It’s a case of mission accomplished for the Wilbur Smith Foundation, but the work is only just beginning says founder Niso Smith after the conclusion of the inaugural 18 for 9 campaign on September 1 2025.
Held to commemorate the iconic African adventure writer’s birthday and encourage parents and older siblings to develop a love of reading among infants by reading aloud to them for 18 minutes a day, the project has much more ground to cover.
“We distributed 7,000 books across five provinces between the time we announced the campaign in late November until Wilbur’s birthday,” says his widow, Niso.
There are 3,000 more books scheduled for distribution to a creche for disabled children. In KZN, as a function at the Claremont public library and an event with the Soweto Book Club. More than 1,200 books have been in Afrikaans, while one of the books given away was written in seven of South Africa’s 12 official languages.
“I am extremely pleased that we were able to ensure that the books we distributed were written by South African authors and because of that were far more relevant and impactful than the traditional Eurocentric children’s books tend to be,” said Niso.
“Most of these books are empowering, but some are just beautiful because I never forget the joy I had of just having a beautiful book to treasure that really represented the magic of reading for me – and we gave out many of these types of books too.”
She’s very grateful for the response the foundation has received, both from organisations working with child literacy to partners like Pan Macmillan who were able to stretch the foundation’s budget to allow them to but double the amount, while the Sunday Times was invaluable as a media partner in raising awareness.
The inaugural campaign, to foster a love of reading among the very young has had lessons for everyone involved in the campaign, she says.
“Coming face-to-face with the scope and scale of childhood illiteracy has been deeply distressing, but I’ve been humbled by the response we have received from the organisations we have helped and we are committed to continuing with this project in my husband’s memory.
“A small seed can lead to an incredible harvest and I think we’ve done just that by encouraging people of the need to read to children just for 18 minutes a day – and not just on January 9. Thank you, South Africa!”
If you, or your company, would like to know more about taking part in the 18 for 9 outreach programme, please write curator@thewilbursmithmuseum.com to find out how.
