Story stars
Sowing a love of stories
Bukeka Duduzile Xhalisa is a reggae artist from Marcus Garvey in Philippi, Cape Town – and she is also a Nal’ibali FUNda Leader! Duduzile’s deep love of children, reading and storytelling motivates her to do what she can to sow a love of reading and stories in her community. She volunteers as a storyteller at different reading clubs and also assists at a school library. Nal’ibali spoke to her recently. Why do you do what you do? I want to spread a love of stories as much as I can. It is important to me to make sure that children love reading and don’t just use it to pass at school. I want them to develop a passion for reading and writing. Stories and books open our minds and allow us to explore the world, and to understand it better. What would help to improve literacy in our country? Participation. Parents need to be involved in their children’s lives. Communities need to be involved too. We need to have the attitude that your child is my child too. What languages should children’s books be in? We should have books in all South Africa’s languages so that children can develop a love of reading in their languages. Where does your love of stories and reading come from? When I was a child my mother told me stories in isiXhosa and one of my primary school teachers read stories to us in isiXhosa and English. Do you read to your children? Yes, they love stories and I love reading stories to them. I also do it to improve their literacy and to grow their vocabulary. I’ve always read to them in isiXhosa and English. When they were younger, their favourite books were IGruffalo by Julia Donaldson as well as the Three Billy Goats and Goldilocks. Please complete these sentences for us: Every child should read … stories in their mother tongue. The greatest lesson that I learnt from a book or story was that … a united community can change anything. My favourite place to read is … at the park or library. At the moment I’m reading … Kwathini ukuze Imbila iswele Umsila by Sindiwe Magona. A book that made me laugh is … IGruffalo. Life without stories would be … nothing – just empty.