100 e-readers donated to Tembisa school

Simba Chips and Worldreader have joined forces to help advance literacy in South Africa, starting with the donation of 100 e-readers to Welamlambo Primary School in Tembisa on December 5.

Worldreader is a non-profit organisation dedicated to championing digital reading in underserved communities to create a world where everyone can be a reader.

The partnership will involve the donation of e-readers to South African communities benefiting more than 1 000 learners, as well as encouraging consumers to download the Worldreader app to gain access to over 35 000 books.

The e-readers will be pre-loaded with works from more than 20 publishers, both international and from across Africa, including titles in English and Zulu.

Members of the public will also be able to get involved, as Simba is encouraging people to download the Worldreader app to access the abundance of free books available to all.

Information on how to download the app will feature on Simba’s chip packets as well as on their social media platforms. This partnership will be the first of its kind in aiming to drive more than 300 million consumers to the digital reading platform by 2020.

Unathi Mhlatyana, UM general manager PepsiCo, said: “The use of e-readers enables learners to read at their own convenience, from a large collection of digital books, on a device the school already owns. In turn, this helps to advance reading skills that will help these children throughout their lives.

“Simba is very proud to be partnering with Worldreader on this initiative which forms part of our performance with purpose agenda to build sustainable communities and champion education.”

Benson Mbuthia, Worldreader regional programme manager commented: “We are very excited to be working with Simba in South Africa, both through our school programme here in Tembisa but also by encouraging readers across the country to access a library of books on their phone.”