(Dr Gcina Mhlophe)
The 2015 Nozincwadi Festival, presented by The Gcinamasiko
Arts and Heritage Trust under the auspices of its founding member and Executive
Director, South Africa’s internationally-renowned story-teller and best-selling
author, Dr Gcina Mhlophe, will run over two days next week.
The main event will be held on September 8 at Durban’s
Diakonia Centre. The second event which Gcinamasiko will participate in to celebrate
its annual schools festival as well as International Literacy Day, will be on September
9 at Emandeni Community Library near Stanger.
Celebrating International Literacy Day, the upcoming
festival has a history-telling theme entitled Tell an Old Tale. This aims at encouraging young South Africans to
honour their history, instilling a sense of pride in their heritage while
renewing the traditional spirit of valuing their elders.
Following the adage, “For a branch to bear fruit, it must
honour its roots”, the festival’s theme is in line with planning that is
underway for the opening next year of The Dr Gcina Mhlophe Memory House. This
ground-breaking oral history museum will be launched early in 2016. To this
end, all projects which pave the way for the opening Memory House will be
themed around oral history, history-telling and pride in our heritage.
The vision of Nozincwadi embraces the concept of young and
old people being drawn in as recipients of book packages, which are given away
during this ongoing reading road show. Its beneficiaries include children,
young adults as well as recently literate adults.
The aims and objectives of Nozincwadi are: to instil in
people the pleasure of reading; to revive the art of storytelling; to encourage
and promote the role of storytelling in modern society; to endorse the work of
South African and African authors; and ultimately to encourage young people to
start creating their own stories and their own books, so they can have a say in
the future of writing and reading in this country.
A primary thrust of the project remains the distribution of
books within communities who otherwise will have no access to books.
“In today’s world, literacy and reading are keys that open
the doors to the global village,” affirms Dr Mhlophe. “We say this is the age
of computers, but sophisticated computers and all sorts of modern forms of
media are useless to a country that does not invest in the literacy of its
people. This is why I dedicate my creativity and time to make a difference in
the lives of rural people, particularly children whose situation might seem
hopeless. I’ve been there, that’s where I come from: reading inspired me to
think and dream big. I would like to share this experience with everybody who
is feeling despondent with their personal situation right now.”
Nozincwadi was conceived in 2001 as a tribute to reading and
writing in South Africa. While the project has travelled to the most remote
areas of the country, promoting reading and inspiring future young writers,
millions more children need to benefit.
“On a practical level, the Nozincwadi project helps teachers
and librarians set up library boxes, and where libraries already exist at
schools and community centres, we bring new books. During the course of the
project, new schools were targeted every month,” continues Dr Mhlophe. “We are
proud that since its inception in 2001 Nozincwadi is still running. This year
we will have more than 15 schools in attendance including Umlazi Junior Primary
school, who are fresh from winning three top awards in an inter-schools
traditional dance competition. These highly talented students have already
graced our festival stage for three years and now in 2015 they are back by
popular demand! Their dedication and discipline is remarkable. What makes us
even prouder is that they are just as committed in the classroom. They know
what our slogan ‘Read and Grow’ means.
“We were able to successfully host this festival each year
even with financial constraints,” Mhlophe adds. “This was made possible with
support from our partners such as Robin Hood Foundation, Awesome SA, Masizi
Kunene Foundation, Biblionef, Puku Publishers and many other sister
organisations. In 2015 we are proud to announce that Gcinamasiko has partnered
with REDISA who are supporting the event both financially and in-kind”.
This new partnership is reciprocal:
since November 2014 Gcina Mhlophe has been a spokesperson and ambassador for
the education wing of REDISA, attending events, performing and generally
supporting REDISA's work.
Admission to the Nozincwadi Festival is by invitation. 10
primary schools and 12 high schools from around KwaZulu-Natal will participate
in Day One at Diakonia Centre. Each school will receive a book box containing
books in English, Afrikaans and the mother tongue.
Day Two will see GAHT joining forces with the Emandeni
Library near Stanger to participate in their celebration of International
Literacy Day. Emandeni Library celebrates this special day each year. GAHT
attends the event, supporting and partnering with them. There are usually 10 or
more schools from Emandeni and surrounds in attendance. Many community members
attend including the Chief of that area. GAHT will present the professional
storytelling performances.
The programme will also launch the new The Hope Song
CD, a celebration of oral history in which Gcina Mhlophe is accompanied by the
acclaimed jazz maestro and maskandi star, Bheki Khoza.
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