FUNDZA LITERACY TRUST

  
The FunDza Literacy Trust (FunDza) works to get teens and young adults from underresourced communities across South Africa, reading and writing for pleasure. FunDza derives its name from the isiXhosa word for “read” (funda). The name also plays on the idea that reading is a fun activity and the domain identifier for South Africa on the Internet is ‘za’.

 
FunDza boosts literacy creating a demand for reading, by producing material that young people want to read, that reflects their lives. The ‘Harmony High’ series promoted by FunDza centres on the real-life issues and choices faced by a group of teens attending a fictional township high school. The narratives are gripping and fast-paced and the messages positive, but not preachy. FunDza improves access by supporting more than 160 reading groups across South Africa with relevant reading material as well as growing a community of readers via its mobi network - fundza.mobi. Each week FunDza commissions and publishes brand new South African short stories in its 'Library on a phone'. FunDza has around 45 000 unique monthly readers, with a visit duration averaging around 13 minutes. FunDza also
has more than 1,200,000 page views per month. These stats (and comments received) indicate both a wide reach as well deep engagement with the text.

  
FunDza's developing young writers programme provides a platform for young people to submit their work, and share their voice. FunDza edits, provides feedback and  then publishes the work to be read and enjoyed by their peers.

 
The Foundation has supported FunDza since 2011.