Books For Nyanga

As part of our study abroad program this semester here in Cape Town, South Africa, we are to complete an activist project that can take on any form we wish. A group of us recently traveled to Sithembele Matiso High School in the classified black township of Nyanga, to discuss the importance and value of education. The townships that surround the outskirts of the city are areas where families were forced to settle after being removed from their homes during apartheid. Although legally apartheid has ended, this community and high school still feel its effects each and everyday. On our visit, the teacher of the class that we were speaking to asked the eleven of us what suggestions we had for her students regarding their lack of access to resources. "How are they to learn on the same level that you do, with no library, no internet, no books and no way to afford public transportation to the city's public library?" We had no answer. 

This is a community of youth passionate about learning, the desire is there, but the resources are not. There is a designated room reserved for library space, with book shelves, but these shelves remain empty. 

Please consider supporting these children and their community as they strive to build an environment in which they can learn and succeed!