In Short;
We Build Libraries
Not Just Bookcases
No Country can really develop unless its citizens are educated. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Education is the great engine of personal development
~ Nelson Mandela
2007 – 2010
HIV/AIDS awareness campaign launched through the school play Nkululeko.
Performed by a cast all living with HIV, the play told the story of a young man’s diagnosis and family support journey.
Included a 1-hour Q&A at each school, becoming the most successful HIV education platform in schools at the time.
2011
Under the guidance of Nelson Mandela, focus shifted from HIV/AIDS to literacy.
Launch of the Mandela School Library Project — container-based school libraries stocked with books in local languages.
Partnership with Soul Buddyz reading club begins.
2013
Official migration from the HIV-focused 46664 brand to the Long Walk to Freedom brand.
The film Long Walk to Freedom releases in October, providing a platform to promote literacy and social justice.
2018
Mandela Centenary celebrations.
Release of a radio play written and produced by students, played in over 4,000 PEP stores to 4 million customers.
Launch of Mandela Under the Sun song by The Natural Born Hippies.
Various global events and gatherings held to celebrate the Mandela legacy.
Reading programme reaches 200,000 children daily.
Target set to reach 2 million children.
2018 – Present
Expansion of Mandela Trolley Library Project — delivering early learning resources to pre-schools and Grade 00 classes.
Growth of the Digital Learning Project — pilot programmes launched to bridge the technology gap, providing digital classrooms, lessons, and libraries.
Partnerships established with Mediatek (China), Khan Academy (USA), Smart TV (South Africa), Rotary International, and others.
Mandela Education Programme – Timeline
That Stats
Over 100 container libraries deployed.
Ongoing donor support, volunteer engagement, and corporate partnerships keep the projects active and growing.
Long Walk to Freedom licensed products, Mandela Bangle sales, and special events fund the programme and allow us to reach more learners.
Continued roll-out of our physical & digital learning platforms in under-resourced schools.
In the Making
Mandela Skills Development Project (High Schools)
Focus on trades such as woodworking, metalwork, electrical, welding, mechanical skills — taught by retired or unemployed artisans.
The Journey
Where We Began: A Small Band, A Big Idea
The Mandela Bangle started as a simple funding idea in 2007, a small token that did far more than sit on wrists. It gave the project identity, early visibility and a way for everyday people to contribute. That first momentum brought volunteers, ambassadors and the first donors who believed a small idea could grow. Looking back, the bangle taught us that change often starts with something modest and human — a single step that led to organised fundraising, real deployments, and the long journey that followed.
People Doing Good — Stories That Raised Schools
Participate For Good turned personal challenges and events into tangible support for schools. From riders and hikers to birthday fundraisers, this platform made it easy for people to fund specific, traceable outcomes — a trolley of books, a reading nook, a whole library. Crucially, it broadened our donor base, made giving social and repeatable, and let contributors see the impact of their campaigns. This culture of participation made fundraising local, transparent and contagious, helping scale our work one story and one campaign at a time.
When Others Joined the Journey With Us
Corporate and private partners brought the scale we couldn’t achieve alone. Their support meant vehicles for transport, boreholes and infrastructure, and reliable funding for repeat deployments. Beyond finances, these partners offered project management, logistics and local networks that made deliveries smoother and more sustainable. With them on board we moved from one-off donations to multi-school planning, pairing libraries with reading programmes and community projects. Their long-term backing changed not just how much we could do, but how well we could do it.
A Brand Helping Us Keep the Promise
Creating a certified Long Walk to Freedom product programme made the message fund more of the work. Licensed products gave us an ethical revenue stream and helped protect the brand, so a percentage of sales could be routed back into projects. That predictable income underwrote deployments, covered basic costs, and extended campaign fundraising. Equally important, it turned everyday purchases into ongoing awareness — people who bought the products carried the story home, keeping literacy and access in public view beyond single events.
The Long Haul: Keeping the Library Dream Alive
The Mandela Education Programme builds and stocks container and trolley libraries to boost early literacy, installs Smart Boards with the GED system to modernise teaching, and develops vocational skills programmes for older learners. We partner with organisations like Rotary and Soul Buddyz and rely on corporate and community supporters to bring books, teacher training, and practical learning into under-resourced schools. Join us — your support delivers clear, tangible classroom change.
This journey has always been about more than books or boards — it’s about giving children the tools to dream bigger. Every library built, every Smart Board installed, is a piece of that dream made real. But dreams don’t sustain themselves. With your support, we keep the doors open, the lights on, and the stories flowing. Donations, big or small, are what keep this vision alive — carrying Madiba’s belief in education as the path to freedom into every classroom we reach.
Powering The Legacy
From Metal Boxes
to Places of Wonder
Our container libraries are practical and imaginative: a converted shipping container fitted with shelving, insulation, lighting and a little reading nook becomes a school’s reading room. They deploy quickly and stand up to township and rural conditions, bringing early readers, fiction, reference books and comics to children who had none. The presence of a library changes perceptions — parents see investment, teachers gain resources, and kids find a place to read. These containers became hubs, activated by Soul Buddyz and local volunteers, turning metal boxes into community-owned places of wonder.
Bringing Classrooms
Into 2025
Our Digital Learning Project equips classrooms with Smart Boards and the GED system, delivering curated digital content like Khan Academy and CAPS-aligned lessons straight to the board. We prioritise teacher training so the tech actually improves day-to-day teaching: the Smart Board + GED combo gives teachers ready-to-use, classroom-friendly resources that spark interaction and make lessons repeatable. This blended approach complements printed readers and helps prepare learners for further study in a digital world.
Power in Participation
Strength in Community
Participate for Good is where passion meets purpose. Whether it’s cycling, running, climbing, or any challenge in between, everyday people are transforming their efforts into lasting impact. Every kilometre, every stride, every shared goal helps fund libraries and Smart Boards — opening doors to learning for thousands of children. It’s not just sport; it’s camaraderie, it’s community, and it’s proof that together we can turn determination into opportunity.
Giving 67 years of his life, the late Nelson Mandela took action to create lasting change for all South Africans. Through great personal sacrifice, he helped secure the freedom of choice — the vote — and the right to equality for every citizen.
As Mrs Winnie Mandela once reminded us, the struggle for freedom was just the first, and perhaps one of the easier, steps. It carried a unifying purpose. The next challenge — ensuring equal access to opportunity — is far more complex and may require decades of sustained effort and focus, without the singular rallying point of the anti-apartheid years.
This journey is far from over, but one truth is universally recognised: education is a game-changer for society.
Mr Mandela said it best:
“Education is a great engine of personal development. It is through education that a daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of a mine, that the child of a farm worker can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”
The Mandela Education Programme, with its four key projects and a starting focus on literacy, is built on this philosophy. A hand up is worth so much more than a handout, and the gift of literacy lasts a lifetime — unlocking knowledge, confidence, and opportunity.
Join us in our mission to transform children’s access to education, ensuring that no matter where they start, every learner has the tools to succeed.
Robert Coutts
Director
Mandela Education Programme
FAQs
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Getting involved with the Mandela Education Programme can be done through any donation. 5 Rand or 5 million (Optimistic?). What we are getting at, you can support us by making a donation, which helps build and maintain vibrant libraries and learning spaces in underserved schools. Alternatively, purchasing from our soon-to-be shop will directly fund a child’s school journey. If you want to contribute your time and energy, send us an email to learn about volunteering opportunities. Together, we can create safer spaces for children to explore stories, ideas, and their future.
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The Mandela Education Programme is a set of projects dedicated to improving access to education and literacy in under-resourced schools across South Africa. Our work includes building container libraries, rolling out digital learning platforms, and developing skills training for high school learners, but well get back to you on that.
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The initiative began in 2007 with an HIV/AIDS awareness school play called Nkululeko. In 2011, under the guidance of Nelson Mandela, we shifted our focus to literacy and launched the Mandela School Library Project.
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Nelson Mandela believed that education is the most powerful tool for personal and societal change. Literacy is the foundation for all learning, giving children the skills they need to succeed in school and in life.
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Since 2011, we have opened over 100 container libraries and delivered dozens of trolley libraries to schools across the country.
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It’s a refurbished shipping container transformed into a fully functional library, stocked with books in local & national languages, as well as magazines and learning materials.
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This project bridges the technology gap by equipping schools with digital classrooms, Smart Boards, online lesson resources, and internet access — allowing learners to access quality educational content.
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It’s a mobile, early-learning library designed for preschools and early grades. Each trolley comes with books, puzzles, and educational games that teachers can use in their classrooms.
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We are funded through donations, corporate sponsorships, Mandela Bangle sales, licensed Long Walk to Freedom products, and special fundraising events.
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We partner with organisations such as Rotary International, Joe’s Magz, Qualibooks, and other generous suppliers to source high-quality fiction, non-fiction, and educational materials in English and multiple local languages.
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Our projects reach communities across South Africa, focusing on rural, township, and under-resourced schools where access to libraries and technology is most limited.
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