My name is Bomikazi and I’m from Bizana, where I’ve worked in schools. At first, I was nervous because I was not giving myself a chance to read at all. But, as time progressed, I started to enjoy reading because I would notice the difference in the kids. The kids now love reading. They were so lazy to speak. I’m not sure whether they were not being given an opportunity, but with the arrival of Nal’ibali everything changed.

I used to be called Nal’ibali, even on the road or in the streets: “Miss – here’s Nal’ibali.” It used to happen even when I’m by the river, or at home and also at school. When I’m about to approach a certain class while there’s still a teacher teaching, the kids will leave their books – all they wanted was a story. If I was about to get into a class, I would find a teacher already continuing with the Nal’ibali programmes. That has made a huge impact.

When we were about to have a showcase, there were kids who were chosen who were going to demonstrate some items in Phephele School. It was obvious that only three kids would be going. But when we arrived on the day, the kids were too many and when I asked the teachers, “How did it all happen?”, the kids then answered me, saying that they didn’t sleep. The kids were unable to sleep because they were busy reading throughout.

To me, Nal’ibali has made a huge change and also to the teachers; it was quite sad when I was leaving them, as if this programme was inside of me, but they promised that they would continue with the programme. They used to ask how I was doing it, as if there was some spice accompanying me. Even now, I hope that it will continue helping them out.