Project Launch:

Having access to books written in one's native language is important in the development of a child's overall literacy, creativity and love of reading. In 2010 there were only English language reading materials in the one-room, white-walled library at the Gashora Health Center in Gashora, a rural Rwandan village, making it underutilized and intimidating for the region's children. With support from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program in 2011, a “Kids’ Corner” was established in the Gashora Health Center Library. The “Right to Read” program brought Kinyarwanda reading materials--both story and educational books--to the library and worked with local teachers to encourage children to go to the library for both study and leisure purposes. A child-sized reading table and chairs were also purchased to create a sense of child ownership over the space. The project also supported an art project involving local students to paint a world map and other educational and creative images on the "kids' corner" wall of the library. The Right to Read Project fostered a culture of reading in the Rwandan village of Gashora and created a valuable and safe place for Gashora's youth to foster their creativity and explore worlds unknown by reading stories in their native language.