Cape Town, Monday, 29 May 2023 – Nal'ibali, a national campaign focused on promoting reading for enjoyment, is organizing interactive reading sessions in various childcare centres across the Western Cape to commemorate Child Protection Week. The aim is to raise awareness about the significance of reading for early childhood development.
Child Protection Week is an annual event in South Africa that aims to increase awareness of children's rights as outlined in the Constitution. The objective is to highlight the need to protect children from abuse, exploitation, neglect, and all forms of violence.
These interactive reading sessions, featuring fun and engaging children's stories, intend to emphasize how reading fosters confidence and resilience in children from an early age. Research demonstrates that children who read at a young age exhibit improved cognitive, social, and emotional skills, which serve as protective factors against abuse and neglect.
"Sharing stories through reading is a simple yet effective way for children and adults to build positive relationships and learn from each other in a fun and creative environment," says Suri Tsholetsane, Communication Manager at Nal'ibali. "During this year's Child Protection Week, we want to underscore how these early reading experiences can contribute to keeping children safe and empowering them to reach their full potential."
Established in 2012, Nal'ibali's mission is to unlock children's potential through storytelling and reading. This non-profit organization promotes literacy and ensures access to children's books in all 11 official languages of South Africa. Through a national network of reading clubs, outreach programs, advocacy campaigns, and training initiatives, Nal'ibali has distributed over 3 million books to children across the country.
The interactive reading sessions will be held in Kraaifontein, Rondebosch, Khayelitsha, and Philippi in the Western Cape from 29 May to 5 June.
About Nal'ibali
Nal'ibali, which means "here's the story" in isiXhosa, is a nationwide reading-for-enjoyment campaign. Its objective is to ignite and establish a culture of reading among children from birth to 12 years old throughout South Africa. Nal'ibali achieves this by creating captivating reading content in all South African languages and promoting the use of home languages to nurture and strengthen reading culture in children. Nal'ibali stories cultivate a lasting appetite for reading, foster essential literacy skills, and encourage children to develop their own reading experiences. Children who form strong relationships with books and reading materials early on are more likely to adopt and maintain a reading culture. It is the responsibility of adults in children's lives to nurture a love for reading from an early stage to support children's development.
For more information, please contact:
Suri Tsholetsane
Communication Manager
T: + 27 (0) 21 448 6000
C: +27 (0) 63 691 9688