GEORGE NEWS - Twenty local companies, city leaders and participants in the George Herald Ordinary Magic for Madiba Reading Campaign will gather at the paper's premises in George Industria on Wednesday 18 July to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the late great leader, Nelson Mandela, in true Madiba Magic style.
Support for the concurrent Sandwich Jam event is immense and within days the available tables located next to the printing press were fully booked.
For 67 minutes the 184 guests - all dressed as their favourite children's book character - together with the George Herald staff, will prepare and wrap 10 000 sandwiches to be distributed to various organisations later in the day. Algoa FM will also be in attendance to provide entertainment and interview role players.
A big-screen video will showcase the newspaper's ongoing "love to read" campaign in honour of Madiba - aptly named George Herald Ordinary Magic for Madiba.
Mandela famously said, "When we read we are able to travel to many places, meet many people and understand the world."
The campaign was launched at the George Herald Mandela Day Sandwich Jam last year, and has been rolled out at various centres across George, offering the perfect opportunity for Georgians to contribute to the future of our country by investing in our youth.
The campaign instils a love of reading and books in children of pre-school age by getting volunteers to read to the children in a safe and cosy environment. Participating in the programme are the Uniting Methodist Church in Thembalethu, Rosedale Educare, Klouter Kabouter Crèche in New Dawn Park, Rosedale Nursery, and Golden Valley Crèche in Blanco. In the next year, the programme will be rolled out to at least five more venues.
Early childhood development expert Werna Pretorius teaching volunteers special techniques to instll a love of reading in the little ones.
Expert training
The volunteers who read to the children are trained by early childhood development expert Werna Pretorius, who teaches the readers how to use incidental reading and other techniques to stimulate the kids.
The centres are beautified by the George Herald artistic team and members of the community have been donating books, but to ensure the campaign reaches its full potential and ideals, local companies and passionate readers are invited to get on board.
How to get involved on different levels will be revealed at the centenary celebrations on Wednesday.
Next week the George Herald will carry a special Mandela Day feature, as well as photos and information of the Sandwich Jam and the reading campaign.
Little ones enjoying the books at Rosedale Nursery.
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