DENOSA, in collaboration with ICN, distributed the talking books in Limpopo on 28 November at the Capricorn District in Limpopo,, as part of the  Grow your Wellness  programme which will span over three provinces. The initiative is targeting primary schools where talking books on healthy living will be given to primary schools in three provinces, namely Limpopo, Northern Cape and Free State.  

This initiative is aimed to play a supportive role the country s newly revitalised schools health programme, which was launched early in 2013. 

The idea being these talking books is that young ones will grow with this knowledge and practice it, so that they avoid the living style that has brought millions of fellow South Africans to healthcare centres as a result of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, strokes and heart attacks.  As soon as you turn the page on food, for example, the talking book cites ways of eating healthily.

The overriding aim is to shift SA s health system from being doctor-centered and curative and reactive in nature (and thus not able to cope with the currently high number of people who are sick and reliant on medication) to being more proactive and preventative for the benefit of our society.

Led by Deputy General Secretary, Madithapo Masemola and Provincial Secretary in Limpopo, Kwena Manamela, DENOSA handed over books to principals of nine primary schools in the Capricorn District in Limpopo at an event held at Lekwalakwala Primary School. Other schools in the programme are: Seetla; Lekwalakwala; Nkgele; Pela Pela; Kwena Selabi; 

Kgoroshi; Magoshi; Mogaladi.

Masemola said: It s time that we stopped being rude to our bodies and start taking care of ourselves it terms of what we eat and how we behave for the body to keep us for longer.

Manamela, who is a living example of healthy living within the organization, said the initiative will be a unique collaboration where educators and nurses meet in pursuing wellness of primary school learners: South Africa has surpassed many countries in terms of obesity, because of what we eat. Healthy living is simple: the body will take what it wants, and store what it doesn’t want elsewhere in the body. And everybody can see where it is stored.

A representative from the Department of Education in the district committed to involving DENOSA and to allocate a space for the organization to pursue wellness programme as soon as the new multi-purpose hall is built at Lekwalakwala primary school.