Conference #2: Books for Africa / Early Grade Reading (LEIA!)

Cheyanne also loves to read.

Reading is one of my favorite things in the world, and has been since I was a kid. I remember going to the library with my mom and checking out the maximum number of books possible, so conflicted as to which books to check out now and which ones could wait. I read every single Boxcar Children book, couldn't get enough of A Wrinkle in Time, and read The Giver at least once a year.

Mozambican kids don't get to go to the library every week. Most communities don't even have a library. Last year, USAID did a survey of reading levels across Mozambique -- they went to hundreds of schools and interviewed thousands of students in 2nd and 3rd grade, testing their reading levels and asking questions about what kinds of reading material the kids have at home.

The results were deplorable. Over 80% of 2nd graders and 60% of 3rd graders could not even recognize a single letter. When asked to read the first page of a story from a book, 99% couldn't read a single word. That's pretty awful, but not surprising when you find out that the majority of these kids don't speak Portuguese with their families, have no books at home, and never read outside of a classroom setting. Especially when you consider that "a classroom setting" here often entails sitting under a tree with 60 peers, doing mindless repetition with an overworked and under-trained teacher.

In order to start the monumental task of combating illiteracy on Mozambique, USAID partnered with Peace Corps, Books for Africa and Livro Aberto to design and implement a new project: EGRA, or Early Grade Reading Activities.

The project has two parts -- first, designing and implementing a community library. USAID supplied each participating volunteer with a trunk of 144 books in Portuguese of varying reading levels. During the next few months, I'll be working with my friend and neighbor Páscoa to get our library set up at the school and start doing weekly library events, like read-aloud story-time and silent reading sessions.

The second part of the project will come next school year. Pairing select 9th and 10th graders with small groups of kids, we'll have weekly reading tutoring, giving the kids one-on-one attention that they'd otherwise never receive, and and giving my students a volunteer project to brag about when they apply to continue their studies.

This project is a really exciting opportunity, and a huge chance to make a real difference in my community. I can't wait to get started on it! We just received our books, and I've already started asking community members to donate materials for us to make hands-on learning activities for the kids.

Here are some pictures from our training for your enjoyment.

Clothes-line book display idea. Wonderful!

Reading activities are possible despite limited resources!

Liz explores the wonderful world of reading.

Read-aloud techniques demonstration.

Olinda summarizes the book in local language for kids who don't speak Portuguese.

Q and A with characters from the read-aloud book.

Volunteers brainstorm with staff member Custodio.