Durban - In honour of Mandela Day, the Independent on Saturday teamed up with the Denis Hurley Centre and Street Lit campaign on a book drive to support the project that tries to tackle unemployment and homelessness within Durban.
Street Lit facilitator, Illa Thompson, said the project had been going since 2018 and aimed to provide an income for those who had previously experienced homelessness around Durban.
She said: “There are around 15 members of the team who’ve experienced homelessness, but they all share a love of books. The programme helps supply them with book stock, donated by readers, and then we set up mini-book stands around town so they can sell them.”
She encouraged people to support the vendors because they would be getting an affordable, second-hand read and also assisting with paying for a homeless man’s shelter for the night. Through this programme, she said, you end up having discussions about books and becoming a bookworm.
“Our guys also become good ambassadors for the homeless community,” she said.
IOS editor Zoubair Ayoob said the effort had succeeded beyond his expectations, largely thanks to a special effort by staffer, Frank Chemaly, among his circle of friends, which meant hundreds of books were collected for the project.
“I would love to see the collection succeed beyond Mandela Day, and urge readers to support this very worthwhile cause by continuing to donate books all year round. Please have a whip around your circle, get a pile together and contact Street Lit by emailing [email protected] or calling the Denis Hurley Centre on 031 301 2240 to arrange for collection,” he said.
On behalf of the IOS, Chemaly said he would like to thank Jenny Clark, of Fat Frog Kitchen in Durban North, for using her space and assisting with the book collection. He said many Durban North readers donated delivered books her shop after she had posted the IOS appeal on her Instagram account.
The Independent on Saturday