Cape Town – Schools in the West Coast, Eden-Karoo, Overberg and Cape Winelands will benefit from the thousands of books handed over to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).
A Japanese NGO called South African Primary Education Support Initiative (SAPESI), Ocean Network Express Pty Ltd (ONE), a newly established global container shipping company following the merger of container business of three Japanese shipping companies, in collaboration with the Western Cape Department of Education, handed over some 23 000 English Children’s Books for mobile libraries.
The books were collected by Sony Corporation, of Hong Kong Limited, organisations and communities, the South African Consulate in Hong Kong and Macao SAR, as well as the Sony Group of companies and employees.
They were brought to the province with the assistance of the South African Primary Education Support Initiative and local shipping company, Ocean Network Express.
Former Sony Hong Kong managing director and Sapesi director Tadashi Hasunuma said they were happy to be sharing the joy of reading with children from the Western Cape.
“South African children have a gap compared to Japanese children because they have to learn their mother tongue and English, but Japanese children only have to learn Japanese, and we feel this is why donating books to them is so important.”
He said that to date more than 280 000 books have been donated since the initiative was implemented.
“There are more than 60 mobile libraries reaching around 800 schools across the nine provinces.
‘‘Sapesi is aiming to extend this service to eventually 100 mobile buses which will reach over 2500 schools in rural areas.”
Consul of Japan in Cape Town Yasushi Naito said: ‘‘Reading joy can change the future of children.
‘‘Mobile libraries, now mobilized in 60 vehicles in all 9 provinces thanks to this initiative, can enhance access to books even to children in remote areas.
‘‘What makes me especially glad is that it is a joint initiative of Japanese NGO, Japanese Private Sectors and South Africans.’’