Mutual & Federal showcases mobile library in Reitz, Free State
As part of the Nelson Mandela Library Project, under the Participate for Good programme, Mutual & Federal were very excited to showcase the new mobile library unit that they will be donating to Phinduzame Primary School in Reitz, Free State. On 23 April, the end of the second day of the Old Mutual Joberg2C Marathon that stopped over in the Reitz Race Village, cyclists and the Mutual & Federal team were able to announce and showcase the library. The library will officially be handed over to the school in May 2016. This marks the first year Mutual & Federal is participating in the Nelson Mandela Library Project, and this will be the very first library to be wholly funded by a corporate.
“Education is one of our key focus areas, and this initiative encourages reading from a very early age and assists with addressing the issue of illiteracy in many rural areas,” says Busisiwe Sithole, Head of Responsible Business at Mutual & Federal.
The sponsored Mobile Library contains 1 400 books, but can house up to 5 000 books. This small contribution motivates learners to love books and provide them with the stepping stone to stay in school and further their education.
“Through our Responsible Business Programme, we aim to enable positive futures through among others Education, Skills and Enterprise Development. This project doesn’t only contribute to education, but also to technical skills development during the construction of the library, and therefore enable the people who acquired skills such as welding to be employable or start their own small businesses. Mutual & Federal believes in empowering communities and improving their livelihood, and there is no better way to do that than through education and giving them an opportunity to acquire lifelong skills” says Sithole.
The first library was donated in 2011, and money is continually being raised through proceeds from ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, events such as Old Mutual’s Joberg2C marathon, along with other CSI sponsorships. With these funds, nine libraries have been donated to underprivileged schools thus far, and the Mutual & Federal sponsored library will be the tenth sponsored mobile library from the project.
Sithole concludes: “We hope that the library will create a culture of reading in the community, mobilise the children of Reitz to read themselves out of poverty, and to reach for their dreams. Furthermore, we hope to continue this tradition in the years to come, and impact many more communities.”
The official library handover to Phinduzame Primary will take place on 13 May 2016 at the school.
