Ekukhanyisweni Primary School’s Grade 6 pupils had the time of their lives when the prolific writer of children’s books, Refiloe Moahloli visited them.
Moahloli and Iphutheng Primary School dazzled the kids during a literacy programme by help2read, an organisation that strives to get township children to embrace a culture of reading at an early age and thereby improve literacy levels.
At Ekukhanyisweni, Moahloli, author of the book How many ways can you say hello?, was met by an enthusiastic group of children who thoroughly enjoyed their reading session with her and promised they want to be authors.
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She told them in a question and answer session after the reading that they too should consider taking up writing as a career and document their social history, or just write about anything under the sun.
Asked at what level one could become an author, Moahloli said young as they are, they too can put pen to paper and write a book. “There is no age limit to become an author and the subject can be as varied and wide as possible, just about anything under the sun,” said the 29-year-old B Comm graduate who was born in Umthatha in the Eastern Cape.
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Moahloli told the children that this was her first book and she was already working on another. “I will ensure that I keep this school in mind when I have published my second book,” promised Moahloli, who is now a full-time writer after quitting her job in 2014.
Help2read has been running literacy programmes in the two schools in Alex for the past four years. The programme involves volunteers who help children in reading and tutoring sessions, the formation of reading clubs and the general resolve to uplift literacy levels in the township.
Moahloli also donated a couple of her books to the school library and did the same at Iphutheng Primary School, which are the two schools that benefit from the help2read tutorial sessions and Holiday Reading Clubs.
Details: help2read 011 028 8278; www.help2read.org; info@help2read.org
