“Durban recently gained the honour from
UNESCO of being the first place in Africa to be named a ‘City of Literature’.
Archbishop Denis Hurley cared a great deal about the written word - he himself
was a writer of hymns and plays, and also oversaw the first global translation
of the Catholic rites and prayers from Latin into English—so we think he would
have been very proud of this accolade for his beloved Durban,” says Raymond
Perrier, director of the Denis Hurley Centre.
“The DHC has come up with an innovative way
of promoting literature and also providing economic empowerment to the
homeless. We know people (often older) who have wonderful collections of books
that they can no longer accommodate; we know people who would love to read more
but cannot afford to buy new books; we have homeless people who are developing
skills as sales people; and we can find venues where books can be sold.”
All of these connections are brought
together by Anivesh Singh of Hashtag Books, a publisher, author and bookseller.
He has agreed to collect books, sort them into different categories, work out
what will sell and where, and store them until the Centre is ready for a sale.
Any especially valuable books he finds are sold on-line and a percentage comes
to the DHC.
The homeless guys sell books for R5 to R20
each, at churches, school fetes, and other community events. Kagiso Phihlela
recently sold R400 worth of books in one afternoon on the beachfront. He was
interviewed in the paper and explained that he wanted to raise money to train
as a teacher—within the day he was offered a scholarship by Mancosa, a local
college!
“If you have a venue where you think a book
sale would do well, contact the Centre. If you have books contact Anivesh — please
do not bring books to the DHC,” adds Perrier.
Contact Director Raymond Perrier on email:
raymond@denishurleycentre.org For bookings contact Jean-Marie Ntamubano on
email: jean-marie@denishurleycentre.org
Those wishing to donate to support the
project can donate by EFT: First National Bank Durban Main branch 221426, Account:
Denis Hurley Centre Trust A/C No. 622 0426 1002
For more information, and to donate from
outside South Africa, see www.denishurleycentre.org
Posts
