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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2014-12-31, Page 1616 News Record • Wednesday, December 31, 2014 Multimedia Journalist Sun Media is looking an energetic and enthusiastic person to join our editorial team as a multimedia journalist with the Huron Expositor in Seaforth. The successful applicant will cover events in and around Seaforth for our print publica- tions and website. There is opportunity for advancement within Sun Media. Qualifications: • The desired applicant will have strong writing and photography skills and be able to cover a broad spectrum of community events. • Coordinate with company paginators on the completion of paper layout • A degree or diploma in Journalism is preferred, but applicants with writing back- grounds will be given consideration • Must have a reliable vehicle. • There will be some evening and weekend assignments. Interested and qualified applicants should forward their resume before January 16, 2015 to: Dave Flaherty, Editor The Goderich Signal Star 120 Huckins St. Goderich, ON N7A 3X8 Email: HYPERLINK "mailto:dave.flaherty@sunmedia.ca" dave.flaherty@sunmedia.ca We thank in advance all applicants for their interest. Only those candidates under con- sideration will be contacted. No phone calls or agencies please. Sun Media Corporation is committed to employment equity and an inclusive, barrier - free selection process and work environment. Sun Media encourages applications from women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities SUN MEDIA A QueiEcor Media Company As we enter 2015.., We're reminded again that Canada is a wonderful place to call "home"; a place where we can raise our families in the safety and security of a wonderful community. May 2015 be a healthy, and prosperous year for all! lrivegtment Planning Counsel'_ Leonard (Len) Lobb CFP, FMA Investment Planning Counsel IPC Securities Corporation 410 James St., Clinton Ontario 519-482-8887 (toll free) 877-502-8887 len.lobb@ipcsecurities.com C 113 E M R E R - Londesborough news Brenda Radford Special to the News Record Hullett Central's secretary, Morag Watt, continues her description of edu- cation in South Africa.. In South Africa, all children, regardless of the school they attend, must wear a school uni- form. For some, this simple financial requirement is enough to make educa- tion unattainable for them. For many (? most) black children, there is no option as to which school they will attend. Many attend a local "primer"; a small, one -room schoolhouse often provided for them by the local farmer who employs their families. There is no money to attend a "fee paying" school; they have no means of transportation to get to another school even if they were able to afford it; and, sadly the importance of education often has not been embraced in their tribal culture. For many, education beyond basic life skills remains unattainable, or perhaps more correctly, a goal not pursued even though it may be available. There sim- ply is not the commitment to attend and work towards changing their lot in life. It is the vicious cycle of poverty that is not exclusive to South Africa. We see the same thing here in North America. During this Christmas season, I thought I would start by telling you about Thornhill Primary School. This is the poorest of the schools I go into. The school itself is made up of a several classrooms housed in framed square buildings about the size of a boxcar. Each class houses 30 - 40 children sit- ting three to a desk, on the floor and around the perimeter of the room. This school is almost exclusively black children. Previously I talked about the quintile system of school funding in South Africa. This school serves local farm labourer's children who live in the local settlement (shanty town). They are the poorest of the poor. There is no ques- tion that this school should be rated a quintile 1 school and qualify for the maximum government funding but for some reason it is rated a quintile 3 school which means it receives only minimal funding. In my opinion, this injustice is reflective of a system that is fraught with corruption and inequity. These people are totally at the mercy of decision makers who do not necessarily have their best interest at heart. Enough said about that. The best thing about this school is the principal. He, a coloured man who grew up under the apartheid system but was fortunate enough to receive a good education and he, in turn, is a living example to these children that education can change their lives. He is a dynamic, passionate leader who instills confidence, self-respect and inspiration to his charges and his staff. Still, his greatest challenge is attend- ance, or rather "non" -attendance by children. Many of them walk a great distance to attend school, they live in single parent or child -headed house- holds having lost parents to disease, violence or abandonment. They may or may not have eaten let alone had their emotional or social needs met. And saddest of all, many of they them- selves are afflicted with AIDS. When your basic necessities of life are not being met it is difficult to be an enthu- siastic learner. Still, the staff at this school work tirelessly to raise up their charges. They are resourceful in their teaching methods and absolutely nothing is wasted. Their commitment in the face of such challenges is awe inspiring. Each year when I go to the schools, I take with me a few simple supplies: pencils and notebooks, a few reading books and some teaching aids. The cost of these things to me is minimal but to these children they are invalua- ble. I am always humbled by the exceptional gratitude that the admin- istration displays upon receiving such a small gift. I am almost embarrassed to accept their thanks for things that we take so much for granted here; but it is tremendously rewarding to know that these gifts will help in the work these dedicated people do. The real satisfaction however comes from the faces of the children. No matter how poor, how hopeless their situation may be or how unfairly life has treated them, these children find joy in the simplest of pleasures. A new pencil. A notebook that they may call their own. The wonder of a storybook. These are such little things to us but to them they are absolutely magical. Throughout the year here in Canada, it gives me great pleasure to work with the Avon Maitland District School Board and the Rotary Club of Grand Bend on their "Global Literacy Project" (www.grandbendrotary.com). This Rotary project sees old, obsolete and surplus furniture, equipment and books from our school system shipped to schools such as Thornhill in South Africa rather than being discarded into landfills. The program relies solely on the generosity of donors to cover the cost of shipping these containers and on the work of many volunteers to organize, collect materials and load the containers. It is a tremendously suc- cessful project which has seen 41 over- seas shipping containers sent to Africa to date. And the work continues because the need continues. In closing I would like to share this thought with you. As I give thanks for the many blessings and privileges I enjoy in Canada, I know I will take a moment and reflect on my experiences in South Africa and the lessons I have learned there -- to find joy in simple things, to love absolutely and uncondi- tionally, and to persevere when the task seems overwhelming. Education is the only hope these children have to change their future. And after all ... is there any greater gift we can give them than hope?