Generation Reader: A student’s story

I’m Tariro Tatenda Machaka. I’m 17 years old. I love reading.  

I’m from Spitzkop North Extension near Gwanda. The strength of my community is its resilience and determination. Our parents, they make sure we go to school. Even if it’s as far as maybe some kilometres away from where we stay. But we are facing the challenge of having far away schools and lack of resources, including books.  

I am a top student at school, and books have played a major role in my academic success. For example from form one up to the second term of my O level, I always failed accounts – coming up with maybe 40%. But through coming to the library, I came to know that there is a book, Frank Wood’s Principles of Accounts. So that book assisted me a lot – so much that I came with flying colours in accounts. It’s my favourite book! 

If I hadn’t had these good books when I was a student in the past, I’ll have failed my O level, definitely. I’m not a good listener but I’m good at reading. So these books played a massive role.  

My dream is to see my community have access to the books and everything that they need for their success.

If I could select the books on the next shipment to this library, I would choose books that are on commercial and science subjects. Because most youths in my community love things to do with sciences and commercial subjects. They want to become accountants and doctors.  

If every person in my generation had access to books, I think more people would pass their exams and pursue these ambitions. Right now, we do not have access to those books and it’s leading to youths and young children taking negative roads.  

Some people may think even if youth have access to books maybe they would choose not to read – but those who would not read are very few. The community I’m from is a vibrant location where people love reading, but they do not have access to  books. 

I think they would all read because books make you always occupied. Like me, I love reading novels. So, through reading novels, I can spend maybe half of the day reading that novel trying to find out what will happen next. So, it will keep me occupied and I think it will keep them occupied as well.  

Books are going to have a great role to play in my future success. They will provide me with the information that I need to come up with flying colours again in my course and give me the knowledge and information that I need to pursue my career. 

In the years ahead I hope to achieve my goal of becoming a pharmacist. I’m using the library which provides me with the books that are essential for that career. 

If someone said books are not important, I’ll advise him that books are important because these days education is the key to our success. I would say that books are good for the future of his or her family and children. 

I hope that you we can continue to receive more and more books – because this generation, we have big plans. And we need books to help us achieve them. 

Images ©BookAidInternational/KB Mpofu