A writers workshop organized by the School of Distance and Lifelong Learning was held from 9th – 15th October 2011 in Kampala. The workshop was held as part of the activities for the LETTER (Learning for Empowerment Through Training in Ethnographic Research) DeLPhe project.
The workshop was attended by 35 participants from Uganda (Makerere University SODLL staff and community workers) and Ethiopia (staff and community workers) and facilitated by Ms Elda Lyster and Sonya Keyser from University of KwaZulu Natal South Africa. Participants gained skills in writing and editing for easy to read in local languages fiction. Topics included; structured creative writing, introduction to various types of fiction, exposure to features of good stories, clarification of characteristics of easy to read text, the use of simple language and writing and editing short stories.
An outcome of this workshop was the preparation and production of booklets and literacy materials that will be used in the experimental teaching phase of the project. The LETTER research project also aims to introduce the idea of publishing relevant new readers' materials that can introduce and support a reading culture in the lives of rural people, especially for those who have just learnt how to read and write. This will help to overcome the lack of appropriate and relevant reading materials for rural people who are interested in reading.
