Nal'ibali "Story Power. Bring It Home" Billboard Campaign

The billboards feature illustrations drawn by Rico, an artist known for the popular South African satirical cartoon "Madam and Eve". The billboards show three different scenes demonstrating how helping children develop an interest in reading is not only enjoyable for adults and children, but can also be done with children of every age, including babies. The overall message is that reading and storytelling should happen in the home, as well as at school, to give children a solid foundation for later learning. Taglines have been translated into the predominant languages of the provinces and locations in which the billboards are found, in order for the messages to reach the widest possible population. According to Nal'ibali, "the illustrations tap into a growing body of research indicating that reading for pleasure paves a path to educational success, irrespective of social background and circumstance." 

The roll-out coincides with the second season of Nal'ibali radio stories broadcast in partnership with SABC Education. The radio stories are broadcast three times a week in South Africa's 11 official languages across SABC public radio stations. The radio stories have been produced in order to reach people who may not be close to physical services, such as libraries and centre-based education. According to Nal'ibali, "radio offers the perfect platform to interact, engage, inform and effectively educate listeners in their first languages, straight into their homes."

The billboards have also been transformed into short animated clips being aired in 10 taxi ranks across the country for a period of four months.

The campaign has also been designed to connect the public to the Nal'ibali Nal'ibali website, Nal'ibali mobisite, Nal'ibali facebook page, and a weekly bilingual newspaper supplement. Adults are able to use these resources to access literacy tips, support, and activities, as well as children's stories in a range of South African languages.

Nal'ibali Literacy Mentors will also be offering "Story Power" workshops, information sessions, and community dialogues throughout the duration of the campaign, including providing support to the parents of children who attend Nal'ibali's network of more than 300 reading clubs in six provinces.

Children, Literacy, Education

According to the South African Book Development Council, "only 5% of parents in South Africa read to their children. Many parents and primary caregivers don't realise how important their teaching role is with their children - they feel it's the responsibility of school to do all the teaching. Yet sharing stories, which all families can do, is an essential literacy learning building block."

Nal'ibali (isiXhosa for "here's the story") is a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign to spark children's potential through storytelling and reading. Nal'ibali is led by the Project for the Study of Alternative Education, Times Media, and partners. "Through sustained mentoring and collaboration with communities, reading clubs, literacy organisations and volunteers of all ages, as well as a vibrant media campaign, Nal'ibali is helping to root a culture of literacy into the fabric of everyday life in South Africa."