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For the love of books
Doing whatever is takes to provide support and love to the children admitted to Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital is a priority for the Friends of the Children's Hospital Association. So it has joined forces the Nal'ibali national reading-for-enjoyment campaign, to create a reading club in each of the nine wards, and hold regular individual readings for children in the high care wards.
“We are honoured to bring reading-for-enjoyment to children at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. We also want to encourage parents to engage more with children, using books and stories. Reading-for-enjoyment can bring fun and help create good memories even when done from a hospital bed,” says Sally Mills, Nal’ibali senior communications officer.
This joint initiative looks to “help make a sick child smile”, through providing read aloud sessions. There will be two active mobile libraries, one for parents and one for children. Libraries will include books in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa to create an all-inclusive approach, and to provide both patients and parents with access to quality information, and stimulation in a language with which they’re comfortable.
Lessening the anxiety
Furthermore, the partnership will strengthen the existing reading programme at the hospital, through training volunteers on the programme.
The primary objective of the Friends of the Children’s Hospital Association is to minimise the anxiety of the hospitalisation experience for patients, and to ease the adjustment. Nal’ibali is proud to be helping reach this objective through reading-for-enjoyment.
Reading to children is one of the many ways in which volunteers are helping make a sick child smile.
