South African Author Donates Book Proceeds to Childreach/Plan

Childreach
Saturday, 1 June 2002

South African author and lecturer Nkosinathi Sibanda recently donated proceeds from his latest book of poetry, The Songs of Soweto, to Childreach/Plan.

Of his contribution, Sibanda states, "The donation is intended for the children and is not aimed at accomplishing anything else but the aiding of children in developing countries. I hope in time, the book's message and the donation will be seen as a single endeavor - to make a positive difference in people's lives and in particular children."

Subtitled Poems from a Post Apartheid South Africa, Sibanda's book captures the difficulties with the transition from Apartheid rule to democratic governance. His poems offer a view from Soweto of the shortfalls and impatience with the political process of April 1994 South Africa. They reflect the great expectations and indeed, impatience of the people for fundamental political change in their country following the enthronement of majority rule.

The Songs of Soweto articulates the voices of an angry yet intelligent people once held down by Apartheid laws and now battling with an unknown political future. It brings together history and poetry moving towards a poetics of neo-colonial discourse on meaning and identity.

To Sibanda, the connection between politics and helping children is simple, "I thought it befitting that an organization [such as Childreach/Plan] should benefit from the book's proceeds, since in many cases children are the casualties of political struggle and poor government, especially in developing countries."

Sibanda is currently a Research Associate at the International Conflict Resolution Program at Columbia University in New York. He is co-author of a non-fiction book, Building Bridges: Confronting the Gap between Black Africans and African Americans and also the author of another volume of poems entitled, If God was a Poet. His articles and poems have appeared in publications and journals in Africa and the States.

For more information, or to contact Childreach, see their website at: www.childreach.org