Mandela’s ideals being fulfilled
By Mphahlele Kunene {besps}stories/madibaTDS|width=350|height=300|align=4{/besps}
Ailing former President Nelson Mandela may have spent his 95th birthday laying in a hospital bed with family and close friends, but his ideals and aspirations around the importance of children accessing education and libraries were fulfilled recently at the Menlyn Mall Events Arena.
This follows a partnership between Menlyn Park, Tsosoloso Ya Batsha , Audi SA and members of the Diplomatic community in Pretoria in uniting against illiteracy. In the spirit of making a difference during International Mandela Day which urges every person around the world to spend 67 minutes making a change to the lives of those less fortunate, the organisations embarked on an initiative in honouring Mandela’s legacy by donating more than 250 reading and studying books to Tsarogaphoka Primary School (TPS) in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria.
Books from Australia, Azerbaijan, China, Colombia, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Serbia and Trinidad and Tobago added to the diversity of the reading material donated to a library which was converted from a storeroom recently at TPS with assistance from Tsosoloso Ya Batsha, a non-profit-organisation based in Soshanguve.
Portia Motsei, founding member of Tsosoloso Ya Batsha, said the concept of aiding the school came about when they realised that the school had no reading books early this year. Motsei said her organisation took the school’s plight as a challenge and embarked on a consultative process with the aim of assisting the school establish a library centre. “As we engaged the school’s authorities on the idea, they bought into it and kick-started the process of getting donors to help with the contribution of books from their countries,” Motsei explained.
She added that they hope the centre will go a long way in changing the lives of pupils as they read, learn and understand about other countries’ histories and cultures. “Our vision through this contribution is to create leaders who have the skills, are well informed, independent and to develop youth enabling them to take challenges and turn them into solutions,” she added.
After the handing over of books by various embassies, Noriah Mamabolo Deputy Principal at TPS expressed her joy at the generosity demonstrated by embassies and other contributors. Mamabolo said the school had been without a library centre which deprived pupils an opportunity to have reading lessons at school.
“I am certain that these books donated today will broaden their minds and their outlook of the world.” she said. Leoné White-Phillips, Public Relations Officer of Menlyn Park, explained that as Menlyn Park Shopping Centre they are part of the community and this was one in many of its corporate social investments in contributing to the upliftment of the society. White-Phillips said that they are involved in various projects annually in supporting initiatives that make a positive change in communities.
Madame Yoko Ramos-Vingno, spouse of the Ambassador of Philippines said that embassies were key in any developing country as they contribute to its social empowerment. Kirtan Bhana, Editor of Foreign Exchange, The Diplomatic Society publication added that as a diplomatic medium their role is to bridge the gap between locals and foreign nationals on a range of social issues. Bhana said it was important that citizens and states form bilateral relations to exchange ideas and formulate partnerships which will be beneficial to both parties.