Roslyn Narain-Mohan has received many prestigious accolades, over the years, such as the SABC 2 Shoprite Woman of the Year, eThekwini Living Legend, Influential Woman and Star Educator in South Africa, among others. Roslyn Narain-Mohan is a Living Legend in her community of Newlands West where she tackles virtually every social injustice, from HIV/Aids, crime, racial conflict, poverty, age and individual suffering. As a skilled educator she has been able to teach her community to engage and seek answers to these problems and in doing so has made a tangible difference in the lives of hundreds of individuals across the cultural spectrum.
In 2011, a dream to educate adults who couldn’t read or write came to be realised. Today, Roslyn’s Academy for Adult Learning (RAFAL) stands as a beacon of hope in the community, uplifting elderly individuals through education. Roslyn Narain, who has been at the forefront of educating not only adult students, but pupils in the Newlands area, is behind the success of RAFAL programme.
Her journey into RAFAL started in 2008 when she was involved in the National Education’s Mass Literacy Campaign which was aimed at adults who couldn’t read and write. Narain went in search of adult students who could not read or write:
“It was a difficult process of motivating the elderly to come to school . They wanted to learn how to read and write but were in fear of the stigma attached to not being literate. Afraid that society would
ridicule them at not being able to read and write. “
She now has a number of students aged 50 – 76 and continues with her inspiring work of educating and uplifting the elderly.