Community Reading Days

For the past 5 years, enjuba has carried out an annual campaign that has aimed to raise books for children coming from the worst PLE-performing districts in Uganda. It started in Kaboong in 2018 when 300 books were raised for Kalangor Primary School. The hope the first book-giving campaign brought to the children was so vivid that many of them shared that these books were the first books they ever owned in their lives. This fuelled the team to map out partners in the worst PLE performing districts in Luuka at Budondo Primary School, Bukhonzo Primary school, Kabukwesi Primary School in Namisindwa district, Busesa community in Bugweri district and Kibwanja Primary School in Hoima district. 

In Uganda today, every 9 or 10 children 10 years and below, cannot read and comprehend a simple sentence, greatly contributing to their drop out of school. 

In the recently released PLE results, It was seen that 67% of all the children who started P.1 seven years ago did not complete P.7. For a young country like Uganda, this should be a cause for great concern. 

This year, we kicked off the Book Giving Campaign on International Book Giving Day (Valentine’s day) on the 14th of February, 2023. This time around, we are raising funds to deliver 1500 books and having a reading day with the children in Okere City, Otuke district, and St. Mary Malongwe Primary School in Buikwe district. Otuke district was among the 50 worst-performing districts in last year’s Primary Leaving Examinations while St. Mary’s Malongwe Primary school achieved no first grades in the previous year’s PLE in Buikwe district. The books will be delivered on Drop Everything And Read Day (D.E.A.R day) which will be celebrated nationally on the 15th, March 2023. This year’s D.E.A.R day partners include; Peace Corps, Ministry of Education and Sports, Kampala City Council Authority, Peace Corps, Rotary International, National Book Trust, National Libraries of Uganda, Deaf Link Uganda, Read For Life, Reading Association of Uganda, Oasis Book Project, Old Mzee Books, National Media Group, PANGEA, among other education advocates have come together to celebrate the day, disseminate information and reading materials in different locations of the country.

We invite you once again to join and be part of our Book Giving Campaign by buying a book or more for children in Otuke and Buikwe districts at $3 to help see reading as a way of life. You can also dedicate 30 minutes to read by yourself or to a group of children in your community on D.E.A.R Day. 

It is a bright sunny Friday morning with a vibrant team of 6 ready to read and have fun with the children in the slums of Kamwokya. This time, we were not alone. We worked together with one of our last mile partners, Chusa Community Library which serves slum children and adolescents through creative arts activities and was also joined by an energetic team from Stanbic Bank. This team from Stanbic Bank was so excited to be part of the reading day that they came bearing gifts for the children in form of educational materials and some of the gifts included; exercise books and pencils for each child.

At about 11 am, the program began. All the children gathered under a temporary shade at the host school and the team introductions commenced. The enjuba team led by Mr. William Mukisa went on to share their names and why they were there. The Chusa and Stanbic Bank teams did the same. One couldn’t help but notice how eager the children were to start with the activities. With huge smiles on their beautiful faces, they spelled the word “enjuba” with their bodies as an icebreaker activity led by Lizza Marie Kawooya. This just made them more exhilarated by the activities. We then quickly divided the children into break-out groups according to age and class. Each break-out group had a team member from enjuba, Stanbic Bank, and Chusa Community Library.

A total of four break-out groups were created and each had a different fun-filled activity including the spelling bingo games and read-aloud sessions. For most of these children, these were their first storybooks. One could notice the way the children were staring into the books and were mesmerized by the drawings and stories in the books. As the read-aloud session went along, the team members went along to encourage the children to share the values they are learning from the books. In the group that was reading the book titled “Do you like Grasshoppers and Chapatti?” the children shared that they learned the value of sharing and helping people no matter what their background was. The children continued to share how they share their things with friends in class and at home. As a team, we were very impressed. As soon as the fun-filled activities were done, the very thrilled children each received a storybook they could read at home and with friends at home and in their community. This is all possible because of your continued support of this project and we say thank you!

The Stanbic Bank team also gave out scholastic materials to the children which can help them through their school days. 

The books surely drew huge smiles on the children’s faces as we saw them share their lessons learned from the books with each other and make reading a way of life.