Igniting a love for reading and books in Tanzania
“It is a paradigm shifting reality for them to have books.”
Like so many challenges faced in East Africa, this one is hard for us here in the US to grasp: How is access to books a major paradigm shift? Quite simply, in places like Karansi that have spotty electricity (much less access to the internet), books are knowledge gateways that help people to reach their God-given potential in life.
In the Siha District of Tanzania where pervasive poverty still exists, it’s estimated that 70% of adults do not read or write. Many children growing up in this area were never read to by parents and had no exposure to books at home—both critical for brain development. Many educators in the area were simply not aware of the need to give a child under the age of 10 a book. Further, government public schools continue to be underfunded, resulting in severe shortages of textbooks for students.
Igniting a love for books and reading is a key component of Ubora’s education initiative, and we are happy to report that God is working wonders in this area!
In 2018, our friends from Perimeter Church helped fund the first public library ever to open in the area. Wendy Williams and Ubora Board member Brian Halpin coordinated with our partners at Books for Africa to carefully select appropriate books and other educational tools, like manipulatives, that eventually filled a 40-foot container bound for Tanzania. Once the container arrived, it was unloaded, transferred and repurposed into the Karansi Library! The library has become a gathering place for people of all ages–for reading, learning and community! The knowledge gained at the library is helping children grow, farmers improve yields, students broaden their studies, and people of all ages experience Christianity.
Many of the books in the container were also distributed to the government public schools in the area. Don’t miss the video interview with Ubora’s Leslie Sams during her recent trip to Karansi and the profound impact these books have had on learning at one of these schools. Going forward, Ubora is looking to greatly expand this effort to provide textbooks to the public schools in the district.
Teacher mentors from America worked with their counterparts at Siha Leadership School to implement the D.E.A.R. Program–Drop Everything and Read. First thing every morning, after students have their porridge, everyone reads for 20 minutes. This initiative has sparked a desire in students to research topics of interest on their own and to even write and illustrate their own books!
Further, the manipulatives in that container have been instrumental in helping transform math in every grade at Siha Leadership School.
One of the Siha Leadership teachers said after having books for six months, “I love teaching now. The children don’t come empty anymore.” Another teacher said, “The children have their own ‘big ideas’ now.” All because of books—taken for granted in our Western world, but very much a precious gift in Karansi.
After seeing the excitement in Karansi over access to all these books, the neighboring village of Magadini (where many of our students live) expressed a desire to have a library of their own. The two medical containers that you helped fund, will be emptied and repurposed into the second village library in Magadini, which will serve five schools in the village at large. Soon, we will be working with our partners at Books for Africa in preparing the next shipment of books bound for Tanzania. In the meantime, our UWM partner, Mary Ann Taylor, will begin hiring and training workers who will implement the preschool reading program that has been so successful in Karansi.
As we continue our year-end campaign, please consider a donation of $100, $250, $500, $1000 or whatever your means may allow in support of reading and learning in Karansi! As you can see, our long-term involvement in Tanzania is creating lasting and sustainable change for our brothers and sisters in this area.
God has truly been our Waymaker and Provider in this unusual year. We have learned that nothing can thwart the purposes of God. His will is always accomplished—in His way and in His time. Join us in praising Him for making reading possible!
In His Precious and Holy Name,
Dave
Dave Burgess
President
daveburgess@uboratz.org