In celebration of Mandela Month, non-profit organisations Read to Rise and Impilo Foundation teamed up to inspire learners at Tshebedisanong Primary School in Soweto. Each of the Grade 3 and 4 learners received a new story book to take home.

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children” ~Nelson Mandela

For Mandela Month, literacy non-profit organisation Read to Rise partnered with Impilo Foundation on Friday 29 July 2022 to help 75 Grade 3 and 4  learners at Tshebedisanong Primary School in Soweto, Johannesburg. Impilo Foundation volunteers joined Read to Rise at the school visit to read to the children and hand out books. This partnership was supported through the generosity of Connected Devices who sponsored the books for the learners.

In addition, the South African College of Applied Psychology also attended the school visit to provide free learner consultation and play therapy.

Read to Rise started in 2013 to promote youth literacy in under-resourced communities in South Africa. The organisation hopes to inspire children to read by conducting class programmes and giving new story books to children to own. The organisation currently works with 77 primary schools in Mitchells Plain and Soweto and to date have given out over 255,000 new story books.

“The pandemic has made the learning environment for children in Soweto even more challenging, hence why we are grateful to organisations like Impilo Foundation for giving of their time to join the school visit to read our learners at Tshebedisanong Primary School.” says Taryn Lock, Read to Rise Executive Director. ‘We try to encourage learners to read, so that they can ‘rise’ above their circumstances.”

Impilo Collection Foundation hopes to inspire people to make a difference in society through storytelling and shared experiences of the youth and professionals. The Foundation also had volunteers at a school in Randburg on the day.

Impilo Collection Foundation Founder, Angela Yeung, said “We believe education is the key for uprooting people from poverty, therefore finding ways to drive literacy is high on our agenda and through partnering with valuable organisations like Read to Rise to #EmpowerThem.”

Read to Rise plans to visit 30 primary schools in Soweto during the second half of 2022 to conduct their class programmes where each Grade 3 and 4 learner will receive a new story book. The organisation relies on donations from the public. For only R50, you can sponsor a learner. Give the of reading, for more information about READ to RISE or to donate, please visit https://www.readtorise.co.za

If you would like more information about Impilo Foundation, please visit https://impilofoundation.co.za/