The Beginning of the HOPE Recovered Library for Children in Lethabong

During the first lockdown, we came to ‘My Lord Conquers’ Church (MLC) Lethabong to distribute food to the needy. The church pastor told us that the government had already come and distributed food packages to the residents with a South African identity document. But in this community, there are a lot of foreigners. So we decided to give our food packages to the foreigners who didn’t get a package yet. But the South Africans were complaining that we provide to the foreigners. The queue to get a food package was growing longer and longer. The people started to push in the line and fight for a better position in the queue. Mothers with babies on their backs were pressed against the fence, and some people started to speak bad about us and stir up the crowd. At some point, we decided to leave before the situation gets out of hand.

"Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world"

Nelson Mandela

We realized that in this community, the main problem is not poverty or unemployment. The root of the problem is a lack of education. Former president Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” We believe that reading is the foundation of all education and is of utmost importance. Former US president Barack Obama said it this way: “Reading is the gateway for children that makes all other learning possible.”

"Reading is the gateway for children that makes all other learning possible."

Barack Obama

Nobody owes me a food parcel! I don’t have to fight for it. All provision comes from the Lord. With proper education, a person should be able to type a CV, knock on doors and find a job. Gontse offered to do a holiday reading club training to teach the parents and daycare facilitators how to teach their children the basics of reading in a fun way. But nobody attended. They were only interested in receiving food.

Kofi Annan formulated it like this: “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.” As HOPE Recovered, we want to provide this bridge and give people hope. Morgan Freeman called literacy the ladder out of poverty.

"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope."

Kofi Annan

Therefore, HOPE Recovered decided to open a library to teach the children how to read. When a child is able to read, it can read to the family, and the family can be equipped. And it might even stir the desire in them to learn to read. Furthermore, we want the children to have a relationship with Jesus. For that, they need to know Him on a personal level. We believe that is only possible if they are able to read the bible for themselves and hear the voice of God through it. With God, all things are possible, and their hopes and dreams will become a reality.

"Literacy could be the ladder out of poverty."

Morgan Freeman

We approached the pastor with our proposal as we saw that several shacks on the church property were not in use. We are very grateful to the MLC church for their welcoming heart and support. They granted us a 36 square meter shack free of charge to establish the library. On Heritage Day, in September 2020, HOPE Recovered launched the Library for Children in Lethabong. We are grateful for all the books, bookshelves, and furniture we received for this project.

Ten months later, the library hosts close to 1000 books. Of the 35 registered children, we had over 1000 attendances. We are very proud of the local youth which gets involved and assists the little ones with reading.