With a new plan to bury the nation in a few million books, a radio DJ with a weekend breakfast show is the latest to get on board to highlight the importance of reading for South Africa’s future.
A book-distributing initiative has been launched by youth radio station 5fm’s Kevin Fine to deliver more than three million books to underprivileged schools and communities around the country — one million of which will go to Gauteng.
“People spend too much time complaining about problems, and I thought, here is a way to fix one,” Fine said about his decision to start the project. He said he is privileged to have his radio show as a platform, and decided to put it to use for this initiative.
The plan, which works in conjunction with Rotary South Africa and PostNet, will get the books out to those who need them, he said.
Through this new initiative, Rotary will provide the books — 10 12m containers full of them — while Fine will market the project on Rise and Fine, his radio show to get people to nominate communities in need. PostNet will see that the goods are delivered to the proper beneficiaries.
“Too many people are complaining about the symptoms of illiteracy, and not focusing on the cause. If we can educate more South Africans, it will undoubtedly have an impact upon crime and unemployment,” Fine said.
“It is difficult to fix the outcomes [of problems],” he admitted, “but if we do not make sure that the youngest of the young are educated, then these problems will remain.”
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has already nominated 10 deserving schools, and the City of Johannesburg has identified more than 80 under-resourced libraries that will be assisted through the programme.
“Literacy is an on-going challenge, especially for schools situated in the poorer areas where there is limited access to books,” said Wendy Sweetman, spokesperson for PostNet. “Being a major player in the franchise sector, we believe in growing small enterprises and literacy is a critical factor in empowering communities who will ultimately become part of the larger economy.”
Geoff Schwarten, of the United States-based Better World Books (BWB), said his organisation, which also promotes literacy globally and in South Africa, has a similar approach. “Our organisation is a business with a socially conscious mission.”
BWB has for four years donated used books collected through book drives on college campuses and at libraries in the US. It also sells cheap textbooks online to students worldwide, donating the proceeds as BWB’s way of “addressing literacy and education worldwide”.
“We get emails from South African students in particular thanking us for offering affordable textbooks,” Schwarten said.
Established in 2003 by three friends from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, the organisation grew out of a single book drive. To date, it has raised more than $2-million for world literacy — funds it donates to 80 charities, among them Room to Read, which works globally to advance literacy, boost education and build libraries in poorer communities, including those in South Africa.
“Initiatives like these are important because we’ve successfully demonstrated that business can have a positive impact,” Schwarten said. “With BWB we’ve been able to have a competitive business, employ people with healthcare and benefits, and give back to people all over the world. People are looking for ways to vote with their dollars and support companies that are doing good things in the community.”
Reading is a “foundational skill for cognitive and academic development as well as for life-long learning and success”, said Kate Bapela, spokesperson for the Gauteng department of education.
She said the department welcomes such initiatives, as they help increase access to reading and improve children’s performance in school and their access to different areas of learning. “It is critical that we redouble our efforts to expand reading opportunities and to create a reading nation in South Africa,” she added.
Talking about his own initiative, 5fm’s Fine said: “The most important thing about this project is that it’s three million books, but about 12-million people will use them.” The results will continue serving the communities that become involved, he feels. “And it is a great opportunity for more celebrities and more people in my position to do something.”