POLOKWANE – Give a Child a Book is a non-profit organisation that changes learners’ lives, one book at a time.
Former Capricorn High School learners Fanessa Makhongela and Thabiso Molokomme, who founded the initiative, ran a book drive on 7 and 8 January at Library Gardens collecting study guides, textbooks, stationery and other study materials that can help make learning easier for learners at Ditlalemeso Secondary School in Turfloop.
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They explained that they selected this specific school because they wanted to work with a school that is not only disadvantaged but also under performing, because that is where the need for the study material is. They plan to adopt the school as a gesture after the book drive to help the children throughout the year, be it with extra classes during school holidays.
Makhongela and Molokomme started the NPO after they finished their matric exams last year.
“This initiative started when we were done writing our final exams and we didn’t know what to do with the mountains of study guides that we had. We come from a province that is rated among the worst performing schools academically so we took the initiative to collect all forms of educational aid and donate it to a school that needs it most and that is how we are going to play our part in making a difference,” explained Makhongela.
They admit that the amount of work that went into making the drive a possibility was more than they had initially anticipated adding that they also incurred expenses to their own personal pockets.
“It has been a tough journey, we had to walk to radio stations to request their assistance in getting the word out there but none of them came on board. A lot of doors were slammed in our faces, even when we were handing out fliers, the reception was not encouraging but we persisted because we are passionate about it,” added Molokomme.
They plan to turn it into an annual drive and plan to host a career exhibition to give underprivileged learners an idea of what career choices they have that they can pursue post matric.
The dynamic duo explained that it’s important to expose students to a career exhibition, as many later drop out of universities due to a lack of sufficient study field information before making a choice.
