A team from the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) and other role-players brought excitement to Sakhingomso Educare Centre in Philippi on Friday September 6, as part of International Literacy Day celebrations.
International Literacy Day is marked on September 8 each year.
The NLSA team, together with members of Brown’s Farm and Gugulethu libraries, arranged educational activities for the children.
According to Phakama Matoti, project coordinator for NLSA’s Children’s Literature Programme, literacy is essential to developing a strong sense of well-being and citizenship. She said children who have developed strong reading skills perform better in school and have a healthier self-image.
“We want them to read and learn. We are developing their minds as early as possible. We are here to read books to them, go through activities with them so they can enjoy what they are doing. We want people to read for pleasure and be proud of their languages. We are lucky to have McDonald’s onboard who donated not only books but food for them as well,” she said.
Ms Matoti’s words were echoed by Gugulethu Library librarian Nelly Mdleleni who agreed that the day was an opportunity to express love and care to young children at the pre-school.
She said learning from an early age gives children an advantage in life. “This is a perfect opportunity for them to read. We should know that reading starts as early as 0 years old That is why when we have these celebrations, we think about the children in our surrounding neighbourhoods and do something to make a difference in their lives,” she said.
Activities included reading, story time, a question-and-answer session and singing to end it off.
Sakhingomso Educare Centre principal Phelisa Khanzi, said the day was beneficial for her children and teachers.
“We are grateful to all those that took time to entertain and educate our children. We got more than 250 books and toys from McDonald’s. This shows how some people care about the future of our children. We now have to take them to the library so they can know what a library is,” she said.
