The brightly painted and fully stocked container library boasts 3000 brand-new books. The Principal of the school, Dr. Basani Mbhalati together with AVBOB Business Development Director, Nakedi Pilane, cut the ribbon, surrounded by stakeholders which included, Hosi Ribye Muhlava, District Director for Mopani West Circuit, Philippine Modika, Nkowankowa Circuit Manager, Doreen Manzini, and Greater Tzaneen Municipality Acting Mayor, Thabo Maunatlala, amongst other dignitaries graced the event.

Modika expressed her gratitude to the insurance institution. “We need to inculcate the culture of reading and love the love for books. It takes a village to raise a child, by this donation you didn’t just give us a fish, but you have taught us how to fish. The library does not only belong to Ritavi, but to the local schools and the whole community of Nkowankowa,” she said.

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Meanwhile, Hosi Muhlava, said the donation will take the education level forward for the Nkuna people. “Thank you for choosing the Muhlava area to give this precious gift to. We pride ourselves on education, Hosi Muhlava I and II loved education and we all need to follow in their full steps,” Muhlava said. The chief jokingly said, in a few years’ time they will open a museum for uneducated people because these days with the resources and opportunities available there do no excuse to not pursue studies.

Pilane highlighted the role that AVBOB plays as a South African brand that invests in communities across the country. “As a mutual society which is rooted in the communities we serve, we are aware of the challenges that plague resource-poor schools in our country such as a lack of access to quality information. It is our hope that the library handed over today becomes a valuable resource to the bright young minds of Ritavi Senior Primary School,” she said.

Dr. Mbhalati concluded by thanking the AVBOB Foundation. “This library came at the critical moment of the established reading project initiated by REALS SA and the Department of Basic Education (DBE),” the principal said. We highly appreciate the statement made by AVBOB that we must read to lead and regard this moment and time to be historical and relevant to the development of both the young and old,” Dr. Mbhalati concluded.