Kenyan Fact: Less than a third of pupils enrolled in standard 3 possess basic literacy and numeracy skills.
Kenyan Fact: 1 out of 5 pupils enrolled in standard 7 don’t have standard 2 level literacy and numeracy skills.
Hard to imagine but true – many Kenyan children who attend school daily still struggle with basic reading and counting.
Essentially, the quest for a KCPE certificate doesn’t necessarily assure one of a basic education. Wanja Kibuki didn’t know this when she travelled to Ethiopia to teach English at Fresh and Green Academy in 2013. While there she came to learn that with Amharic as the true lingua franca, few children could communicate or read in English which uses a completely different alphabet. She thought of all the books from across the world that influenced her childhood because she could read in a language that produced numerous children’s books. The experience sparked a question in Wanja, giving her the drive to champion for better literacy levels in English during her temporary teaching residency. Little did she know it was the genesis of something that would have an even greater impact at home.
When she returned to Kenya she explored whether the literacy challenges faced in Ethiopia were also true at home. She undertook some research as part of her class assignment from USIU and after some immersion time at Turning Point Trust – a learning centre based in Kibera, she found that while Kenyan children primarily learnt in English, that shockingly for many basic literacy was still a problem. After talking with the management of the Trust she discovered that access to a library and particular non-educational storybooks which are critical to fostering comprehension, embracing grammar and basic writing, was almost non-existent in the area. She got active and coordinated a book drive for the centre in 2014. A simple message to all her mobile contacts encouraging them to donate all their children’s books allowed Wanja to kit out a library in Kibera called the Laini Saba Community Library. Amazingly, a major step was complete so feeling as powerful as Wonder Woman, she wanted to go further. In fact, she decided to go all in by registering an initiative dedicated to building libraries and storybook banks. The initiative became Vitabu Vyetu. Realising that she couldn’t do this alone Wanja co-opted her best friend Chebet Chelimo into the plan. Team in place, it was time to kick into high gear and get the good work accelerating.
They started off with a reading club programme where they invited children to undertake a basic test to determine the comfort level of each child with reading and writing. Thereafter, they started teaching from the basics – letter pronunciation and basic calligraphy to formation of sentences and paragraphs along with how to read sounds to words.
Twice a week, this growing team of volunteers takes time out of their busy schedules to help build Kenya’s future through this after-school programme. Vitabu Vyetu’s impact has grown steadily since its inception just three years ago. To date, the team’s collective efforts have successfully equipped 33 libraries nationwide, accompanied by reading club programs in five main centres. By 2017, the reading programme by Vitabu Vyetu had enrolled over 250 children. The libraries focus on fictional books and particularly African storybooks that build connections with the histories and stories of our forefathers. The trip to help people in another land opened Wanja’s eyes to a problem right in her backyard and today hundreds of children are benefiting from that aha! moment.
To accelerate its work in bridging the gap for children in Kenya’s slums who eagerly invest in the promise of education but are often disconnected from quality learning Vitabu Vyetu is carrying out a fundraising campaign dubbed #100BobForLiteracy. Their volunteers provide the time resources and skills to take the kids into the wonderful world of stories, but funds are needed to ensure that each child in their programme gets two exercise books, two pencils, one sharpener and a manila paper so once they interact with stories, they can let their imagination run loose. Would you like to help? Check out www.vitabuvyetu.co.ke to learn how to become a volunteer, or consider donating books, materials, a hundred bob or much more via Paybill 891300 Till 15584 or https://secure.changa.co.ke/myweb/share/15584
We love it when Kenyans get active and build home grown solutions to the problems that face us. After all, who knows better how to overcome our challenges than us? Hongera to waKenya wetu at Vitabu Vyetu, thank you for changing the world of so many deserving children.