Hello! My name is Nonkanyiso Shabalala. I’m a Story Sparker from Uthukela District.
I will share with you my story about my community. I run a holiday programme.

After doing community training, I realised that people in the community are very supportive of a holiday programme. I told schools about this holiday programme and that I would be running it at Sikhona Centre. What I noticed and liked about my holiday programme was that social workers and Social Development workers liked this programme. They also have something like a holiday programme that they run. So, when I requested to use their facility to run my programme they agreed. They said what I was doing benefits children in the community through learning how to read. Community members brought their children and we started working together. The community also brought things we could use to make this programme a success.

The Ezakheni community is very united. Even schools that were not connected to me would come to this holiday programme. We would have different activities. Our challenge was catering. We couldn’t continue supplying food for children. But we know that children come from different backgrounds and can only go on for so long without food. So, the community took from their own money and bought food for the kids. They requested that I come and give them training, even though the Nal’ibali programme was finished. They wanted me to provide them with ways of sharing stories with their children. They noticed that since the Nalibali programme, children were starting to be happier.

Before this programme, children would come to the centre and play only on the swings and then go back home. But when I arrived, I would tell them stories. I asked another school, Mcotsheni, to lend me their hanging library. And other community members would relate other stories to the children. And that would make it enjoyable to children. Workers from Social Development asked me to tell them when we have competitions because they wanted to attend. I requested a hanging library for them and delivered it to them. And they were very happy to have it.