By Khalifa Hemed
Published June 18, 2018
A leading international book charity has launched a programme that will hand carefully chosen, brand new books to learners and teachers in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
Book Aid International says its ‘Reading for All: Kakuma Refugee Camp’ programme “aims to give at least 17 000 children and young people who attend school in the camp access to carefully chosen, brand new books and train teachers in how to support these vulnerable young readers as they discover books and begin to read.”
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Book Aid International, in a media statement sent out by Emma Taylor, its Head of Communications, says some 185 859 people live in Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, 36 596 of who are under the age of 18 [and whose] opportunities to learn and work towards a more secure future are severely limited.”
Here, Book Aid International says, “schools are hugely overcrowded and have very few books. More than 100 learners often share a single teacher and only a few tattered textbooks.”
Consequently, the charity says, its new initiative shall “create 42 Classroom Book Boxes filled with brand new, carefully selected books in seven early childhood development centres and primary schools and replenish the book stores of five secondary schools across the camp. Beyond supplying new books donated by UK publishers, the project will provide a grant for the purchase of locally published books and early childhood development materials to enhance the literacy and fund the purchase of curriculum textbooks to support learning at secondary school level.”
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The charity says it shall also train more than 80 teachers in how to bring those books to life in the classroom, preparing children for their reading journeys and examinations and that Reading for All will reach an estimated 7 000 younger children and 10 000 secondary school students.
The project has already begun, with 26 primary school and early childhood teachers taking part in a three-day training during the World Refugee Week in mid June 2018.
“We believe that Early Childhood development is where the basic learning competencies that form the foundation for further learning are acquired,” says Heidi Ayuma, Education Coordinator from The Lutheran World Federation which provides primary and early childhood education in the camp.
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A further training of 60 Windle International Kenya’s secondary school teachers will take place in September 2018. Windle International provides all of the secondary education in the camp.
“By providing books to more young people throughout their education while increasing teachers’ ability to enrich classroom learning,” says Samantha Thomas-Chuula,Head of Programmes at Book Aid International, “Reading for All will help more young students. Even for those who don’t receive a scholarship, their increased reading will help them explore new possibilities and develop skills that will open doors to new opportunities.”
Book Aid International, that says it ‘works with an extensive network of libraries, schools, hospitals, NGOs and other partners to ensure that the books it sends reach as many people as possible’, is reported to be Britain’s leading international book donation and library-development charity. The organisation estimates that the books it provides reach 24 million people every year.
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