It is no secret that I am a big champion of seeing our author’s books outside the UK. As a translation rights agent it is a passion I get to express daily. When I saw the opportunity via the United Talent Agency (UTA) Live Inspired program to take a week-long volunteering sabbatical, it was no surprise to my colleagues that my proposal included not just the volunteering aspect but also aimed to increase access to books and the literacy rate of the local population.
The chosen location, set in the Kruger Park in South Africa, proved to play a part in some shocking statistics. A 2023 study revealed that more than 8 in 10 ten-year-olds in South Africa cannot read for meaning—a number that continues to rise. This statistic is not helped by the fact that two thirds of households in South Africa own ten books or fewer—with a lot of the children I met owning none at all. Libraries exist in the Kruger Park surroundings, but many children from the rural communities travel long distances to school (if they have access to the ‘luxury’ of education) and back home, to then help their families, including making sure there is enough water from surrounding water pumps. It is time spent that is lost towards education and reading. They cannot reach books as easily as those of us here in the UK can, so we must do our best to try and make the books reach them.
Via friends living locally, I ended up at Koru Camp; a non-profit organisation that believes it is imperative for local communities to be introduced and educated about the beauty and benefit that wild spaces provide, with the long-term goal being to protect these spaces. They provide a fully immersive wildlife education experience to disadvantaged community members around the game reserves of the Kruger Park. Their camps allow community members to stay overnight and experience game drives, camping in the bush, reading and storytelling around the bonfire and cooking meals. One of the organisation’s wishes is to set up a library at the camp, ensuring that all children attending get access to books they would not get at home.
After a call for books, the publishing industry came together and showed the strengths of a good network. Book agents at Curtis Brown connected me with their editorial colleagues in the UK offices, who connected me with their colleagues abroad at the South African counterparts. Everyone was immediately on board to put a selection of books together based on the needs of Koru Camp. Some worked with an assigned budget, while others were happy to send me whichever books they still had in stock and would be suitable for the camp. It would not have been without the generous support from the South African offices of Pan Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Jonathan Ball, as well as the UK offices of HarperCollins and Chicken House Books, that this could all be accomplished. A mini library with over 200 children’s books, both fiction and non-fiction, has now been set up at Koru Camp and will give all visitors the freedom to enjoy.
In addition to the big collection of books donated, my publishing colleagues and author clients were some of my biggest supporters, donating generous amounts of money that amounted to £4,886 being put towards giving more local children the opportunity to stay at the camp. One of the camps I joined in May was fully funded by these generous donations and it was incredible to participate in something that was a result of a community coming together.
After seeing the incredible auctions set up by publishing colleagues to raise money for Ukraine and for Gaza, and during my recent visit to Koru Camp, it shows that one idea can make a difference, however small
Story nights at the bonfire, reading mornings with smaller groups of children, and giving away books to take home all followed. After one week, 36 children had been given the opportunity to engage with English language books. For most it was a challenge to read out loud, both due to their levels of English as well as their reading levels, but with a bit of help from peers, myself and the camp leaders, their lives were enriched with stories and escapism. After the excitement of seeing elephants and giraffes for the first time in their lives, this was another reason to go home with a smile on their faces.
But there is a lot of work to do still. It is disheartening to look at the terror and sadness in our world, the amount of help that is needed to make a difference. Often, we feel like another drop in the ocean—an ocean that is emptying quicker than we fill it up. But after seeing the incredible auctions set up by publishing colleagues to raise money for Ukraine, and for Gaza, and during my recent visit to Koru Camp, it shows that one idea can make a difference, however small.
The week I spent at Koru Camp has proven how much one individual can do for a bigger community, but this would not have been possible without the help of a big network of support behind me. We have incredible organisations and charities making sure books are spread wide and far within our country, but reaching across the border has proven to be a more complex operation without first having a full awareness of the situation there. While not forgetting the needs of literature in our own country, especially within the younger generation, we can work together with our counterparts to spread books and stories globally. Many bigger publishing houses have offices in multiple countries across the globe, so if we can attack the literacy crisis with a global approach then we can reach many more people with our brilliant books. But we need the awareness of what’s going on around us, not just in our area, but also far beyond. In the UK, we rely a lot on libraries where children can borrow books, and it’s easier for them to access this. Other countries, especially third world countries, have different needs and different ways to reach children. If we can find more individuals to champion books, raise awareness of local needs and bring the publishing industry together on a global level, I am sure we can keep making a difference both within and beyond our British borders.
If you wish to make a donation to Koru Camp too, you can still do so here: www.givengain.com/project/tanja-goossens-raising-funds-for-koru-camp
