these new Tutors: Gill Bartrum, Liz Cadogan, Ruth Drummond, John Dunston, Rangi Hepi, Pam Lewis, Anne Phillips-Viva and Robyn Pickens in true Literacy North Otago style at:.

Helen Jansens 24 Till Street 5.30pm Wednesday 30th November

This Hangi is also our pre Christmas party for Staff, Governance and Tutors.

This is an example of a students writing, using the five senses to describe something.

Jans Marmalade Biscuits.

Marmalade biscuits are small and round and golden on the bottom. They smell like marmalade straight from the jar! When cooking they smell good and while eating they make a crunchy noise. The biscuits have a nice ridgy look on top. One tastes the beautiful marmalade while eating. This recipe, I would recommend to anyone. Thank you Jan! Leonie C

Travelling Books
Literacy Aotearoa with the assistance of New Zealand Post have distributed 2500 travelling books around New Zealand. Fifty of those came to literacy North Otago. On September 8th, World literacy day, we launched our version of a travelling book. Tutors, students and members of the public were invited to morning tea at the Open Learning Centre. There was a good turnout of over forty people who launched the Book Exchange with a cuppa and a biscuit. The Book Exchange has been set up in the front window of the Literacy Centre and can be accessed by anyone. There is no need to bring a book, just take one, read it then return it and take another. Activity at the exchange has been steady with a constant flow of books out and donations from the public coming in. We have also attracter some new readers. There have been some really good reads come through, such us Black Like Me, The Short Reign of Pippin 5th, Tom Sayer plus a range of novels by Jeffery Archer, Hammond Innes and Alistair McLean.

View from the Cliff

Tolerating the intolerable !

I seem to recall that parents and preachers banged on all the time about tolerance. Its amongst a list of hard to acquire virtues that they both seem to have agreed upon as important lessons we kids needed to learn. Like most virtues, children seem to find them puzzling things: a bit like a set of instructions you've found in an old motor mower manual and just as incoherent. Worse, there is no mower to go with it. Anyway, even if you had one, you were too small to get it started. (Mind you Dad, in some remarkable displays of intolerance, couldn't either) The other problem with virtues like tolerance, was that the very people instructing us too often failed to put the theory into practice. The next lesson from the pulpit after the one about tolerating other people's poor behaviour and forgiving our trespassers and putting up with our extremely annoying little brothers and horribly spoiled sister was the one about all the dire punishments we could expect both now and in eternity for sins like intolerance. It seemed to me, even as a small child, that this appeared to be a poor example from the top. The more immediate and painfully hard parental hand applied to the bum wasn't too flash either and she HAD torn and scribbled on my best comic too ! As an adult I came to realise the convenience of people tolerating me. You can get so much done and enjoy yourself far more if people do things your way. This seemed to be a virtue I could live with. It only became tricky when there was an expectation that it be reciprocated. Now if there is one thing I can't stand there may be the odd one or two others I could add it is intolerant people ! And right there of course is the difficulty. Tolerance/intolerance is one of those frustratingly circular virtues. If you could see it, it would likely look a bit like a boomerang; useful if you used it correctly, with skill, but without care, a tendency to be a bit of pain in the neck. Why am I reverting to my childhood ? (clever comments on the back of a postage stamp please) Because literacy tutors are called upon for bucket loads of tolerance. Well yes, other folk too but this is OUR newsletter. The student that doesn't turn up. The ones that turn up at the wrong time. The ones that turn up and change their minds about what they want to do after you've spent hours preparing! The ones that don't try things. The ones that don't do homework they've said they'd give a go. The ones that bring a friend to have a look and then spend the time talking about the weekend. The ones who set goals and expect you to achieve them FOR them. The ones who think that Will Power stars in a sit-com. And don't get me started on our colleagues ! If we cannot tolerate these sorts of things we might just as well give up. In this last newsletter for the year, I want to pay tribute to all you wonderfully tolerant people, students, tutors and governance, who very sensibly tolerated my intolerance. But be warned you'll eventually come round to my way of doing things.

Cliff

Attitude of Gratitude
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace... you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy. If you woke up this morning with good health you are more fortunate than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle unfolding all around you, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... you are ahead 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of persecution, harassment, arrest, torture, or death... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If your parents are still alive and still married...you are very rare, even in New Zealand. If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all. Author Unknown

Christmas is forever, not for just one day, for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf. The good you do for others is good you do yourself ~Norman Wesley Brooks, "Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976

LITERACY NORTH OTAGO

Open Learning Centre 34 Ribble St Oamaru Phone: Fax: 4342236 4342236

A Vote of Thanks
Jenny Gawn and Governance Committee
For the past year our Governance Committee has been chaired by Jenny. Thank you for your commitment during this difficult year of transition from Pauls leadership to Helens. We appreciate the great work the committee does on behalf of Literacy North Otago. Sharon Johnson and Louise Bee have resigned from the committee and we thank Sharon for her input since 2009. Your skills and knowledge have been much appreciated. Louise your interest and support over the past year has been great. It has been wonderful to have a you, a young member of the community on governance.

Postal Address: Box 2 Oamaru 9444

Email: literacynorthtago@xtra.co.nz

The only person who is educated Is the one Who has learned how to learn And change

I can not teach anybody anything I can only make them think. Were on the Web! Literacy.org.nz

Carl Rodgers

Socrates

Thank you to our sponsors for 2011

Altrusa Lotteries Commission COGS Zees Computing Ashley and Barbara Bent Oamaru Vets Antonio Cabrera Oamaru Mail Literacy Aotearoa Tertiary Education Commission Donald and Nellie Malcolm Trust Community Trust of Otago

Imagine A world without Words

From, Helen J and all of us at Literacy North Otago