My Book Buddy

Kenya is a country of storytelling – not of reading books. Research has shown that a large percentage of Kenyan children in group 5 can still hardly read more than 3 letter words.

We want to teach children that reading is fun, and ensure that they do not only read technically, but above all that they understand what they read. Most schools do not even have textbooks for all the pupils.That is why we started a project with the My Book Buddy foundation. Together we set up special mobile libraries at schools.

We provide each classroom with a wooden book cabinet, in the form of a lockable  book case with shelves.These cases are made by local carpenters, and then filled with reading books at the level of the pupils from that class.Once a week the MyBookBuddy flag is waving and a MyBookBuddy song is sung. Every week the children can exchange and choose a book to take home with them to read at home.

The books come from local publishers. Most books we provide are in English,  as English is the language of instruction in Kenyan schools as of grade 3. But we also include books in Swahili.

Maendeleo foundation provides financing and local  implementation for this project.