The Story Behind the Story

Many moons ago, a chance meeting between Professor Leketi Makalela and Dr. Rebekka Jez sparked a shared dream — a dream to build bridges between classrooms, languages, and continents. What began as a simple conversation about education and identity soon became a bold vision: to connect teachers from South Africa and the United States in a collaborative act of changemaking.

Together, they asked a daring question: What if teachers could write the world they want their children to inherit — one story at a time?

From that spark grew the Changemakers Project, where educators from both sides of the ocean took a stand to transform teaching and learning through conscious storytelling. The result is a collection of children’s stories that honor the twelve official languages of South Africa — a living testament to inclusion, imagination, and the power of language to unite us.

This book series is not only a celebration of linguistic diversity but also a reminder that change begins when we listen, write, and dream — together.

Feel free to identify where you would like your donation to go: