Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
African stories in our local languages
IN HONOUR of Literacy and Heritage Month, Standard Bank and Nal’ibali, South Africa’s national reading-for-joy campaign, have teamed up to provide six free brand-new children’s stories in African languages to families across the country.
The short stories in the Celebrating Mzansi series are written in Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, Tswana, and Afrikaans. They are meant to assist children and their families learn and appreciate the cultural variety of South Africa.
With each story written by a local author, the stories have been translated into English and designed in colourful bilingual story cards that are enticing, easy to read and accessible for children aged between 5 and 7.
The Zulu story titled Inzinyo likaNozi, by Thembinkosi Mabaso, follows Nozi’s journey of losing her milk tooth and being advised by her friend Mandisa to discard her tooth because of her traditional Zulu belief. Curious about this, Mabaso said that this story aimed to deal with beliefs or taboos that children are told growing up.
“These beliefs are convincing when they are growing, because as children grow, they discover that some of them are untrue. Nevertheless, they cherish some of their naïve childhood phases and sometimes remember them with nostalgia.
“Such beliefs include that of Father
Christmas, who gallops with reindeer bearing gifts. When it comes to tooth fairies, there is a benefit. Some believe that you put the tooth under the pillow, and when you wake up, the
tooth fairy would have replaced it with money or a special gift. Even in Zulu tradition, there is a special bird that collects milk teeth and rewards children with sparkling brand new teeth.
“Therefore, this story was inspired by the desire to share similarities in terms of beliefs and taboos experienced in childhood. Furthermore, taboos or beliefs like this one, play a very important part in the creating good social behaviours. The tooth is a body part and should be disposed in a respectable and responsible manner. This Nhloyile disposal procedure ensured that children dispose of teeth far and discreetly for hygiene reasons. There are a number of such taboos in isiZulu that promote good social behaviour,” said Mabaso.
At fewer than 500 words each, the stories are quick, short reads to share. With the aim to make them more enticing, Nal’ibali director Nqabakazi Mathe-Gina said the stories were important because they encourage children to be open-minded, curious and sensitive to the world and people around them.
“South Africa is a country rich with culture. We are hugely diverse and have much to learn and love about each other. But, in order to grow and have appreciation for all our different people, we need to encourage our children to be open-minded, curious and sensitive to the world and people around them,” said Gina.
With the story having a mix of tradition, Mabaso said the story does not necessarily try to dispel traditional beliefs, but endeavours to show that they are part of the fabric of society.
“Children live in a multi-racial society, therefore there is a need to expose them to the kaleidoscope of cultures. This story endeavours to remind this generation of a dying social belief and also to share with others commonalities in such beliefs,” said Mabaso.