By Pumza Marubelela | Project Leader
Zimkitha Mashini, a former Reading Partner (2018) on the Khanyisa Programme shares her story.
Being on the programme was both scary and exciting for me. I was worried that I would not be a good reading partner. Being on the programme took me out of my shell. The programme introduced me to myself and made me realise how much I love working with children. A bonus is that I also got to meet new people. What I loved most about the Khanyisa programme was working with children and knowing that I am changing their lives.
The programme introduced me to many special people. I made a special connection with *Athule. Athule like his name, which means the quiet one, was a very shy child. He struggled to read and write. So whenever his teacher would give him work he would come and sit next to me. He wanted me to tell him the answers but instead, I would read out the questions to him and let him write the answers in his own words. One thing I loved about Athule was his persistence. Even though he struggled in class and with reading he never gave up. His reading improved as we slowly read together every day. I think this is because of his never give up attitude. I learned so much on this programme. Not only were we teaching children to read but we were also learning from them. These lessons made a huge impact on my life.
This year I am grateful to be an intern at Shine Literacy at a centre where I help the centre manager run our literacy programme. I have applied to study teaching at a university while I continue to work at Shine Literacy.
The Khanyisa programme deepened my love of reading. I've always loved reading and at home, our television stand is filled with all kinds of books. Reading books helped me extend my knowledge of English and IsiXhosa. This programme has reignited my passion for reading - I can leave reality for a little while and escape into someone else's world.
My hope is that every child will get an opportunity to read and fall in love with books because books are magic.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the beneficiaries.
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