The Rotary Club of Uitenhage South was recently donated more than 15,000 books that were shipped into the country from schools in Texas, United States of America, through the Texas Rotary Club (TRC).
According to The Rotary Club of Uitenhage South President, Clive Hassell, Rotary Clubs in Texas contacted all their schools for their spare books to donate.
The TRC collected books that filled a 12-metre container and paid for the shipping and all cost-related expenses to getting the container into the country.
This giveaway prompted many Nelson Mandela Bay residents and teachers crowding together when collecting the books at the first public opening at the Uitenhage Airfield.
Hassell added that, “Upon the arrival of the container, the Rotary Club of Uitenhage South sorted each book and stored them at the Uitenhage Airfield hangar, which was borrowed from and not paid for. We are now giving out books to whoever wants one.”
Speaking about the project, Hassell said, “How it started is that we contacted a few local schools that we believed were in dire need of reading material to come and collect books at the Airfield. We have had this under the radar and only gave away some books privately to Kariega township schools for the last month and only a few came to collect. We then decided to open it up to the public.”
“Every child needs to learn how to read,” he said. “They are not going to go far in life if they do not read. Education is one of the most important things that Rotary does. Another project we are involved in concerns local crèches in KwaNobuhle, where we have been paying a stipend to a fully trained individual to go into the crèche, once a week for a year, to teach not only the learners, but staff members who have no formal training in running a crèche.
“We also founded a project in which we donate R5,000 worth of learning toys and material. That is why I believe that education is very important in Rotary the world over.”
“I believe we have close to 20,000 books. A lot of these books are English learning books, but we also do have many adult and school library books. I estimate about 3,000 adult library books, a couple of thousand school library books, and the rest are mainly primary school and a few high school books for good measure,” Hassell said.
Ilene Julies, teacher at Nasruddin Islamic Primary School was overjoyed by the initiative.
“My principal and staff don’t know that I am here. We lost our whole library in the June flash flood, so I am here to get as many books as I can to surprise them.”
When asked how long he believes this giveaway would last, considering the number of people who were present on day one, “We plan to do this until the hangar is empty,” Hassell said.
“We hope that in the next couple of weeks, a month tops, we run out of books and as is evident on day one, people are coming out with boxes of books and that is what we want.”
Residents and educators are welcome to collect books at the Uitenhage Airfield on Mondays, from 13:00 until 16:00.
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