BUSY ELDERS

Saxonwold Primary students love Uncle Ian (Ian Rossetenstein, 69) who is there every Tuesday to help the Grade 2 and 3 students improve their English by reading them poems and short stories. The former factory manager uses different voices for each character, pulls faces and acts out the stories. He is one of 54 retired volunteers who form part of Second Innings, a voluntary organisation co-ordinated by the Jewish Community Project. The pensioners visit eight primary schools in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs once a week. Although some of the Orange Grove, Lyndhurst, Glenhazel, Orchards, Bramley, Houghton, Saxonwold and Parkhurst primary schools are located in posh suburbs, many of their pupils come from townships and shack settlements and need extra help learning English. The children’s English marks have improved from 60% to 80% since the volunteers joined them. Another volunteer, Fanny Golding (80), helps out at Lyndhurst Primary School. She was an administrative clerk at Wits University’s Law School for 35 years.