Booked to share the joy of reading

AT the tender age of eight, Zaara Naidoo is on a mission to share the joy of reading, particularly among children in poverty-stricken communities.

In April, the uMhlanga resident will be travelling to Vietnam with her family, where she is set to donate hundreds of books to the children at The Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in Ho Chi Minh City. The organisation primarily assists street children.

“I want to meet, and help the children in Vietnam to read, as I love reading. Books have such interesting stories. You don’t learn much on the streets, but from books you can learn so much stuff, like how plants grow,” she said.

What’s more, the Crawford La Lucia pupil is also keen on hosting a book collection drive within her own country so that she can get the whole South Africa reading. Naidoo said she understood the importance of education for children across the world.

Her inspiring goal started with a simple challenge at home, said her mother, Shirley.

“We started a challenge to try and read 100 books in three months. Not only did she manage that feat, but since September last year she has read 153 books. From there, she said she wanted to share her passion with children from less fortunate circumstances,” she said proudly.

According to her mother, Naidoo has always had an altruistic nature.

Recently she spent her allowance to buy 100 litres of water for the East Coast Radio project, #WaterShare.

The Christina Noble Children’s Foundation is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to serving children in need of emergency and long-term medical care, nutritional rehabilitation, educational opportunities, vocational training and job placement, as well as children at risk of sexual and economic exploitation.