{"id":70761,"date":"2016-05-30T20:53:15","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T18:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/sa-taxi-foundation-and-iread-africa-partner-to-promote-childrens-access-to-literary-resources\/"},"modified":"2016-05-30T20:53:15","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T18:53:15","slug":"sa-taxi-foundation-and-iread-africa-partner-to-promote-childrens-access-to-literary-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/sa-taxi-foundation-and-iread-africa-partner-to-promote-childrens-access-to-literary-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"SA Taxi Foundation and iRead Africa partner to promote children\u2019s access to literary resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

SA Taxi Foundation and iRead Africa partner to promote children\u2019s access to literary resources<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\"TLB-Kruger-at-iRead-reading-corner_Red-Cross-Children-Hospital-in-Cape-Town\"<\/p>\n

SA Taxi Foundation and iRead Africa partner to promote children\u2019s access to literary resources Photo: Rager Sedres of Image SA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Reading corners on each floor of the Red Cross War Memorial Children\u2019s Hospital to enable children to expand their world beyond their hospital bed<\/p>\n

SA Taxi Foundation has partnered with iRead Africa to establish two reading corners on each floor of the Red Cross War Memorial Children\u2019s Hospital in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

The hospital is the largest, public, stand-alone tertiary hospital dedicated entirely to child health care in southern Africa. It manages some 260 000 patient visits each year, with most of its patients coming from exceptionally poor and marginalised communities within South Africa and the rest of the continent. One third of its patients are younger than one year. No child is turned away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were attracted by iRead Africa\u2019s proposal to us for this project because we believe that education is the single most powerful transformational agent,\u201d says SA Taxi Foundation director, Kalnisha Singh. \u201cHowever, education is impossible without literacy. So, inculcating in children a love of reading is profoundly important.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the more so because, according to a recent survey by UNESCO in 2015, 40% of all children in sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 15 cannot read. These children will not be able to enter the modern workplace and the continent\u2019s transformation will be delayed further.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur education system is falling short even on the basics and the vast majority of parents simply don\u2019t have the means to buy literary books for their children. So, children are not being introduced to the wider world – beyond text books – of fantasy and imagination and the vast reservoir of humanity\u2019s written creativity. iRead Africa fills that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

iRead Africa, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), offers a number of options for children to access literary resources, including helping government with the establishment of school libraries and creating reading corners in cr\u00e8ches and community centres in underserviced areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe books that are provided by iRead Africa\u2019s partner, Kruger Publications, are literary rather than directly educational works. So, they\u2019ll feel like entertainment, making them more attractive to the children who access them. By placing reading corners in each ward, therefore, one opens up the possibility of encouraging some adults to read, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The launch of the reading corners at the Red Cross War Memorial Children\u2019s Hospital on Friday 27th May 2016 included readings to children by TLB Kruger from his first book in a Mindfulness series, \u2018Prince of Gold\u2019.<\/p>\n

Singh foresees this initial partnership between SA Taxi Foundation and iRead Africa continuing in other budget years. \u201cWe value the initiative because it has the potential to activate creative instincts in this country\u2019s children, equipping them to take us all forward into a positive future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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