WATCH: Dr Mhlophe celebrates literacy campaign’s 20-year milestone
As a literacy campaign, Nozincwadi has travelled to the most remote areas of the country.
IN THE wise words of renowned storyteller, Dr Gcina Mhlophe, “Until we see a brighter future in our children’s eyes, not much of what we do today has any value.”
This realisation moved her in taking a step towards founding a literacy campaign to help build a reading and writing nation. Through the Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust (GAHT), Nozincwadi Mother of Books Literacy Campaign was established.
Twenty years later, the initiative that began as a reading roadshow, allowed Dr Mhlophe and her small team to drive to remote parts of the country with boxes of books to many different schools.
Often, these schools did not even have a library and she would encourage them to choose a room to convert into a library using the Nozincwadi box as a starting point.
To commemorate its two decades, GAHT celebrated World Book Day on Thursday, 22 April with the Ugu District Department of Education on a school’s event at the Scottburgh Town Hall.
The culmination day, expected to be at the Storytelling Tree at the Bluff Showgrounds, was moved to the Durban Music School due to the inclement weather.
“This is our thanksgiving event for all the blessings that have allowed us to get this far in our mission to make South Africa a reading nation, and most of all, to thank all the believers who journeyed with us. There was dancing, singing, storytelling, poetry, art and a mini-market,” said Dr Mhlophe.
As a literacy campaign, Nozincwadi has travelled to the most remote areas of the country. The level of illiteracy in the country was a driving force behind this campaign.
The story of Nozincwadi was published in a book and was accompanied by a story and music CD, co-produced with Bheki Khoza, that became the soundtrack of the roadshow.
The roadshow touched so many lives of people young and old, those who have recently learned to read and write.
“When I visit schools in rural South Africa, I see myself in those children. I’ve been there, that’s where I come from. Reading inspired me to think and dream big. I share this experience with everybody who is feeling despondent with their personal situation right now,” she said.
To find out more about the Nozincwadi Literacy Campaign, visit www.gcinamasikoarts-heritage.org or like Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust on Facebook.
