MICHAL-MARÉ LINDEN
While many of us are concerned about our marks and assignments, Amukelani Mhlaba, an audiology student in her second year at UP, is concerned for the children of her hometown. In April this year, Mhlaba launched her project, Hearts for Literature, to set up book clubs in Soweto with the intention of building not only an appreciation for literature but an improvement in literacy among the primary and high school students of the township.
Mhlaba first got the idea for her project from her previous attempt in her matric year to start a book club. “I started a book club where I made library cards for kids in my neighbourhood. They would come to my house every Friday to read books and do spelling bees,” says Mhlaba. Unfortunately, Mhlaba had to stop her book club. “I was using the library’s books and I was liable for any damages done. The kids were very young, so the books were bound to [get] damaged or lost, so I had to stop. What saddened me was [that] the kids kept on asking me, ‘When is it going to start again?’ so I saw that with the book club, they fell in love with literature and started to see it as something that is beautiful. That is the one thing that made me want to start up again,” she added.
Wanting to revisit the idea of a book club, Mhlaba realised she would need her own books. “I got the idea that we should get donations from people who have old books that they don’t use anymore,” she explains. “I currently have six people in the organisation. They’re all from different townships and we are collecting books so that we can have book clubs in different neighbourhoods,” she says. Mhlaba believes this is the key to having the greatest impact, as one book club in the whole of Soweto won’t reach as many children.
The book clubs currently operate in Naledi, Protea Glen and Snake Park, and several students have expressed interest in opening book clubs in some rural areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. For now, the book clubs operate during the holidays. “Most of the time people don’t have anything to do during the holidays,” explains Mhlaba. The project is currently reaching about 180 children and is still growing.
Mhlaba has long-term goals for her project. “Later on, we want to touch more on schools and install libraries or, if there is a library, we want to fix [it] and give them resources. Coming from a township school, I know that libraries don’t have enough resources. I remember in my high school years, in our library, we didn’t have enough books and people never really used the library because the books were worn out or old and they didn’t excite people,” says Mhlaba.
Another outcome Hearts for Literature wishes to achieve by getting involved in schools is a mentorship system. “We want to focus more on kids from primary school because that is when they’re at that critical age of learning. We’ll have book clubs within schools that will be managed by kids from high school,” says Mhlaba. She also realises the impact that mentorship from high school students will have on primary school children. “It will inspire kids from primary school to reach high school,” explains Mhlaba.
The love of literature was sparked in Mhlaba when her grade three teacher gave her special attention when she struggled with her schoolwork. “My teacher would give me books and that’s when I started [to like] reading. [When] reading books, I became exposed to a lot of things – things that people from where I lived were not exposed to, so I became an aware citizen,” Mhlaba says. Likewise, Mhlaba has also seen a change in the lives of the children who are part of the book clubs. “The change was very radical. Being from the township, people come from households that are sometimes dysfunctional. You see that even when they go to school, the clothes that the children wear are very old and they are not happy children, but when they come to the book club, they get excited. The kids, even though they are not happy kids, when they come to the book club, they became active and interactive,” says Mhlaba.
This change wasn’t without challenges. “Getting the kids to like reading was hard. In the townships, reading is never instilled in kids because in a typical township household, there’s a single parent, mostly a mum, who works ridiculous hours and who is uneducated. Them reading to a child is close to impossible. Kids don’t see reading as something that is interesting because it’s something they’re not exposed to. It’s something they’re only exposed to when they go to school, and schools from the townships can also be dysfunctional,” she explains.
Ultimately Mhlaba believes that reading will also inspire creativity, awareness and imagination in these children. She hopes to impact all the children in Soweto and also other areas of South Africa.
Hearts for Literature are still looking for book donations. If you have any unwanted books that are still in good condition, they can be dropped off at the Perdeby office. If students wish to start their own book club under the organisation, they can contact Mhlaba on heartsforliterature@gmail.com.
Amukelani Mhlaba, founder of the Hearts for Liteature project. Image provided
