Going Beyond for literacy

Friday dawned and finally “Rally to read” was here. I had great expectations and nothing I imagined could prepare me for the journey we were about to undertake. Everything went according to plan from start to finish- our winners Sharon Vilakazi and Harry Letshoene arrived with their groups on time, the latest Land Rover Freelanders that would carry us arrived and we set off for Pietermaritzburg. We were a group of 20 people about to share in a unique experience, the impact of which we can only describe to other people.

After a brief overnight rest in Pietermaritzburg, we had an early 6 o’clock departure time on Saturday morning to King Grant Retreat in Ixopo which was the meeting place for all the rally participants. There were about 50 cars split into 7 groups ready to set off in different directions to distribute books and educational materials to 2 or 3 schools each. The first school was Kwasikhunyana Primary in the High flats area. We were greeted by singing, ululating and praise for coming there. The situation was really desperate with the school only having 3 meager classrooms to teach grades 1 to 7. There were broken desks, the walls were bare, just not enough of anything. The school has a pre-paid electricity box with no running toilets and no where for the children to play. It was the first time that the rally was visiting this school so it will be in the programme for 2 more years. Some of us were brought to tears and started thinking about how ungrateful we’ve been at times and complacent about doing for others who have less than us.

After a 2hr visit we left, setting off on a scenic winding drive to Kokstad to visit our second school, St Paul Primary which is in its second year with the rally. Our spirits were lifted because we saw what a committed leader-the school’s principal- could achieve with right sort of assistance. The classrooms were filled with colour and a documentation of the children’s encounters with words and books in their mother tongue and English. The children had prepared books that they wanted to read to us and what a joyous moment is was for us all. They read with pride and confidence.

The third and final school for the day was a farm school called Ntambanane Primary which was also in its second year with the rally. Unlike at the other schools where there were only mothers at this school here fathers were present. One father spoke about the progress that his child has made since the involvement of rally to read at their school. He talked about how he could not read his entire life and now he is learning too because his child gets taught at school and comes home to teach him.Almost everyone in our group talked about how moved they were and committed themselves to helping others who have less. Its easy to get caught up in your own problems, in your own life and forget about uplifting fellow human beings. We are all connected and the suffering of one does not go unfelt.I hope to do more for others. I hope to go on more rallies. I wish to see more rallies. Rallies for literacy, for food, for clothes, for skills exchange. More Rallies!

Thank you Land Rover and Rally to Read. What an uplifting, life-changing, inspiring experience.