By Compass Contributor Christopher Tobutt
Camana Bay’s Kids Corner in Heliconia Court was bursting with colour, laughter and the ever-magical sound of stories being read to young children on Saturday, 30 Aug. as families gathered for ‘Read With Me’ – a free literacy event hosted by Rotary Sunset and LIFE (Literacy is for Everyone).
Part of the inaugural Camana Fest, the event invited children to dive into books, crafts and storytelling with local volunteers and educators.
Father-of-three Naoki Montoya was delighted to bring his children along.
“We have Enzo, who is 7, Noah, who has turned 6, and Elma, who is 4. They have their art and craft and they love colouring and reading. Although they can do these things at home, it’s great that this makes an ‘event’ of it – so that it feels really special,” he said.
Adding another special touch of fairy-tale wonder, Yolande Reid, representing the Miss Royal Cayman Islands pageant and wearing her silver crown, held up a giant-sized copy of Eric Carl’s classic, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, while children excitedly pointed to the colourful illustrations and helped her turn the pages.
“It’s absolutely a joy to spend time with them – to read with and to them,” she said.
Lee-Anne Corin, a volunteer, was having a great time reading to the kids.
“I’m here because I think it’s a joy to promote children’s literacy,” she said, “Literacy is a huge gift, and I think we should be promoting it in the Cayman Islands. Bringing kids together to see their smiles – it feels good to give, and it feels good to bring joy to people.”
Susie Bodden, president of Rotary Sunset, explained the reason for her club’s involvement: “It’s really important for children to read and enjoy books, so that’s why we’re really happy to collaborate with LIFE and with any other groups that are supporting the community. If children don’t have books in the home and learn to read, then they are likely to be unemployed later on.”
LIFE’s Executive Director Erica Dell’oglio said, “LIFE’s mission is to increase literacy levels in the Cayman Islands – among all age groups – but we have been focusing on early childhood because we know that the investment of time and resources into early childhood has the biggest impact later on in life.”
Christopher Tobutt is a freelance journalist who has written for various publications in the Cayman Islands since 2003.
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