In an attempt to present the story of the Khanya project in an interesting way, I started to record it in the form of a poem two years ago. The result is the publication of The Khanya Story on 23 December 2008 in book form.
You can read The Khanya Story by clicking on the different sections listed under SUB-PAGES in the column on the right of this page. Or you could start reading the first section here: Why the rooster crows .
The Khanya Story is a poem presented in four-line stanzas (quatrain form) with a rhyming scheme of A-B-A-B.
The poem contains
- 1 096 stanzas
- 24 111 words
- 104 078 characters (without counting spaces)
The Khanya Story is officially recognized as the longest poem in the world by RHR (Record Holders Republic) under the heading Poetry Writing.
In recent times, Nikhil Parekh has claimed that his poem, Only as Life, is the “longest poem on earth”. This piece of literature contains 7 389 words.
I have no pretentions that The Khanya Story is a literary masterpiece. It is only an attempt to document the amazing story behind Khanya in an entertaining way. My hope is that the readers of this work will be encouraged by what can be done on the African continent in spite of many challenges.
My attempt to break a world record is simply to emphasize the world class work of the Khanya project.
Poem Index
- I Why the rooster crows
- II The good old days
- III The gloom sets in
- IV The exodus
- V The first rays of light
- VI The light bearers
- VII Distribution of light
- VIII One size does not fit all
- IX Planning to let the light shine
- X Room structure
- XI Security
- XII Power and light
- XIII Furnishings
- XIV Airconditioning
- XV Focal point of light
- XVI Technology options
- XVII Educational software
- XVIII Cost of light
- XIX Sustainability
- XX Light at the end of the tunnel
- XXI The first shimmers of light
- XXII The e-plan
- XXIII LAN administration
- XXIV Facilitation
- XXV The launch
- XXVI The real work starts
- XXVII Light for the community
- XXVIII Light for the learners