Saturday 28th February was a good opportunity for the Red Hill children to focus on libraries – their own small container library at the informal settlement where they live, and also the big library in Simon’s Town where we hold our workshops.
Two parcels of books were donated to the container from the Books of the World project of Rotary Newlands. There were also dictionaries donated by DG Murray Trust with Rotary Cape of Good Hope and some picture books from author Dianne Hofmeyr, who spoke to the children last year.
A tour of the library with librarian Lucia Marais gave the children the opportunity to see what a well-resourced library has to offer – and a chance to browse and read. CBN tries to finish each workshop with silent reading, and this was most successful in this context.
Many thanks to all who donated books, time and care to this project and to Jay Heale, our book editor, for presenting what the children called ‘the presents’ to community worker and book activist Buyiswa Ponti. (One small figure sobbing against the railings had to be reassured that ‘the presents’ were for everybody, and not just the children carrying them to the taxis!)
