Family Literacy Project

KwaZulu-Natal

ABCA books were delivered to the Family Literacy Project for distribution in KwaZulu Natal.

We received a thank you letter from their Director Pierre Horn

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Family Literacy Project, I extend our heartfelt thanks to Australian Books for Children of Africa for your generous donation of books for our seven community libraries and fifteen sites across KwaZulu-Natal. Your support is a gift of immeasurable value to the children, teachers, and families we serve.

The books you have previously shared are already bringing joy, curiosity, and wonder into the lives of countless children. Within our Reach Out to Read (ROTR) Program, these books play a vital role in helping children not only to learn to read but also to comprehend and enjoy what they read. Teachers frequently tell us how excited learners are to access the classroom libraries we are building together, and how much progress they see in children’s ability to engage with texts meaningfully.

Your contribution strengthens our work with partners across the province, including schools and community organisations, as we expand the Classroom Libraries Project and the ROTR methodology. The children’s delight in choosing and sharing books is matched only by the confidence they are developing as readers who can truly understand the stories they encounter.

It is no exaggeration to say that your generosity has placed books into hands that might otherwise never have held them. In rural communities, where resources are scarce, this act of kindness is transformative: it cultivates a love of reading that opens the door to education, imagination, and opportunity.

We are deeply grateful to you for standing with us in this mission. Together, we are making strides toward a future where every child in South Africa has the chance to become a reader who not only decodes words but finds meaning, joy, and empowerment in them.

With warm appreciation,

Pierre Horn
Director
Family Literacy Project

We received a further update from Jill Frow:

The photograph collage is a record of the joy with which the books are received and the value we all place on these precious ‘tools’ of our programs.  The photo at the top left is a workshop for Reading Champions during which the participants are trained in how to assess books for the different levels of reading, how to excite children about the world which opens up to them and of course, how best to use a book in the development of reading skills.

Our Reading Specialist team are at present running EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessments) with some of the children on our programmes.  The results show a remarkable improvement in reading levels.  This confirms our belief in our Reach Out to Read Programme of which an integral part is putting books into the hands of children and their families.

Thank you so much for being part of our passionate outreach to raise the reading levels in South Africa and prepare children for a life of success.