African tales in home language

THIS Heritage Month, a fast food restaurant and Ethnikids have taken the opportunity to shed light on the literacy crisis facing the country, giving children free access to an African folk tale collection of books in their home languages.

The launch of the Wimpy and Ethnikids Stories in your Home Language campaign took place at Wimpy V&A Waterfront yesterday afternoon, with parents and children in attendance for a fun and interactive reading session.

Ethnikids, an online bookstore, was established by five mothers in 2016.

One of the Ethnikids founders, Tina Boateng Akuoko, said: “This is basically the launch of the five titles, original stories written by local talents, local authors and illustrators.

“They are basically stories in your own language and relatable material to encourage a culture of reading, not just in your home language but also just around the table, family time or around a group meal.”

This comes as a welcome initiative at a time when it has been found that 78% of Grade 4 children in South Africa cannot read for meaning in any language.

Educational psychologist Seago Maapola said: “We know that if children don’t read books that represent them, they start to see other types of people being better than them or more important and it impacts on their self-esteem.”

A free book will come with every Wimpy Kiddies Combo meal and online, in any home language.