Success Stories

Children reach new heights

St Mary's school for girls in Kloof, Kwa Zulu Natal partook in the Read to Feed programme during their second school term. Over a 5 week period the 420 girls read in excess of 14 000 age appropriate books and raised a staggering R117 902 ($ 16 606) ! This was double the amount they raised in 2004. The girls committed themselves to the programme from day 1 - acquiring animal stickers for their reading certificate after reading a predetermined number of books. Mid way through the programme they had the opportunity to see, touch and talk about the farm animals that were brought to the school (a goat, sheep, chickens, chicks and rabbits). The money will be used to train and provide the gift of dairy goats to identified rural families living in Kwa Zulu Natal. 3 cheers to the St Mary's girls, their parents, and the teachers and Headmaster of St Mary's for making a huge difference in the lives of others. The Read to Feed programme is an educational programme aimed at educating primary school children about issues of poverty, food production and most importantly how they can become involved in assisting resource poor families. The programme entails children obtaining sponsorship from parents, family members and friends for reading (the more sponsors the better). Once they have obtained their sponsors, who commit to pay them for each book they read, they start reading to raise money to purchase animals for resource poor families, who can benefit from the products produced by the animals. The more books they read (or the more sponsors they get) the more money they raise. The children are rewarded for their reading efforts by obtaining a series of animal stickers for their reading certificate. The programme gives the children an opportunity to see and touch various farm animals, such as: chickens, pigs and goat kids, and learn about the many benefits they provide. At the same time they improve their own reading and language skills and learn that they can make a difference in the lives of others - an important lesson in today's world of independence. St Mary's girls participated in the programme in 2004, and read more 7 000 books raising R58 000 ($9 500) over a 6 week period ! These funds were used to buy 40 dairy goats for 20 rural families.