Sindiwe and the Fireflies

Sindiwe and the Fireflies – This is the story of Sindiwe Magona. Born in the village of Gungululu in rural Eastern Cape. Born on August 23 1943, But life was not easy on Sindiwe, she left school in order to work as a cleaner, but no matter difficult her situation was Sindiwe never gave up on her dreams. She continued her studies while working. Until her hard work paid off. Sindiwe Magona earned her secondary and undergraduate education by correspondence, and later won a scholarship to study for her Master’s Degree in Social Work at Columbia University in the United States of America.

Sindiwe not only reached her dreams but she achieve even more. A Teacher, civil servant, novelist, poet, playwright, women’s activist, awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Bronze for her literary and humanitarian contributions and her outstanding achievements in literature. Many people call her Nomabali because she’s always writing, telling and reading stories.

Author: Cheréne Pienaar, Illustrator: Jano Strydom

Text and Images from Sindiwe and the Fireflies

One day a very clever baby was born in Gungululu in the Eastern Cape.
Her name was Sindiwe Magona. She was the oldest of eight children.

At night, her grandmother told magical stories about ogres and giants, animals of the forests, great beasts, and little
creatures of the veld. It was Sindiwe’s favourite time.

Sindiwe loved school and she dreamed about being a teacher.

When Sindiwe became a teenager, her family organised a feast to celebrate.
She was given special things to wear and a wise old man sang a praise song to her. (Blessings, long life! May your ancestors guard you!)

Sindiwe trained to be a teacher. She was very excited to teach at her first school.
But there weren’t enough schools for black children and they had no desks or books to write in. This made Sindiwe feel scared. How could she be a good teacher when the children had nowhere to sit?

She left the school to work as a cleaner.
She worked in four different houses. Sometimes the people there treated her badly and Sindiwe became very unhappy.

Read the full story by downloading or reading online on the buttons below the post.

About Creative Commons

Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ‐ provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following.

About Book Dash

Book Dash gathers professional creatives – writers, illustrators, designers, editors – who volunteer to create high-quality children’s books that anyone can freely download, translate, print and distribute. Most of the work is done
on a Book Dash day, when small teams work for over twelve straight hours, each producing a new book.

Why Book Dash?

Books purchased from publishers cost too much. In order to distribute more books for South African children, Book Dash participants work as publishers in a single day, having a book with no publishers mean the book will be a lot cheaper the only cost will be printing the books. With these, anyone can run sponsored prints and the finished books can be handed to children.

Every child should have a hundred books when they reach the age of five. that means handing down 600 million free books to South African children who probably could not afford to buy them, More children grow up not learning how to read and write well, and every day we lose more of these children. Let us not neglect these children and help them overcome poverty by first teaching them how to read and to enjoy the worlds that a book can open up.

See more Inspirational books below

Save the Planet – Be Nice series book 4, revised edition - Save the Planet is a short simple book for young children, and beginner ESL readers, promoting values of conservation and ecologically-friendly behaviour. This book teaches children ten important lessons about conservation and actions that can help preserve and conserve our natural environment and the resources, for those of us, people and animals, who inhabit it. ...

With Love Gaia - A beautiful leaf flutters from the palm of Gaia, Mother Earth, with a message for Kaya and Kabir. What is the message? What does Mother Earth want to say to us? Is she hurting? How can we help? Read on to find out about Kaya and Kabir’s adventure and how the children organise their community ...

Walk with Gandhi - An enlightening text on the life of Gandhi, containing enlightening snapshots of Gandhi’s life, with lots of questions for reflection, making it very suitable for school use – social studies, history, art, or English. The Haiku, images, and text reflect the remarkable life of Mahatma (‘great soul’) who brought freedom to India through non-violent protest. ...

Gracie’s Guide Book to Growing up SUPER - Gracie’s big sister is a F-E-M-I-N-I-S-T. What does that mean? Can boys be feminists too? Find out the answers to these questions and more about being really SUPER in this very sweet guidebook, written by Gracie to her new sibling. Sample Page 1 from Gracie’s Guidebook to Being Super: Download the full book on the ...

How to Be Happy – Be Nice Book 2 – Revised Edition - 10 life lessons on how to be happy by 10 friendly animal characters, including sight words and activities, perfect for school use, in a pdf and editable children's book released under CC-BY-NC.

Max and Keira Make a Change - An inspiring story detailing a connection between a heart transplant and his donor, and how you can make a change if you try and keep trying. Max and Keira achieve an important change in organ donor laws in the UK – saving hundreds of lives each year since the change was effected. This book is ...

Always Be Nice – 10 lessons in kindness, revised edition - Always be Nice is a short book for young children promoting kindness and manners and can be used as an early reader. The book is perfect for building confidence in reading with only 28 words most of which are simple words. This book also teaches kids ten important lessons about being kind to others. Each ...

My Wildest Imagination Journal - Every child deserves to feel good about who they are, who they want to be, and know they deserve to achieve even their wildest dreams. These free writing prompts pages are designed to help your child get started writing their own journal. They will help them use their imagination to make all their dreams come ...

I Am Grateful – I choose to look for the best in everything! - I Believe Gratitude Creates Joy! If you are not feeling good and want to stay in bed, because of bad thoughts roaming around in your head. Read this book before you get up, to improve your attitude and always stay focused on gratitude. There are so many things in this world to be grateful for, ...

I Am Strong, I Am Courageous, I Am Girl – Self help book for growing your confidence - As Long As I Stay Positive I Can Achieve Great Things! This little eBook features the character Abazora of the Azpazaz Bunch. This is a story with positive affirmations to remind you to be strong and courageous. Never let anyone tell you anything you want is impossible. Read this little book out loud to yourself ...

See more books by Book Dash below

Lefa’s Bath – Wordless book - Lefa wants to take a bath but someone keeps stealing the water. A cute wordless book fun for toddlers and kindergarteners, older children can also enjoy making up some words. Sample Page Illustrated by Ellen Heydenrych Written by Marion Drew Designed by Tyra Peter Edited by Kelly Norwood-Young With the help of the Book Dash ...

Dance Khuzwayo, Dance! - Khuzwayo is picked to be the village’s next Ingoma dancer, to celebrate the first crops of the year, but will he have the courage to dance? \ Illustrated by Jess Jardim-Wedepohl Written by Fiske Serah Nyirongo Designed by Job Mubinya Another amazing story from www.bookdash.org, aiming ...

Children's story about a trip to the communal tap and recycling

A Trip to the Tap – Upcycling - Oluhle is excited to go to the tap and fetch water, she will see her friends there, but what happens when she can’t find her bucket? Illustrated by Phumle April Written by Sindeka Mandoyi Designed by Nadene Kriel Sample Page from A Trip to the Tap Download the full book by selecting one of ...

Unathi and the Dirty, Smelly Beast – fun early reader - Unathi and the Dirty, Smelly Beast – A mysterious dirty smelly beast is following Unathi home, or is it really a dirty smelly beast? Find out in this fun creative commons picture book from BookDash. This picture book is perfect for young children who want to start reading and understand common words with help. The ...

The Memory Tree – Dealing with a Death in the Family - Thembi and Thulani’s Grandpa is very sick. They are sad. Then Mommy and Daddy tell them Grandpa won’t be coming home anymore. They miss Grandpa Nathi. Daddy and Mommy find a special way to remember Grandpa Nathi. Illustrated by Agrippa Mncedisi Hlophe Written by Savnola Goldridge Designed by Jason Gien Edited by Mariam Mahomed Brought ...

Catch that Cat! - The Cat has stolen a sock and then ran off, but is there a reason why she stole the sock? Find out more in Catch that Cat from BookDash. Sample Text from Catch that Cat! Hurry. Hurry! Help me, catch that cat! She stole my sock and ran off … snatch her. Grab her. Catch ...

Brave Bora – A trip to the Doctor - Follow Bora with her toy Monkey Jojo and her Baba on a trip to the Doctor to get a scary injection. Find out if she can overcome her fears and how. This book was brought to us by BookDash, see more from BookDash here on FKB below: Spread the love

An Unexpected Adventure – Wordless Fun - In An Unexpected Adventure, a boy finds some exciting scenarios on a trip to the Library. In this book you can make your own words, teachers can use it as a word prompt for students, or it can be a fun exercise for parents and children to make their own words, it’s also very suitable ...

I Can Dress Myself – Wordless Book - I Can Dress Myself is an amusing short wordless book about a child getting herself dressed while Mum is sleeping. Have fun making up some words or have your child guess what is going on in each picture. This story was brought to us by BookDash. Listen to a narration created by Kiwi Opa: If ...

Egg – A simple mystery - In Egg Crocodile, tortoise, penguin, and chicken find an egg, is it theirs? If not whose is it? Find out in this simple book for very young children. Text from Egg Egg My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My egg. Our ...