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Read: Lolo fixes the internet (in English, IsiZulu and 6 more official languages)

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Lolo fixes the internet
Lolo fixes the internet

This story is brought to you by Nal'ibali, which means Here's the story in isiXhosa. Nal'ibali is a storytelling initiative that aims to establish a culture of reading for enjoyment in children.

Scroll down to download the PDF story in English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Xetsonga and Afrikaans.

Lolo fixes the internet (English)

Lolo was a clever little girl who lived in the village of the Batswana people. This beautiful village was like no other in the world. The people there were really clever and they were ahead of their time. Lolo was the smartest of them all. In Lolo’s village, the internet was the most important tool. If you visited the village, you’d find school children using their computer tablets to find the information they needed to finish their schoolwork. Many people had cars that could fly and they controlled these cars by using the internet. People used the internet for EVERYTHING! 

And then one day – POOF! Suddenly the internet was gone. Everyone thought that maybe it had gone down for a while and that it would work again later, but they were wrong. The king and queen of the village made an announcement on the community radio and television stations. They said that the internet would be down for a long time. Everyone in the village was shocked. Lolo watched in amazement as every child in her school panicked. “Our lives are over!” shouted one of her friends grabbing Lolo by her shoulders. One of Lolo’s teachers ran out of the classroom, grabbed her arm and said, “Do something, Lolo! You are the clever one.” Then the teacher ran off crying. 

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Lolo could not understand what the fuss was about. “Everyone is behaving as if the world is coming to an end!” she thought. She decided that the next day she would pay the king and queen a visit to find out about the problem. When Lolo arrived at the Royal House, she was welcomed with a glass of warm milk and a plate of chocolate chip biscuits. Lolo ate some of the biscuits while she waited for the king and queen. They were the best biscuits she had ever tasted. 

The king and queen arrived and greeted Lolo. They began to talk about the problem in the village. The queen explained that their ministers had found out that the problem was with a satellite that was far, far away – all the way up in space!  “So,” said the queen, “it is not just our village, but the whole world that does not have the internet.” The queen then held Lolo’s hand and said, “My child, we are looking for someone really clever to get into the royal spacecraft, travel into space and fix the satellite.” 

“Lolo,” said the king, “you are the only person for the job! If you do this, you will be doing the whole world a favour.” 

Lolo felt excited and nervous all at the same time. She had read that going into space was a dangerous thing to do, but she agreed to go. 

For days, the little girl worked alongside the space crew to prepare for this special mission. She learnt how to fly and control the spacecraft and she learnt how to float in space. Soon Lolo was ready to fly off into space. On the day that Lolo left, everyone was there to watch. People threw flowers at her for good luck. Others sang songs of encouragement. Lolo felt so loved. 

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Lolo climbed into the spacecraft and all the technicians turned the engines on. Moments later, the spacecraft left earth. After flying for what seemed like a long, long time, the spacecraft landed at the space station. Lolo could see the satellite from the window. She contacted the king and queen using a special type of radio to let them know that she had arrived safely. Everyone at home celebrated and her parents were especially happy to know that their daughter was alive and well. 

But the mission didn’t go quite as planned. For days Lolo struggled to work out what the problem was. She knew that the success of the mission was in her hands and she didn’t want to let everyone down. Eventually the space team’s food and water began to run out. The mission had become very difficult, but still the clever little girl kept working and working, until one day … she had worked it all out! One of the cables on the satellite had burnt out and needed to be replaced. Once Lolo had done that, the internet was back! Everyone in her village and all over the world celebrated.  After a hard, but successful mission, Lolo returned home. She was a hero! The king and queen were so proud of her that they gave her a medal of honour and named their next child after her. 

To read the story in another language, download a pdf below:

Download the English pdf here

Download the isiZulu pdf here

Download the isiXhosa pdf here

Download the Sesotho pdf here

Download the Xetsonga pdf here

Download the Setwana pdf here

Download the Sepedi pdf here

Download the Afrikaans pdf here

ULolo ulungisa i-inthanethi (isiZulu)

ULolo kwakuyintombazanyana ehlakaniphile eyayihlala esigodini sabeTswana. Lesi sigodi esihle sasingefaniswe nasinye emhlabeni. Abantu balapho babehlakaniphe ngempela futhi bephambili ngokwesikhathi ababephila kuso. ULolo yena wayehlakaniphe ukubedlula bonke. Esigodini sikaLolo, i-inthanethi kwakuyisisetshenziswa esibaluleke kakhulu. Uma uvakashele isigodi, wawuthola izingane zesikole zisebenzisa amakhompiyutha angamathebhulethi ukuze zithole ulwazi eziludingayo ukuze ziqedele umsebenzi wazo wesikole. Abantu abaningi babenezimoto ezikwazi ukundiza futhi babezilawula lezi zimoto besebenzisa i-inthanethi. Abantu babesebenzisa i-inthanethi KUKHO KONKE!

Kwase kuthi ngolunye usuku – CISHI! Ngokuphazima kweso i-inthanethi yayisinyamalele. Wonke umuntu wayecabanga ukuthi mhlawumbe yayiphansi okwesikhashana futhi izophinde isebenze kamuva, kodwa babeshaye phansi. Inkosi kanye nendlovukazi yendawo benza isimemezelo emsakazweni womphakathi naseziteshini zikamabonakude. Bathi i-inthanethi ayizukusebenza isikhathi eside. Wonke umuntu esigodini wayethukile. ULolo wabuka ngokumangala ngesikhathi zonke izingane esikoleni sakhe zitatazela. “Sekuphelile ngempilo yethu!” kumemeza omunye wabangani bakhe ebamba uLolo emahlombe akhe. Omunye wothisha bakaLolo wagijima waphuma ekilasini, wambamba ngengalo wayesethi, “Yenza okuthile, Lolo! Wena phela ungohlakaniphile.” Emva kwalokho uthisha wagijima waqhela ekhala.

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ULolo wayengaqondisisi ukuthi ukukhathazeka okungaka kwakumayelana nani. “Wonke umuntu uziphatha sengathi umhlaba usufinyelele ekugcineni!” kucabanga yena. Wanquma ukuthi ngosuku olulandelayo uzovakashela inkosi kanye nenkosikazi ukuze athole okuthile ngenkinga leyo. Wathi lapho efika uLolo eSigodlweni, wamukelwa ngengilazi yobisi olufudumele kanye nepuleti lamakhekhe kashokoledi. ULolo wadla amakhekhe ambalwa ngesikhathi elindele inkosi nendlovukazi. Kwakungamakhekhe amnandi ngendlela ayengakaze ayizwe.

Inkosi nendlovukazi bafika babingelela uLolo. Baqala ukukhuluma ngenkinga ekulesi sigodi. Indlovukazi yachaza ukuthi izinduna zabo zase zithole ukuthi inkinga yayikusathelayithi ekude, kude le – phezulu emkhathini! “Ngakho-ke,” kwasho indlovukazi, “akusona nje isigodi sakithi, kodwa yiwo wonke umhlaba ongenayo i-inthanethi.” Indlovukazi yabe isibamba isandla sikaLolo maqede yathi, “Mntanami, sifuna umuntu ohlakaniphe ngempela ongagibela indizamkhathi yasebukhosini, ahambe aye emkhathini bese elungisa isathelayithi.” “Lolo,” kwasho inkosi, “nguwena kuphela umuntu ofanele lo msebenzi! Uma wenza lokhu, uzobe wenzela wonke umhlaba ufefe.”

ULolo wazizwa ejabulile futhi enovalo ngasikhathi sinye. Wayeke wafunda ukuthi ukuya emkhathini kwakuyinto eyingozi ukuyenza, kodwa wavuma ukuhamba. Kwaba yizinsuku, intombazanyana isebenza kanye nethimba lomkhathi ukulungiselela lolu hambo olukhethekile. Yafunda ukuhamba emoyeni kanye nokulawula indiza-mkhathi yaphinde yafunda ngokuntanta emkhathini. Ngokushesha nje uLolo wayesekulungele ukundiza aye emkhathini. Ngosuku ahamba ngalo uLolo, wonke umuntu wayekhona ukuzobukela. Abantu babemphonsela izimbali ukumfisela inhlanhla. Abanye babecula izingoma zokumkhuthaza. ULolo wazizwa ethandwa ngempela.

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ULolo wagibela kundiza-mkhathi kwase kuthi bonke ochwepheshe badumisa izinjini. Ngemuva kwesikhashana, indiza-mkhathi yawushiya uMhlaba. Ngemuva kokuthi esehambe emoyeni isikhathi esasibukeka siside kakhulu, indiza-mkhathi yathi cabababa esiteshini emkhathini. ULolo wayekwazi ukubona isathelayithi ngefasitela. Wathinta inkosi nendlovukazi esebenzisa uhlobo olukhethekile lomsakazo ebazisa ukuthi wayefike ephephile. Wonke umuntu ekhaya wahalalisa kanti abazali bakhe babejabule ngokukhethekileyo ukwazi ukuthi indodakazi yabo yayisaphila futhi ingumqemane.

Kodwa umsebenzi awuzange uhambe kahle ngendlela owawuhlelwe ngayo. Kwaba yizinsuku uLolo esokola ukuthola ukuthi inkinga kwabe kuyini. Wayazi ukuthi ukuphumelela komsebenzi kwakusezandleni zakhe futhi wayengafuni ukwenzela wonke umuntu phansi. Ekugcineni ukudla namanzi kwethimba lasemkhathini kwaqala ukuphela. Umsebenzi wawusuphenduke waba nzima kakhulu, kodwa intombazanyana ehlakaniphile yaqhubeka nokusebenza, isebenza, kwaze kwathi ngolunye usuku … yakuthola okwakonakele! Enye yezintambo zesathelayithi yayishile, idinga ukushintshwa. Wanele wakwenza lokho uLolo, i-inthanethi yabuya! Wonke umuntu osesigodini sakhe kanye nosemhlabeni wonke wagubha.

Ngemuva kohambo olunzima kodwa olunempumelelo, uLolo wabuyela ekhaya. Wayeyiqhawekazi! Inkosi kanye nendlovukazi babeziqhenya kakhulu ngaye ngangokuthi bamnikeza indondo yokumhlonipha futhi betha umntwana wabo olandelayo ngegama lakhe.

The story was created by Kgosi Kgosi (author) and Vian Oelofsen (illustrators).

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