Wheeling and dealing hope to make time in hospital for children with cancer a little happier are mobile libraries! Led by Rainbows and Smiles, these shelves are making a positive impact in South African hospitals; one reader at a time.
Centurion, South Africa (28 July, 2023) — For children spending time in hospital, access to the world beyond the hospital’s walls is all-import. How do you teleport when you can’t really leave a place? You read! And, in South Africa, mobile libraries are helping children embark on mental journies to fictional and educational worlds as led by the non-profit Rainbows and Smiles.
Rainbows and Smiles recently installed their 6th mobile library where a kaleidoscope of donated books has paged new life to its hospital home at Netcare Unitas Hospital in Centurion. The books were donated by Kingsmead College and thanks to their custom build, can be wheeled around the hospital to visit patients. And, those who find books they adore get to keep them.
For Rainbows and Smiles, putting the mobile libraries together is a privilege and something they’ve been actively doing over time. Sometimes the children get to keep the books they love most, and other surprises like puzzles tend to make appearances. They have installed mobile libraries all over South Africa as Nadia Lewis tells Good Things Guy, including Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital (who also enjoyed Smile Week recently), Polokwane District Hospital, Steve Biko Academic Hospital and others.
About Rainbows and Smiles
Rainbows and Smiles was founded by Bonita Suckling whose mission to give all areas of support to children fighting cancer. Bonita opted to extend her time and love to people facing these circumstances as inspired by her son, Jed Brady who battled Anaplastic Astrocytoma (a brain cancer).
The organisation helps out all over South Africa from Joburg to Durban. Beyond book missions, financial and emotional support for the children they help, they also provide incredible tips to families and friends along the childhood cancer journey. You can learn more about them here.
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