Mother Tongue Wednesdays: A backyard afterschool library in Joburg is reclaiming language and learning
ORANGE FARM: The chatter of children’s voices rises from behind a corrugated gate on a Wednesday afternoon in Drieziek 3, Orange Farm. Inside a small backyard building that was once a storeroom, rows of plastic chairs and low desks fill the space. Here, Abantu Literacy League hosts its weekly ritual: Mother Tongue Wednesdays, a day when English gives way to the languages of home – isiZulu, Sesotho, and to a lesser extent Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga.