Four young authors from a rural area north-west of King William's Town came to Grahamstown Wednesday 10 September to hand over copies of their books to pupils at Good Shepherd Primary School.
Four young authors from a rural area north-west of King William's Town came to Grahamstown Wednesday 10 September to hand over copies of their books to pupils at Good Shepherd Primary School.
The four pupils from St Matthew's High School in Keiskammahoek were part of a team of 16 girls who wrote the books in response to a lack of isiXhosa reading material for pupils.
They, aided by St Andrew's College Community Engagement, wrote and illustrated their own isiXhosa stories for young children.
Mihlalikazi Kumalo, Literacy Project Manager at Sifunda Kunye Education Foundation, believes initiatives such as this will give isiXhosa children exposure to their own written language, ultimately allowing them to express themselves more fully. She said the shortage of isiXhosa reading material could hamper comprehension in pupils for whom English could be their third or even fourth language.
Lack of home-language reading material can also result in alienation from, and even suppression of, the home language.
Somila Tyobela, Sesethu Booi, Bavuyile Mamayo and Buhle Yiwani were acting on behalf of 16 co-authors and illustrators when they handed over the books to the pupils at Good Shepherd, which was the fifth school to receive such a donation.
Kumalo said the project also is involved in other forms of literacy workshops, such as a book club for teenagers and an intensive writing and reading ‘camp’ held over the weekend.
The project incorporates various themes, which this month is: “How can we preserve our heritage?”.
The Sifunda literacy project only started in April but already is involved with five different schools and hopes to continue growing in the future. Also present at the book hand-over were Geoff Antrobus of the St. Andrew's Foundation and Tim Barnard of the school's Community Engagement.
Barnard voiced his hope that the Good Shepherd learners would reciprocate by themselves writing books for future generations of isiXhosa learners.
