Minki Book Project reaches thousands of learners

The original objective was to donate 100 books per month to a selected school. But the project exceeded all expectations and at the end of phase one, more than 450 schools and libraries benefited from the project - and each one received at least a hundred books.

"The success of the project is a dream come true for me. It was amazing to personally deliver books to schools and to see the absolute amazement on the children's faces when they page through a book for the first time and see what the fairy tale characters - that they've only heard of - really look like. I never thought that the project would get this big, but now we can't wait to launch phase two to reach even more children," says Minki van der Westhuizen, international model and inspiration behind the project.

During the project, the public was asked to donate new and second hand books. With the help of a consultant, the books were sorted into age groups and themes and then donated to the schools that needed the specific types of books. Schools nominated themselves by sending an e-mail, fax or letter to kalahari.net and every month a number of schools from the nominations were chosen to receive books. The Western Cape Department of Education also received thousands of books to distribute to needy schools.

"The project has exceeded our wildest dreams,'' says YOU and Huisgenoot editor Esmaré Weideman. ''We're very grateful for the amazing support we've received and are ready to continue with the project next year with the help of kalahari.net and our readers.''

You/ Huisgenoot and kalahari.net are currently planning phase two of the project. ''We're keen to expand the project next year and bring the world of books and reading to many more children,'' says Gary Hadfield, commercial manager of kalahari.net. ''We believe reading is integral to the education of children and next year we want to create an awareness of how important it is to get children reading as early as possible.''