Christmas Tinto Primary School in Asanda Village unveiled a brand-new 45 m² prefabricated school library, which was opened on Thursday 23 November with a wonderful celebration attended by special guests, sponsors, stakeholders and support structures.
The library was donated through a collaboration between Strong Schools Community Collaborative (SSCC) and Breadline Africa, a non-profit organisation that supplies converted shipping containers and pre-fabricated units for poverty relief and provides initiatives and infrastructure to support childhood development.
According to Juanita Moller of SSCC, the school principal of Christmas Tinto Primary School and his staff have a passion for reading and ensuring that their learners are able to access effective library services.
To this end the principal Steven Qantolo, during the SSCC Support Hub meetings of June and August last year, raised the fact that the library space available at that stage was not sufficient to accommodate all the learners that needed to access the library.
On 5 August 2022, during a visit to Christmas Tinto Primary School by Annette Botha from SSCC and Palesa Qhalane, a dream emerged for the school to have a brand-new library installed that would meet all its needs.
“SSCC then approached Breadline Africa to partner with for a brand-new library to be installed,” said Moller.
Through fundraising efforts by SSCC, such as its golf day and contributions from private organisations and private citizens, together with the amazing partnership between SSCC and Breadline Africa, this initiative became a reality and the library has now been completed and officially handed over.
The handover included a ribbon cutting ceremony and was attended by representatives of the Western Cape Education Department, the school governing body as well as directors of Breadline Africa and SSCC. Learners of the school also expressed their appreciation and performed musical items as part of the ceremony.
