Katharina Riebesel
A TOTAL of 221 children from the Valley Farm School at the Altydgedacht Wine Estate in Durbanville will benefit from a new container library that was launched yesterday by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, in collaboration with the Cotton On Foundation.
The foundations partnered to provide pupils with more than 1 000 Afrikaans, English and Xhosa books.
One of the pupils at the event yesterday, Carmeline Bothman, enjoys reading about animals and fairy tales. Her favourite story is Cinderella.
“Carmeline is from a Xhosa background. When she came to our school last year, she could not speak a word of Afrikaans. Due to passionate reading, she is fluent in Afrikaans and English now,” said Marilyn Pierce, a Grade 3 teacher at the Valley Farm School.
The 8-year-old and her classmates have the opportunity to borrow fiction, non-fiction, general education and life skills books from the newly launched library. It is one of five container libraries the Cotton On Foundation has installed in the Western Cape.
“We have opened (at least) one library in each province,” said Jeff Clements, from the Cotton On Foundation.
The organisation aimed to enrich the lives of children through contributions towards literacy, security and food. A hungry child cannot learn, and that was why the Cotton On Foundation distributed food parcels at the school in December last year, Clements said.
Opening a library in a rural area was a giant leap towards broadening the children’s horizons. Priscilla August, the principal of the Valley Farm School, is enthusiastic about the project. “Books let us experience a world of dreams. The children can explore other worlds besides the farm area.”
Besides catching the children’s imagination, books also enhance their vocabulary. “Books are my world and I am glad that I can share this passion with my pupils now,” August said.
According to the principal, most of the books in the classes were so old that the children’s parents had used them in years gone by.
Each teacher will be involved in managing and co-ordinating the container library. As stated by Danielle Melville, from the Nelson Mandela Foundation, “this is a small school project with a great impact”.
The positive effect of the education initiative did not take long to manifest.
Immediately after launching the library, Carmeline and her classmates took advantage of the provided books and started reading.
“She is the best in class thanks to reading. Everybody needs to read more like Carmeline,” August said.