Dorcas Wepukhulu, Saide’s African Storybook Coordinator in Kenya, reports
Champion literacy programme
The ASb Champion Network has become a cornerstone of the programme. These passionate individuals, who partner with local libraries and schools, help children discover the joy of reading. Language is crucial in making reading enjoyable, allowing children to actively engage rather than remain passive. By enabling children to read and tell stories in their own languages, Champions are creating lasting literacy impacts.
Since 2022, Saide has expanded the Champion Network to Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and South Sudan. Thanks to Lenovo and the mc2h Foundations, the number of active Champions has doubled from 10 to 20 by 2024. These Champions have made a regional impact, with the goal of national influence in each country they serve.
Each Champion received up to 10 tablets, data stipends, and ongoing support from me. Champions also support each other and share information through a WhatsApp group. The tablets are equipped with the ASb Reader App, a "Library in your pocket," offering children access to multilingual, openly licensed storybooks.
Encouraging creativity
In addition to reading, the Champions support children in using the Maker App to create their own picture storybooks, akin to a "Publisher in your pocket." So far, 39 child-created books have been approved, offering stories from Kenya, Malawi, and Nigeria.
ASb Champions have reached 15,000 children and 3,800 educators directly, with over 87,000 children and 28,000 adults indirectly benefiting. Over 600 storybooks have been used in multiple local languages and English, with five Champions translating 50 ASb storybooks into Asante Twi, Fante, Igbo, Nupe, and Obolo.
Programme review
A review was conducted to assess the impact of the Champion programme from 2022 to 2024. The purpose of the review was to establish if and how the 20 Champions were nurturing the joy of reading in the young children they were directly and indirectly supporting. It also sought to understand if the programme was sparking curiosity, fueling children’s imagination and creating in them a desire to want to explore more literacy activities independently.
Champions from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and South Sudan shared their experiences through their responses to a qualitative questionnaire which they were requested to complete. The Champions were request to provide biographic information as well as information about the context in which they work. Further questions related to issues such as:
Examples of the Champion’s responses
Referring to their own reading habits and the site at which they worked, one Champion shared,
“My reading habit has changed because you cannot be encouraging children to read while you do not yourself"
Another said,
"By providing culturally relevant stories, the project empoers educators and librarians to engage students effective and deeper."
When describing children’s responses and behaviours in relation to reading and the stories they read, they said,
"Children feel the stories as if they were real and happening live before them ....you see some physically heaving a sigh of relief [at] a good resolution of conflict."
"The best thing I observed is that children love freedom and become much active in helping one another in group reading."
"Turning pages with excitement, or sitting back in contemplation. Facial expressions range from delight to humorous."
"They were always crowded around the tablets reading together or waiting for their turn."
In terms of approaches to teaching and learning literacy, Champions responded saying that,
"The best thing I observed is that children love freedom and become more active in helping one another in group reading."
"In one of our episodes ... we allowed the children to role-play the characters in the story titled 'A farmer and his neighbour'. The kind of creativity displayed by the children was amazing. They learned a lot of lessons, and advised themselves not to be Greedy.”
"Children invented new storylines, imagined alternative endings or created their own characters inspired by the stories they have encountered."
Champions’ responses regarding the use of storybooks and literacy at school, and the importance of helping children to become lifelong readers, provided evidence of children developing independent reading skills and learning to love reading. For example,
"The rate at which they (the children) request to use the tablets in the library is overwhelming."
"You see them going ahead and writing their own stories before they are prompted to write."
"I saw ... their creativity in developing their own stories and sketching accompanying pictures to those stories."
In conclusion
Encouraged by the positive outcomes reported so far, the Saide ASb team is committed to strengthening and expanding its Champion network. By fostering creativity and a love of reading, the programme aims to build a culture of reading for pleasure, benefiting both children and their caregivers. We will continue to identify under-resourced language communities, providing them with the tools to meet their literacy needs.