Cadbury Dairy Milk is rooted in generosity, driven by the genuine desire to act on improving someone else’s situation. We know the ability to read for meaning empowers children to succeed and although there is a myriad of hurdles that may hinder this, a significant one is the sobering lack of storybooks children have access to in their mother tongues. We want to ignite the inherent generosity found in all South Africans and are committed to addressing this need through our recently established Read To Succeed initiative. This initiative aims to ignite a love for reading amongst children across the country, by making books in their home language more accessible. To achieve this Cadbury Dairy Milk has set a goal to create and translate 1500 new stories for children in their mother tongue, over the next three years, in partnership with Nal’ibali.

Numerous studies* and experts have highlighted the lack of children’s literature available in African languages in South Africa. This includes a 2016 survey from the Publishers Association of SA that shows that only approximately 2% of children’s books produced by trade publishers were in local African languages*.

*Source information linked below, T&C apply visit www.cadbury.co.za

In terms of the number of children’s fiction literature published in South Africa both English and Afrikaans are well represented. Numerous studies* and experts have highlighted the lack of children’s literature available in African languages in South Africa. This includes a 2016 survey from the Publishers Association of SA that shows that only approximately 2% of children’s books produced by trade publishers were in local African languages. The campaign will focus on creating more children’s stories in all African languages including Afrikaans.

The Cadbury Dairy Milk #InOurOwnWords campaign, that has launched in South Africa, will include creating and translating stories into indigenous South African languages. Cadbury Dairy Milk is embarking on similar campaigns in other African markets that have been tailored to the needs of each specific audience.

Translate just one word to help co-author a library of children’s stories in a variety of African languages #InOurOwnWords. Visit the Cadbury website and follow the instructions to translate a word from English into an African language, which will then be added to one of our stories.

To showcase the generous intent of others we want to demonstrate how even the smallest generous act can make a large impact. Our partners Nal’íbali have a team of local young authors who will use all of the creative words that have been translated into different South African languages to inspire a range of new stories.

Once stories have been created, they will live on the Cadbury Dairy Milk #InOurOWnWords digital library and accessible to anyone who would like to download a story. Cadbury Dairy Milk has also partnered with Nal’ibali and Vodacom’s E-School platform to assist in ensuring greater access to these stories. Over the next three years a select number of these stories will be printed and distributed as story books in a variety of ways including via our partners. More information can be found on the website www.cadbury.co.za

Igniting a love for reading amongst South Africa’s children will take a collective effort. We encourage all South Africans to demonstrate their generous intent and if you don’t speak an African language to then partner with a neighbour, friend or colleague who does, to assist you with contributing a word. You can also help by spreading the news of the initiative as the more words we collect the more stories we can create! Follow Cadbury Dairy Milk on social media @CadburyDairyMilkSA (Facebook) or @Cadbury_SA (Twitter and Instagram) to discover and learn new words in a variety of African languages, which you can then contribute to one of the storis being created.

Based on the insight that creating a culture of reading starts at a young age the Cadbury Dairy Milk #InOurOwnWords campaign will focus on creating stories for children under the age of 10.

Cadbury Dairy Milk #InOurOwnWords is focused on creating fictional stories for children under the age of 10 more accessible in their home languages. Igniting a love for reading starts when children can identify with the context of the story. Stories introduce children to worlds, concepts and images far beyond what they know. Through stories children can imagine a future filled with endless opportunities and see and believe new possibilities for themselves. The initiative will focus on creating new culturally relevant stories as well as re-inventing some of the classics.

To translate just one word and help co-author a library of children’s stories in a variety of African languages #InOurOwnWords you simply need to visit the Cadbury website and follow the instructions to translate a word from English into an African language, which will then be added to one of our stories. However if you purchase a Cadbury Dairy Milk slab over the period and enter the barcode on the website you will be able to download an audio story already narrated for you.

Sharing a word in your home language that will then be used to create new stories for children in a selection of African languages is a wonderful act of generosity and kindness. Translated words collected through the campaign may be used within new stories created which will live in the Cadbury Dairy Milk #InOurOwnWords digital library and used across various platforms associated with the initiative. The rights to the stories created remain with Cadbury Dairy Milk and its campaign partners.

*Sources:

• https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2019-01-11-solving-sas-literacy-crisis
• https://nicspaull.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/nic-spaull-and-elizabeth-pretorious.pdf
• https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/want-to-read-to-your-children-in-your-mother-tongue-check-out-these-books-20190221
• https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pirls/ https://africasacountry.com/2019/04/why-are-south-african-children-struggling-to-read-properly
• https://www.publishsa.co.za/file/1519203677awr-2016publishingindustrysurvey.pdf
• https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/retail-and-consumer/2021-04-28-game-pins-hopes-on-selling-african-language-childrens-books-in-turnaround drive/