Skeem Saam actor Cornet Mamabolo chats to us about his aim to give back to his village through opening a community library. By Kwanele Mathebula
Image: Cornet Mamabolo IG
1. Rapper, Pro once said “When you get love you must give it back”. The support, love and encouragement from the country propelled me to put a team together and register the Cornet Mamabolo Foundation. The foundation made it possible for me to set up programs and institutions that will make a positive impact in rural areas such as the Cornet Mamabolo Foundation Community Library. Most initiatives in the country focus their energy on the development of urban areas which creates a gap between the youth from rural areas and in cities or townships. We aim to close this gap by making resources available in the library and through our initiatives.
2. The library dream started in 2016. We faced many challenges in the process of getting it off the ground with the main one being funding. It has been especially difficult because this is not a profit making project so acquiring funding for this project has not been easy. It was also incredibly difficult to get co-operation from government officials whose job it was to assist us. This made giving back to my community difficult and frustrating when we didn’t have the relevant backing needed to run a project like this.
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3. The vision is to build more libraries in the country and eventually in the continent. This library is just the beginning of an even bigger plan. We’ve been allocated a land by the royal family where we plan to build a big library and science centre that will have extra mural activities for the community. We envisage introducing learners to technology from an early age to enable a smooth transition when they get to the higher learning institutions. It is important for us to convert the Ga-Molepo area into a reading and researching society.
4. We plan to start more community building initiatives later in the year. We have a number of educational festivals we host annually such as the rural education festival which is in its fourth year. We’re also currently running the festival in Limpopo from the 7th to the 11th of May and the National Science Week which is coming up