Whisky's Story

I am a librarian, an adult education facilitator and a storyteller, a South African woman from Soweto, the outskirts of Johannesburg. In Orlando East Library, we took up a challenge to eradicate illiteracy. In South Africa, illiteracy is about 35 percent across the board, but for women it is 40 percent.

Our aim is to eradicate illiteracy. We want literate and financially independent individuals in our community. We want to be able to participate in building and strengthening our economy in South Africa. The most important part is women being financially independent.

Our focus is on women. History has taught us that women are always the most deprived when it comes to education. History has again taught us that to build a reading nation one has to start with women. However, we do not discriminate against men.

I believe learners should have formal and informal education, as they need an education that relates to their day-to-day needs. We offer a financial management course as part of skills training. Learners have bank saving books now. Their only problem is how to maintain the habit of saving when they do not have any income.

I motivate learners by telling them stories, to help them to relax to a familiar setting. Then I ask them to tell their stories. I believe everyone one of us has a story. Our objective is for learners to write their own story. That becomes our goal as we learn the alphabet.

My first experience with illiteracy came when two women came into the library and asked for a knitting book. I gave them books to select what they needed. To my surprise, they just looked at pictures and asked for a copy of one. I made a copy with instructions for the pattern. They left, only to come back after few day to have a look at the picture of the jersey. The jersey they made did not resemble the jersey in the book. These women were surprised, too. They looked again and talked to one another, “What went wrong?” they asked. “You did not follow the pattern,” I answered. To my surprise, they could not read. So, I had to read this pattern to them. They became my first learners. We sat down everyday and knitted jerseys. After completing their knitting, I invited them to come to the library for literacy classes. That was the beginning of literacy classes in Soweto libraries.

I am currently working in Orlando East library, the oldest library in Soweto. The library staff and management had to find ways to support our clients who need these classes.

Fortunately, I had a manager who is a dreamer like me. Literacy classes became an extension of services to our communities. I work with clients with different needs. For instance, I taught street hawkers selling vegetables who did not make any profit due to their lack of counting skills.

Today we pride ourselves as libraries to render a service that supports and empowers our communities. We now have a full time teacher for crafts and beadwork who is helping with new designs. The bead group leaders are handling the business. The literacy group has 56 new learners who came to do the beadwork enterprise. I had to explain that we do not do beads outside literacy classes. They were a little disappointed but stayed with us. We are no longer an informal group. We have installed literacy software on the library computers and are registered with the examination board so learners can be accredited. I am working with the City Council to establish programs in other libraries across Soweto.

Clare's Story

I met Whisky when I went to South Africa as a World Library Partnership volunteer. As part of our cultural orientation, Whisky demonstrated how she uses traditional culture to reach adults and children at the library. I then stayed with her family in Soweto. The following year I sponsored a speaking and storytelling tour of the American Pacific Northwest for Whisky to build support for her work.
Whisky invited me to return to South Africa and collaborate on Soweto Stories because international visitors are important for the development of adult learners as global citizens. An outsider’s involvement motivates learners to use English and develop English literacy. My presence validates their experiences and their efforts to share their stories, which are important contributions to the global community. As an outsider, I can access resources currently beyond the reach of the Soweto community. I am getting foundation and corporate support, locating a publisher, and I am inviting you to invest as a partner in building this international bridge.

By supporting this project, you too become a witness from the rich world, willing to listen and honor the courage and aspirations of these women. I believe the work of witnessing is a powerful and crucial step toward global healing.
Through the publication of Soweto Stories, the experience of witnessing and work of authentic partnership will be extended between communities of the rich and developing worlds.

Stories are powerful assets that celebrate a community’s wisdom and courage. Telling and witnessing stories connects people across oceans and cultures, creating the global community that we long for. I believe the world still has much to learn from Soweto: we can learn from the courage of living with dying, the compassion of taking orphaned children into extended families with faith that the resources will become available, the persistence of learning maths and English to improve economic opportunities, and, as Whisky says, the ability to sing when your heart breaks.