WHAT IS THE LEARN TO READ BOOK:

Tell us how the “Learn to Read, Learn to Lead “concept came about? • equal education opportunities. • for: the illiterate • young children of today, becoming leaders of the future. • empowering the youth of today

What inspired this campaign?

I recently sat in Parliament at the National Youth Summit and heard children as young as 10 years old ask the ministers for equal education opportunities – and that is the moment I realized we actually have a huge educational gap in South Africa and “Learn to Read, Learn to Lead” is an attempt to bridge that gap for all South Africans.

When did this initiative officially start?

Officially launched in July (2018) at the Nasdak venue, with the help from Rachel Jafta - Professor in Economics at the University of Stellenbosch.

Tell us about the book design and mascot – why did you go with that particular storyline and characters?

• ‘local is lekker’ so when creating the storyline and characters I tried my best to embrace the beauty of South Africa.
• I wanted everyone to be able to relate to the story and characters. The story is set in a South African location.
• a lot of colours were used throughout the book to represent our Rainbow Nation and also as to make it more fun for the children. Each book has a theme in the beginning that continues throughout the book.
• educational section within the book that actually teaches the children how to read and write – in this section repetition was used to make it easier for the children. Very simple and basic English sentences
• The mascot and main character’s name is Tata, named after the late Nelson Mandela’s nickname.
Nelson Mandela’s quote; “Education is the most powerful tool one can use to change the world” is what inspired this campaign and is why I decided to name the main character after him.

I wanted to create a character that each individual in South Africa can relate to and not be aimed at a specific race or culture this is why Tata is a little rainbow creature (again, representing all of the Rainbow Nation, I made him a little alien that came from space because children are very interested in outer space nowadays).”

50% of the net profit from the book is split equally to go towards the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Tshwane Child Welfare Fund unrecognised. The remainder of the profits from the books will go towards converting and setting up shipping containers into classrooms and libraries to put in areas that lack educational facilities.