Books4Mzansi and GoMaths encouraging a culture of reading
A couple of learners were called up to read the newly donated books to the rest of the crowd, they were extremely happy and enjoyed reading.
Dr Tiisetso Lephoto, founding director of Books4mzansi and the GoMaths Team (Lebang Nong, Mpho Huma and Neo Nong) donated 50 books (variety of educational books, science books, motivational books and English stories) to Palesa and Emelang Primary Schools in Zone Nine.
According to Lephoto, teachers and learners at Emelang Primary School were gathered at the assembly and were delighted and looking forward to reading the books.
He said, “A couple of learners were called up to read the newly donated books to the rest of the crowd, they were extremely happy and enjoyed reading.”
The school has learners in Grades RR to -Four. One of their reading teachers, Fezile Buthelezi was beyond happy and oversaw the reading activity at the assembly with great pride.
The deputy principal, Agatha Makgato also expressed her gratitude for receiving books from Books4Mzasi and Gomaths.
“More books are still to be donated to schools and we would like to ask parents and community members to extend their support and help us grow this initiative.
“Once the Books4mzansi mobile application or web page has been fully set up, members of the community and prospective sponsors can go online and choose schools they would like to donate learning materials too.
“We also aim to visit the schools regularly so that we can receive feedback on the progress of the learners’ usage of books, and know if they enjoyed reading the books,” said Lephoto.
In 2016, a young woman in the sciences, Lephoto was invited to attend the Techwomen Emerging leaders programme in the United States of America.
The programme in the U.S through which she received professional mentorship at the world renowned Silicon Valley biotechnology and information systems company, Illumina, Inc.
Members of each specific country were required to present solutions which would assist in solving any challenges in their home countries.
South Africa had five participants who worked together to pitch an idea that ended up winning at the pitch competition.
During the pitching competition, she shared her story of growing up in a township and how she felt the need to have more reading and learning resources in her school at the time.
This is one of the experiences that led the team to strive for excellence and being able to come back to South Africa and give back and work together with schools.
Lephoto said that in order to improve literacy rates and promote a culture of reading, they proposed the development of a mobile application called Books4Mzansi.
“Books4Mzansi will serve as a networking platform for educators and donors, thereby supporting the availability of learning and teaching material.
“Implementation will take place in a pilot area in Soweto which includes a community centre and primary schools.
“Scale up will take place in three phases over five years and will include education and learning centres beyond the pilot area.
“This is a non-profit platform that will seek to fund from the public, private and government sources.
“We project a 10 per cent growth over a three-year period based on donations from various sources and fundraising events,” she said.
Lephoto was born and raised in Soweto and attended Thakhisa Primary School before proceeding to Forte Senior Secondary School where she completed Grade 12 in 2006 and was crowned one of the top learners in Soweto.
She enrolled for a Bachelor of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2006 and obtained her first degree.
Her passion for science led her to do her honours, masters and doctorate (PhD). She obtained her PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of the Witwatersrand at the age of 26.
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