Project Launch:

La Molina is a “shantytown” on the outskirts of Piura, Peru with a population of approximately 800 people. The Arte para Todos Project (Art for All), supported with support from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program, was an after school enrichment program focused on teaching children social skills and self-awareness through art and games, serving children aged 3 to 15 from La Molina. Previous grants from World Connect supported self-esteem workshops, art classes, and building vegetable gardens. While working with these programs, project leaders received books from friends and family and shared these with the children. The books were met with overwhelming interest and the children constantly requested more. Grant funding supported a summer reading program, “Lectura para Todos”, that engaged the children in games and challenges designed to teach them that reading can be fun. To motivate the students to read throughout their summer, the program included a reading challenge where the children earned points for the books they read. The most fervent readers received prizes at the conclusion of the summer. Among adults in La Molina, reading is perceived as an academic activity, not one of enjoyment for leisure time. However, the children who participated in this project demonstrated an unaddressed interest in literacy and additional support for reading from World Connect aimed to cultivate this interest in reading to build a generation of adults who promote reading among their own children.