By Sharon Runge and James Musyoka | Executive Directors
"Yay! The Kenya Connect bus has arrived with books!" Students at 37 of our partner schools joyfully run to the book table to peruse books for check out. There are rich picture books, early readers, young adult fiction, biographies and books in both English and Kiswahili. Over 7500 students, teachers and parents in our community are library card holders and get to experience the joy, wonder and knowledge of books!
Over the last five years, thanks to donors like you, we have also built programs to build a culture of reading where there was none. In addition to students, teachers, and parents checking out books at their schools, they can also come to our community library of 45,000 titles in Wamunyu to read, use a computer or borrow books. Children are lined up at our gate on Saturday mornings eager to participate in the Saturday Storytime Program. Each week one of our mentors reads a story aloud and then conducts a follow-up activity including drawing a cartoon, creating a heart necklace, playing a game, or painting. It not only connects students to reading, but also nurtures creativity, critical thinking and problem solving.
This year over 1000 learners participated in our annual Reading Challenge in which each child is encouraged to read 25 books over the course of three months. The Queen Reader was Evelyn who read 95 books and the King Reader was Israel who read 87 books. Over 250 readers also received prizes for the number of books they read and Evelyn and Israel were honored at the Running to Read Festival.
Now that schools are on break, our popular and successful Saturday Radio Read Aloud is back! Each week a student is recorded reading a book which is played on Mbaitu FM a local radio station. Our staff adds follow-up recordings to the books which mean students and their parents can discuss and learn from the stories.
All of these initiatives take financial support, and we thank you for your donation to Kenya Connect that helps us be "The Village that Reads!" GIVINGTUESDAY (only TWO WEEKS AWAY) is November 28 and on GlobalGivng, your donation will receive matching funds, furthering your impact. PLEASE mark your calendar for this day of joyful giving. As you make your donation, please know that it helps further our literacy, digital literacy and education empowerment goals.
We are deeply grateful for your generosity! Happy Reading!
The king Reader 2023 was Israel Muendo from kambiti Ps who
read 87 books of 66 titles.
The Queen Reader 2023 was Evelyn Mueke Mbithi who read 95
books of 78 titles.
School level king and Queen Readers
SchoolKing/
Queen
NameNo of
books
The king Reader 2023 was Israel Muendo from kambiti Ps who
read 87 books of 66 titles.
The Queen Reader 2023 was Evelyn Mueke Mbithi who read 95
books of 78 titles.
School level king and Queen Readers
SchoolKing/
Queen
NameNo of
books
The king Reader 2023 was Israel Muendo from kambiti Ps who
read 87 books of 66 titles.
The Queen Reader 2023 was Evelyn Mueke Mbithi who read 95
books of 78 titles.
School level king and Queen Readers
SchoolKing/
Queen
NameNo of
books
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
