READ INTERNATIONAL TO BUILD MORE SECONDARY LIBRARIES IN TANZANIA

READ International board member, Faraja Kotta Nyalandu (R ), and READ founder, Rob Wilson (second left) together with some Makumbusho Secondary students, cut a cake to celebrate the international NGO 10 years anniversary in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

AIMING to address the distinct lack of access to educational resources in Tanzanian secondary schools, an international Non Governmental Organization (NGO) READ International, has announced plans to build more than 500 libraries in the country in ten years.

“Though the support from our mutual donors we are planning to build at least 50 libraries every year,” Rob Wilson, the founder of READ International said in Dar es Salaam during the 10th anniversary of READ International.

“In 10 years we have donated 1.4 million books and we have refurbished 72 libraries so far. With more support from different education stakeholders we can achieve even more in the next 10 years. We now want to aim bigger than ever before but that means we'll need support more than ever before to reach the path to sustainable education development in the country,” he said.

“We're very proud to receive support from companies such as Bakhresa, Simba Cement, Wentworth, Mantra, Atlas Copco, and Songas. Over the past few days I have met with each of these companies and all have pledged their ongoing support. I hope others in the room will feel inspired to join these businesses and pledge your support to READ also,” he said.

He urged education stakeholders, parents and the general community to assist children and students in developing a reading culture that will foster social and economic development in the country.

Mr. Wilson noted that the initiative has paved the way for students and teachers to have access to educational resources necessary for the development of a reading culture.

READ International has donated over 1.4 million books to Tanzania and has created 72 libraries in Secondary Schools, serving 43,701 students. They have also trained teachers on literacy activities, library management and reading promotion. Due to this, they’ve created independent and confident readers, an energized culture of reading within the school community and schools that run efficient and friendly libraries.

The NGO uses a unique, youth-led volunteer model, to provide thousands of students in Tanzania each year with the resources they need to learn.

As part of their Library Refurbishment Programme, READ volunteers transform unused rooms in secondary schools into well-stocked libraries. The libraries are provided with the essentials: shelves, tables, seats and books. The books they provide are donated books from the UK and newly purchased Tanzanian books that follow the country’s syllabi.

READ libraries increase access to education for thousands of Tanzanian students, empower them to fulfill their potential, and improve their employment prospects in the future.

“We are really proud of our flagship programme, the Library Refurbishment Programme. More than 45,000 students are now able to access books, whether textbooks or fiction, from a READ library. This is a unique programme - volunteers project managing the transformation of a usually empty room into a colorful, inviting and well organized library. We want having a school library to be a reality for all Tanzanian students.

We know that students, who have access to a library read more, learn more and get further in their studies. A few weeks ago I visited the Nasuli library in Ruvuma. Students there showed the book that they used the most in the library – proudly holding up History and Chemistry books. They also reported an improvement in their grades,”

In 2015, we have strived to move beyond setting up libraries to actively promoting a culture of reading within schools and supporting schools to manage their libraries. We have trained library teachers and supported schools to recruit trained librarians. We have been working to develop a reading programme to inspire students to read fiction and to explore the world through reading. Ultimately we want to see students enjoy reading as well as getting good grades,” Executive Director of Red International, Montse Pejuan said.

On her pert, Tanga cement Community and External Affairs Manager, Mtanga Noor said her company have been in a forefront supporting READ International for a years now, believing that their support would bring a light of transformation in people’s lives.

“We have spent about 48 million to build about three libraries in Dar es salaam, Coast Region and Tanga…and for the coming year, we have set aside Tshs 20 million for the same purpose.

She urged corporate companies and other stakeholders to join the race and bring a spark of change in the community they operate on.

Apart from Tanga cement, other sponsors are: Hogan Lovells, MeTL Group, Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Radar Education Ltd, KPMG, IMMMA Advocates, Nabaki Afrika, Oyster bay Group and Learning InSync, MANTRA, Wentworth Foundation, Bakhresa Group, Songas, and BG Tanzania.

READ Partners include: Karimjee Jivanjee Foundation, Better World Books, Veolia, Rotary clubs of Ostrebay and Bahari, Bakhresa Group, KPMG, Hogan Lovells, Oysterbay Group, Corona, Atlas Copco, Radar Education, Aidan Publishing and APENET.