Donate Now

Launch of E-Bookshop

SA Partners is thrilled to announce the launch of the new Masifunde Sonke book project website: www.sapartners.org/bookshop.

For each book purchased from the Masifunde Sonke list, SA Partners will donate one copy of the same book to an under-resourced South African school.
As such, each purchase made through the project has a direct, positive developmental impact in South Africa. Each donated book will have a personalized nameplate bearing the name of the donor.

Masifunde Sonke is an initiative of the South Africa Partners (SA Partners) Libraries for South African Schools Program. It addresses the need for access to books and library materials in under-resourced South African rural and township schools, and stimulates the South African book publishing industry. The initiative also increases opportunities for cross-cultural learning between the United States and South Africa.

Beginning with the official project launch in June 2006, SA Partners has sold over 750 books in the U.S., with a corresponding 750 copies being donated to South African schools. With the convenience of the e-bookshop, this number will increase significantly, contributing to the project goal of 4000 books sold and 4000 books donated by July 2007. Customers without direct need of the books have also generously donated full sets of 25 books to schools in their community, with matching sets being donated to South African schools. Thanks in particular to David and Donna McGrath of the Highland Street Foundation who donated ten sets of books, and to Jeffrey and Mary Zients of the Zients Family Foundation who contributed three sets.

Masifunde Sonke is a SA Partners initiative, in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the Mandela Foundation Rural Schools Programme, the Centre for the Book, and Artists for a New South Africa.

Recent Masifunde Sonke Events

Friends of SA Partners have opened their homes to friends and family to showcase the 25 quality South African children’s books featured in the Masifunde Sonke project.

In October, local participants from the 2006 Education Tour, Kathy Greeley, Nancy Falk, Sarah Bayer, and Dick Cluster, hosted a dinner to share photos and stories from the education tour and to showcase the Masifunde Sonke books. When visiting a severely under-resourced primary school in the Eastern Cape, the tour participants asked what would be most useful to the faculty and staff. The school representatives answered that school uniforms would be most appreciated and useful. At the October event, Kathy, Nancy, Sarah, and Dick asked guests to make a special donation for school uniforms for the Melani Primary School. Thanks to the generous support of friends and family, over $3000 has been raised and donated to the Melani School.

Board members Carmen Ashhurst and Michael Talbot, and organization friends Charlene Allen and Jean Demmler have also held book house parties in New York, Connecticut, and Denver. Michael and Catherine Talbot’s January event set new attendance and book sales records, with over 50 guests in attendance and over 110 books sold!

If you are interested in hosting a book house party, SA Partners will provide you with invitations, a copy of each of the books, display easels, book brochures & order forms, glossy brochures with maps of South Africa, and tips on how to give your event a South African theme. Please contact Kate Sipples, Education Program Officer, at ksipples@sapartners.org to learn more.

2007 Education Tour

Pricing and itinerary information has been set for the 2007 SA Partners Education Tour, “Overcoming Apartheid’s Legacy: Education Reform in the new South Africa.” In this two-week tour, education professionals learn about the status of education reform in South Africa and the particular challenges faced by township and rural schools. The tour will travel to four cities—Johannesburg, East London, Mthatha, and Cape Town from Sunday, July 22 to Saturday, August 4, 2007. Highlights of the tour include: guided city tours of Johannesburg, Soweto, Mdantsane township (East London), and Cape Town (inc. Robben Island); school site visits and meetings with local educators; time in the classroom as guests of South African teachers; trips to rural/coastal areas, museums and cultural sites; and dinners with prominent South African educational, political, and artistic figures.

The trip is sure to be an unforgettable experience. To learn more, please contact Kate Sipples, Education Program Officer, at ksipples@sapartners.org.

Feedback from 2006 tour participants:

"The itinerary met all my expectations and understanding of what I would encounter on my trip to South Africa. The visits to the townships, museums, and schools taught me about apartheid and its legacy in concrete ways that I could speak about when I returned to the States. As a teacher, the chance to talk to teachers and meet students as they worked was the 'hands-on experience' I really wanted."

--Madeleine Keller, Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore, MD

“There is a feeling in the country of hopefulness and promise. It is a young society facing huge challenges, but their goals are high and the commitment to be successful in creating a more just and democratic society is strong. It was so inspiring! I feel so privileged to have been part of this trip.”

--Kathy Greeley, Cambridge, MA Public Schools

“This trip brought me much closer to the freedom struggle and the new South Africa. It made me feel personally connected to a country and a people and to know that we are all capable of changing our world for the better. I have already begun to share this experience with my college community. My colleagues have been very interested and receptive and I believe there is interest in pursuing a partnership with the University of Fort Hare for future exchanges and other ventures.”

--Evelyn Lord, Laney College, Oakland, CA