Puku Children's Literature Foundation

About Puku Children's Literature Foundation

The word ‘puku’ means book in Northern Sotho. Through the work of its two current major projects, puku.co.za and pukupedia, the main aim of the Puku Children’s Literature Foundation, as an independent, non-governmental organisation, of a public character, is to bridge both the literacy and the digital divide that confronts the vast majority of South African children, by developing dynamic and innovative programmes and projects to improve the quality of children’s books and recreational materials in all South African languages. The foundation also aims to facilitate access to such literature and educational/recreational materials for all South African children, as well as their parents, teachers and librarians, with particular emphasis on those from the most materially deprived and marginalised communities. There are a myriad organisations that promote reading and literacy in Africa but there are few that have specifically addressed both literature and digital content. The Puku initiative is one of the few and as such it is a transformative intervention that, given the right support, has the potential to empower disadvantaged communities, not only in South Africa but across the length and breadth Africa. The Puku Foundation will use cutting-edge digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the quality of literary and educational/recreational materials for children, creating a free, open access resource to support education and local cultural content.

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