Nal’ibali helped me reach more kids as a writer
My name is Mbali Dipuo Kgame. I was born in Zola in Soweto, but grew up in a small, isolated township called Poortjie in the Vaal. As a teen, I moved back to Zola, so both places have influenced my writing and creativity.
I have written two stories for Nal’ibali, Hair Magic for Radio Stories Season 5 and The Djembe Drum for Season 6. Hair…
SA POST OFFICE & NAL’IBALI: AN ALLIANCE TO NURTURE SA LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
On Friday, 17 September, children across South Africa will be invited to mail a postcard to their loved ones anywhere in the country, free of charge at selected post offices. This opportunity – a commemoration of National Literacy Month – is made possible by the South African Post Office and Nal’ibali.
Nal’ibali, a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign to spark children’s potential through storytelling and reading, has…
NAL’IBALI AND STANDARD BANK UNLOCK TRUTHS IN CLASSIC FAIRY TALES FOR SA CHILDREN
Storytelling is an essential forerunner in children’s literacy development and an important way of preserving culture and language. Yet many of the same stories appear in different parts of the world: passed down from generation to generation, retold in various languages and with different cultural adaptations. These classic fairy tales contain important moral lessons and universal human truths.
As part of Literacy and Heritage Month,…
Q&A with KZN FUNda Leader – Florah Dlamini
Meet 53 year old mam Florah Dlamini. From Centocow in Mzikhulu, a small town three hours from Durban. Florah has a reading club in her community and has over the years encouraged many other parents and caregivers to do the same.
What are you currently working on for Nal’ibali and what do you enjoy doing most?
Reading books with children is what I mostly enjoy doing. I…
For many women reclaiming their authenticity is a revolutionary act
By: Yandiswa Xhakaza
As a woman, you either love or hate the month of August. It’s the month when women are inundated with requests to attend events, asked to share their experiences, struggles, triumphs, and are reminded of how much more they can (read: should) achieve, despite the challenges they endure.
What does it mean to be a woman? This is a personal question because it…
Q&A with Eastern Cape FUNda Leader – Zanele Ndlovu
Meet our Eastern Cape FUNda Leader, 38-year-old Zanele Ndlovu from Gwenxintaba village in Lusikisiki. Zanele is passionate about literacy and has been involved in several initiatives to help instill the love of reading for children in her community.
What are you currently working on for Nal’ibali and what do you enjoy doing most?
I am the co-founder and director of the Novulakuvaliwe Library. We work with…
REPRESENTATION IS KEY TO READING SUCCESS
Khumo Tapfumaneyi is a co-founder of Ethnikids, a specialist online bookstore sourcing and selling children’s books that feature characters of colour in different South African languages. Tapfumaneyi has made it her mission to ensure that as many children as possible can fall in love with reading by seeing children just like themselves reflected in the stories they read.
The Nal’ibali reading-for-enjoyment campaign caught up with…
YOUTH MONTH: A CALL FOR AFRICAN LANGUAGE CHILDREN’S STORIES
This June, as we remember the Soweto youth who protested the use of Afrikaans and English as the languages of school instruction amongst other injustices, the Nal’ibali reading-for-enjoyment campaign calls on aspiring and established authors to donate their original African language stories.
South Africa faces a critical lack of children’s literature in indigenous languages and Nal’ibali believes is is these stories that motivate and inspire…
EMPOWERING CHILDREN THROUGH STORIES IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE CADBURY LAUNCHES READ TO SUCCEED INITIATIVE
A love of reading is sparked when children see themselves in stories and relate it to their lives, even more so when it is shared in their home language. Xolisa Guzula – early literary specialist, author and translator – agrees that when children learn to read in their mother tongues it’s much easier to build on that foundation. However, a survey by the Publishers Association SA…
Nal’ibali has helped me grow as a writer
Meet Bubele Retshe
My writing journey dates back to 2005 when I fell in love with reading and the English language. It was the year that I was sent to a school where English was the medium of teaching and communication.
At that point in my life, the only English phrase I knew with confidence was, “Good morning, ma’am.” My English was so poor that I…