ZODML 2022 SUMMER HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

By Stephen Aminehi

The Zaccheus Onumba Dibiaezue Memorial Libraries (ZODML) Summer Holiday Programme is an annual event in August. It brings children together to spend the long summer school holiday engaged in creative activities that are fun and instructive. This year the programme ran from the 1st to the 31st of August, the children attending from Monday to Friday. 
One hundred and eighty-six children aged between four and fifteen registered for the programme, the largest number ZODML has so far hosted. The large number meant the children had to be split into two groups, and morning and afternoon sessions were set up. There were four types of activities; use of computers, arts and crafts, spelling and reading, and puzzles. The most popular was the use of computers.
Use of Computers
The children participating in this activity were taught basic computer skills like booting, drawing with MS Paint, and creating documents with the Microsoft Office suite. Towards the end of the programme, the children were tested, and we were pleased with the 90% success recorded.

Arts and Crafts
In arts and crafts, the children had fun drawing and colouring different animals and objects. Budding and talented artists emerged as the children made lovely drawings of things in front of them. The older children designed and made colourful bookmarks.  

Spelling and Reading
This activity saw the children select books to read out loud, identify keywords and their spelling, and check the meaning of new words in the dictionary. The children enjoyed reading the books and sharing moral lessons from them.

Puzzles
The children were given different jigsaw puzzles to put together. They sat in groups of four, competed against each other, and were quite adept at fixing the puzzles. The most popular puzzle was the map of Nigeria.  

Certificates and Prizes
On the last day, the children were given ZODML Certificates of Participation, and top performing children received prizes.

What the children said:
‘I had a memorable experience. I was so thrilled when I saw the new novels. I was also allowed to take the novels home.’ – Ayodele Highflyer.
‘My experience in the ZODML summer holiday programme was awesome. I hope to come next year. I love everyone there.’ – Agbo Theresa.
‘I heard about the summer lesson through my neighbour.  When my neighbour told me, I was very happy. The first day I came, I was a bit shy but had to be confident in myself. I learnt a lot of things, some of which were simple sentences, spellings, inventions and their inventors, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Thank you to the staff and management of ZODML.’ – Osuji Favour