August 13, 2010
Tags:
Alexandra, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa, reading, Tembisa Baptist, Tembisa Library, creche, Exclusive Books
My passion is for school-aged children, but who can resist the little ones with their wide-eyed curiosity and readiness for books and learning?
When I arrived at
Tembisa Baptist Church on Wednesday, they lay on the floor in tightly packed rows looking like nothing so much as giant fleece-wrapped enchiladas. Each child was dressed in multiple layers against the Johannesburg winter and rolled in a brightly colored blanket. The floor beneath them was spread with crumbling mats of yellowed foam rubber covered with a blanket of doubtful hygiene. Here and there a canvas shoe stuck out from a bundle. A few heads
(more…)
November 14, 2009
Tags:
Alexandra, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa, Johannesburg, reading, Saturday's Cool, Rose-Act, VBS
“Why do we read?” I asked the combined fifth-grade classes at Rose-Act’s Saturday’s Cool. This supplementary educational program for grades five through twelve serves
(more…)
November 13, 2009
Tags:
Alexandra, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa, reading, children's books, Takalani, Dudonza
I drove right past the Johannesburg College, Alexandra Campus on London Road. The slum of Alex stretched to my right. Warehouses rose along the road to my left. When I was sure I had gone too far, there was nothing to do, but turn around in the crumbling lot of a business and retrace my route through the heavy traffic. Believe me, I was saying a lot of prayers! But I found it.
(more…)
