Funda Wande

Every now and again, it's worth pausing to have a look at the impact being made.

We attended BRAG 2026 last week, a national platform bringing together organisations doing standout work in social impact across South Africa. It was wonderful to look back at our impact and connect with other organisations making a difference. 🇿🇦

Here's a snapshot of our time at BRAG 2026:

🎤 Simthembile Sibhayi, our Project Manager: Strategic Partnerships, Communications and Advocacy at Funda Wande, took the stage to unpack our impact across provinces, showing what consistent literacy and numeracy support does for young learners.

📚 Our stand was packed with the Learning and Teaching Support Materials we develop in-house, readers, workbooks, and visitors could interact with the tools behind that impact.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to see what we're doing, and to Social TV and the University of Johannesburg for the platform. 🙌

Today we celebrate the curious minds sitting in South Africa's Foundation Phase classrooms. 📖 The learners in our classrooms today are the future innovators, thinkers and leaders this country is counting on.

International Youth Day is a reminder of what is at stake when we get foundational literacy right and what is lost when we do not. A child who can read for meaning and calculate with confidence by age 10 carries that foundation into every subject, every grade and every future they dare to imagine.

This International Youth Day, we recommit to the young people who inspire us every day and to the teachers who show up for them with everything they have. 💛

Progress is worth celebrating, and we're celebrating ours at BRAG 2026. 🎉

That's why we are heading to BRAG 2026, happening 13 to 14 August at the University of Johannesburg. 📚

BRAG brings together South Africa's most impactful brands, non-profit organisations, and corporate social investment organisations to share the stories behind their social impact. We'll be there sharing how we're tackling South Africa's literacy and numeracy challenges through coaching, teacher training, and open-access digital and print materials for South African classrooms.

👀 Watch the highlights from last year here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOSQB6KlD2I

Keep an eye on our social media channels as we will be sharing highlights from BRAG 2026.

To every woman who shows up for South Africa's children every single day, happy Women's Day. 💛 The teachers, coaches, literacy specialists and education leaders who give their knowledge, their patience and their hearts to the work of building a literate, numerate generation are the superheroes this day is for.

At Funda Wande, women are at the centre of this mission. They are in the classrooms guiding learners through their first words, in the training rooms equipping teachers with the confidence to teach well and in the research spaces asking the questions that shape what we do next.

Today we celebrate you. 🌸

What does it look like when a teacher finds the tools that work?

Zintle Landu, a Grade 2 teacher in the Eastern Cape, discovered Funda Wande while browsing the internet and has not looked back since.

She now uses both the Funda Wande literacy resources and Bala Wande maths lessons in her classroom, and the results speak for themselves. Her learners are engaging with language and mathematics in a way she has never seen before.

Are you a teacher using Funda Wande or Bala Wande in your classroom? We would love to hear your story. Share it in the comments below. 👇

What did your Mandela Day look like this year? 💭

For us, it was 67 minutes spent setting up reading corners at Mxhaka Senior Primary School in Ngqamakhwe, Eastern Cape. All reading corners were equipped with a bookshelf, reading mat, cushions, and an ottoman, giving learners a space where they can get lost in a good story.

The highlight of the day was a storytelling session led by Dr. Gcina Mhlophe, celebrated children's book author and one of South Africa's most beloved storytellers. 📖💛

Got a reading corner of your own? Share a photo of it with us in the comments. ⬇️

We transformed an empty corner into a welcoming space where young readers can learn, imagine, and grow.

Who said Mandela Day can’t start with a dance? 💃🏾

Creating brighter futures, through literacy. 🧡

Have you read Dr. Gcina Mhlophe’s new book, UNozincwadi: Mother of Books?
Gcinamasiko Arts & Heritage

Teachers, this one is for you. 📢

If you had to describe your class's relationship with reading in one emoji, what would it be and why? Drop it in the comments. 📚

Whatever your answer, Funda Wande's free reading resources and teacher guides are there to support you. Get access to all our resources here: https://fundawande.org/resources

Welcome back, teachers. 👋 Term 3 is here and we want to make sure you have everything you need to hit the ground running. From our structured Teacher Guides and Learner Activity Books to the Big Books designed for shared reading, all Funda Wande literacy resources are available on our website.

Our Teacher Guides walk you through every lesson step by step in your learners' home language, covering everything from phonics routines to reading fluency to new comprehension strategies. They are built for the realities of South African classrooms, and they are yours to use.

Head to the link to access all resources, or join the Reading Academy online for structured professional development you can do in your own time: https://fundawande.org/resources

Here's to a strong Term 3. 💛