If, ‘The journey of a lifetime starts with the
turning of a page,’ then Nal’ibali
– South Africa’s reading-for-enjoyment campaign – has been the catalyst for
millions of lifetime journeys.
Nal’ibali, (isiXhosa for ‘Here’s the story’), was founded in 2012 to spark children’s potential through
storytelling and reading. Each year since, it has been leading literacy change
in SA by galvanising adults into reading with their children through its annual
World Read Aloud Day celebration.
What is World Read Aloud Day
World Read Read Aloud Day (WRAD) is a sustained initiative to promote a
culture of reading aloud with children amongst families, parents, caregivers, educators
and society.
A total of 13 401 children were reached with Nal’ibali’s first call to action
in 2013. In 2021, the campaign, together with its partners, read aloud to over
3 million children.
The growth of this initiative suggests that South Africans
have embraced the call to read aloud on the day. Reading is the foundation of
education, and Nal’ibali works hard to promote reading and literacy throughout the
year.
Signing up 1 million families
As opposed
to previous years when Nal’ibali’s focus has been on increasing the number of
children being read to on WRAD, in 2022 the target remains 3 million children.
However, the NGO aims to sign up 1 million families, with the help of partners
such as Standard Bank, Liberty Community Trust, VW and City of Cape Town
Library and Information Services to commit to reading regularly to their
children over the next three years, starting on WRAD.
The importance of families
“Where
schools play a key role in teaching children the mechanics of reading, families
play an equally key role in helping children to fall in love with stories and
books,” says Katie Huston, acting Director of Nal’ibali.
“Children who regularly
hear fun and engaging stories understand how books work and are more motivated
and better equipped to learn to read themselves and to keep reading.”
Research also
shows that families who participate in WRAD keep up a sustained habit of
reading and sharing stories. Family literacy is essential for many reasons; one
of the biggest is that when family members can read and write, it helps break
the cycle of poverty.
Here’s the
story
“For children to enjoy a story, they must be able to understand it!
Because of this we commission a brand-new story in all 11 official South
African languages each year,” explains Huston.
The story is also made available
in South African Sign Language and Braille through partners, SLED (Sign
Language Education and Development) and Blind SA.
“We then encourage adults
everywhere to pledge to read it aloud to children on the day,” Huston
concludes.
- This year’s story, A Party at the Park,
was written by Mabel Mnensa, author of the children’s book Kantinga Finds the Perfect
Name.
Get
the story and pledge to read aloud
Members
of the public can join Nal’ibali’s 2022 WRAD celebration by making their pledge
to read the official story with their children on Wednesday, 2 February via the
campaign’s website, www.nalibali.org,
or by WhatsApping
‘WRAD’ to 060 044 2254. The official story is available for free download from
these platforms and pledgers can choose to keep reading with Nal’ibali
throughout the year by opting into its family-reading programme.
Pledgers are also encouraged to share
pictures of their read-aloud sessions online, tagging Nal’ibali (@NalibaliSA)
or using the hashtag #NalibaliWRAD2022.
