It's World Book Day!

Today, March 6, here in the UK we are celebrating World Book Day (yes, we know, a few weeks ahead of the rest of the world). So what better time to update you on our literacy programme in Kamuli.

Girls from Kimenyuro school proudly show off their new books

 It’s now a year since we launched our literacy project to encourage and support reading in primary schools. We’ve trained teachers in book management and methods of teaching reading, encouraged schools to start up reading and debating clubs, and provided hundreds of books.

In the last three months of 2013, we trained four more teachers from two schools in library and book management. Both schools – Kasambira Public Day and Boarding School and Kimenyuro Primary – received 158 books each. These include reading books, junior dictionaries and thesauri. Two school reading clubs have now been established.

A delivery of new books from UDS at Kasambira school

The Principal of Kasambira school said: “It was joy when UDS introduced the reading project at Kasambira Public Day and Boarding School, both teachers and students were amazed to see books delivered at the school.” She added: ‘‘Our prayers are being answered, we have been crying out for this for a long time. Other schools were been helped in terms of reading materials by organisations around but we were ever left out. Since everything is now in place, it’s now our work - the Directors of the school and the teachers - to emphasise reading.’’

The school year in Uganda begins in early February, and with the new term now well underway we’re looking forward to our taking our literacy programme from strength to strength.