The Parktown Public School was abuzz with excitement, on Friday, 25 July, as KPMG, in conjunction with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, launched a library for the school through their KPMG Family For Literacy initiative. This primary school, on the outskirts of Hillbrow, services a hugely disadvantaged community and has over 800 pupils. The library launch was a culmination of a collective effort by KPMG staff and their family for Mandela Day this year.

KPMG and its staff members bought and donated over 8 000 new and used foundation phase books to start the library. The initiative captured the entire KPMG community. Scores of staff members and their families united to give their 67 minutes for Mandela Day 2014 by classifying, wrapping and cataloguing the donated books. Even pupils from local schools, Kingsmead College and St Katharine’s School, helped in the book drive on Mandela Day. Through these contributions, the firm transformed an empty room at the school, into a fully-fledged library. They replaced dilapidated and broken shelves with new book cases and tables, and donated desktop computers to provide the learners with every facility to develop and grow.

Chairman of the KPMG Foundation in South Africa, Yunus Suleman, officially opened the library, reiterating the firm’s commitment to promoting education. “KPMG is committed to making a difference in the communities in which we operate and KFFL is a key initiative for our Foundation because education is a priority in our citizenship efforts,” said Suleman. Representing the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Luvuyo Mandela, great-grandson of Tata Nelson Mandela, thanked KPMG for its vision and support of the school. He encouraged the children to cultivate a love for learning and commended the teachers at the school for inspiring learners.

“Teachers are important, reading is important. You must take guidance from your teachers but most of all, you must strive to better yourselves because your actions today will make your parents proud in the future,” said Mandela. Octavia Sithole, representing the Department of Basic Education spoke passionately to the students about the value that the library will bring to their lives. “Whatever challenges you face, whether you live in a back-room or a shack, don’t let your circumstances determine who you are and what you can achieve,” encouraged Sithole.

She also congratulated KPMG and the Nelson Mandela Foundation for joining the fight to improve literacy in South Africa.  Quoting a Zulu proverb Sithole said: “Indlovu ihlaselwa ngabaningi” (it takes many people to bring down an elephant). Government cannot do it alone but together we can do more.”

KPMG’s Family for Literacy, is a global KPMG initiative, driven by spouses of the KPMG Directors. The programme is aimed at fighting the challenge of childhood illiteracy across the globe. The KFFL includes more than philanthropy, it sends volunteers into communities to complement corporate giving at grass-roots level. As part of the programme, the volunteers read to children, organise book drives and fundraising events, deliver books to schools, and more. Participation is open to all members of the KPMG family, making the firm’s contributions as extensive as possible. The initiative mobilises the KPMG family and creates a sense of citizenship amongst the KPMG community. The creation of this library is a demonstration of KPMG’s purpose to make a meaningful difference in our communities and hopefully to help enable the future opportunities for the learners at Parktown Public School.

Speaking on behalf of KFFL via a video link, Beth Veihmeyer, spouse to KPMG’s Global Chairman, said: “We wanted to harness the energy of the KPMG family to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children in our communities and it is encouraging to see that the programme has had global impact.”

In the spirit of the words of the great Nelson Mandela who said, “Education is the greatest weapon you can use to change the world”, KPMG and the Nelson Mandela Foundation have helped to change the futures for learners at the Parktown Public School. In our world today, the value of literacy and the ability to read cannot be overemphasised. This is further compounded by the shortage of reading material for children in disadvantaged schools, especially at foundation phase. It took the vision of one ex-pupil, Fortunate Tshirangwana, who dreamed of creating a fully stocked library for her school to revive the levels of literacy at her school. KPMG is proud that through, the KFFL drive, they were able to make that dream a reality.