Suzuki Auto South Africa and several schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal will start the year on a high thanks to Rally to Read.
To the uninitiated, Rally to Read is an initiative to reach rural schools across South Africa and deliver age-appropriate reading material and teacher-training tools.
The programme has criss-crossed South Africa for nearly three decades, thanks to the continuous support of automobile brands like Suzuki. In those almost thirty years it has reached hundreds of schools to help support literacy and education.
“We are excited to be part of the famous Rally to Read programme and to be able to make a difference in the lives of school children in rural areas across South Africa,” says Brendon Carpenter, Brand Marketing Manager of Suzuki Auto.
“We hope to see continuous participation from all capable industry players, since we know that increased participation broadens the impact of this worthy cause.”
Fortunately for Suzuki, they have a wide selection of vehicles that are up to the task of finding or making roads to the schools identified for this round of the Rally to Read programme. For this specific campaign, Suzuki has commandeered a Grand Vitara and, for extra space to lug all the donated books and equipment, a Suzuki XL6.
Rally to Read has picked 13 schools in the areas surrounding Bulwer, approximately two hours from Durban, to receive books and learning material. The programme will focus on these schools for the next three years.
Of these schools, Suzuki Auto has been tasked to look after Enkelabantwana Primary and Ndebeni Primary in the area. Together these two schools have 28 teachers and 774 learners who will be able to utilise these Rally to Read Classroom Libraries.
In total, this round of the Rally to Read programme aims to reach 161 educators and 4 759 learners in the Bulwer area. As before, the programme will support these schools for at least three years and then circle wider to other Rally to Read “clusters” in the province.
“We encourage our Suzuki family and our colleagues in the automotive industry to visit rallytoread.org.za to donate, offer their help or simply to spread the word. Together we can lay the foundation of literacy on which these young children can build a successful academic career and ultimately a life,” says Carpenter.
