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KITABU CHANGU, HAKI YANGU

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Kitabu Changu, Haki Yangu (which is Swahili for My Book, My Right) is a literacy project aimed at building libraries and resource centres in the slums and rural parts of Kisumu County in Kenya.

With students in these areas barely being able to access school text books, having access to story books and activity books among a wider range of books is a distant dream. This project will make this dream a reality and introduce the power of imagination and ideas that will open up their lives and dare them to dream of greater possibilities than their current surroundings allow them

This project will create resource centres that will allow both current and future students to have access to text books (something both parents and the government are unable to provide). It is our belief this will take the burden off parents, encouraging them to enrol their children in school at the right age and pursue education. More importantly, it will give the students access to a much needed wider range of books, especially story books that will expose them to different ideas and worlds, improve their literacy and vocabulary and inspire them to dream big.
                                                                                                   
While the planet leaps from one technological advancement to the next at a dizzying speed, children in these areas continue to lag behind exponentially. Access to hard copies of books is the first step. However, it is imperative that the students have access to newer forms of reading like e-readers to be at par and connect with students of their age in other parts of the country and the world. It will provide a longer-term solution that is cost-effective, space-efficient and easier to manage in the long run.


Scope of project: over 20,000 books and 50 e-readers (each with 100 books pre-loaded) in 24 months.

Why is there a need for a Literacy Program?

Despite being one of the more developed counties in the country, Kisumu ranks very poorly at 30 out of 47 counties in terms of literacy rates. With an estimated 202 million illiterate people, Sub-Saharan Africa is considered to have the lowest literacy rates in the world.

 

At 87%, Kenyan youth have a much higher literacy rate than that of Sub-Saharan Africa. Kisumu, however, lags behind at 66%. (Please note: this is the latest data available for Kisumu from a 2013 report. The current number may be slightly different).

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