Sparking reading for enjoyment

Starting this week, a weekly bilingual reading-for-enjoyment supplement will appear in selected Avusa Media newspapers. Nal’ibali which means "Here’s the story" in isiXhosa, is a colourful publication that is intended to help spark a love of reading in homes and communities across South Africa.

The supplement is one of the core aspects of the Nal’ibali National Reading for Enjoyment Initiative, started through a collaboration between The Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) and Avusa Media.

Initially appearing in English and isiXhosa in the Western and Eastern Cape, and in English and isiZulu in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, it features beautiful illustrations by Rico Schacherl of Madam and Eve fame.

The supplement contains stories to read aloud and to read alone, related activities as well as information and tips for adults about reading clubs and sharing and enjoying books with children. The supplement will be a regular resource to enable families at home to have interesting and fun storytimes with children and will also support the growth of reading clubs in South Africa.

"Reading and storytelling become personally meaningful when people have opportunities to experience the satisfaction and power of words in print. On one hand, children thrive on the attention and emotional and intellectual nurturing they get when adults connect with them through stories. On the other, adults can’t help but appreciate how clever their children actually are as they see for themselves how language and intelligence unfolds. The Nal’ibali initiative aims to offer this to everyone by ensuring that appropriate African language and English reading material is widely available," says Dr Carole Bloch, Director of PRAESA.

There is much more to the Nal’ibali initiative. Storytelling and reading are also central to literacy learning, developing language, memory, problem-solving capabilities and self-confidence. While reading materials like the supplement are obviously essential, so are people who are willing to share stories and books regularly with children. This is why Nal’ibali will expand on the community reading clubs that PRAESA helped initiate and has supported since 2006 which are run by volunteers.

To inspire ongoing involvement in reading clubs, a series of Nal’ibali training workshops are being offered by the PRAESA team in partnership with other organisations in the four provinces. Participants will be mentored in reading, writing and storytelling activities and Avusa Media will share its expertise on how to make the most of newspapers for reading culture development.

A website and other social media platforms will offer a truly South African resource with information, stories and video material to support the initiative. The process of setting up and running demonstration reading clubs to inspire and motivate others to get involved, will be researched and monitored.

Avusa Media will be distributing the series of supplements, free-of-charge, directly to Nal’ibali reading clubs, community organisations, libraries, schools and other literacy partners. Readers of The Times, The Daily Dispatch and the Herald who might not use the supplements themselves will be encouraged to pass them on and share them with those who will.

"We invite organisations and individuals to see this as an opportunity for us all to roll up our sleeves together. Nal’ibali will be as strong and successful as the partnerships and the collaborations it makes. It is an opportunity for everyone from the very youngest to the oldest citizens to share positive times together. We can use the power of stories to learn, remember, and heal and to help us imagine better worlds," says Bloch.

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