Ashoka has collaborated with Worldreader to launch the Ashoka Worldreader Changemaker Collection. The initiative was launched at an event held at the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS).
The aim of the initiative is to promote a reading culture in children and youth while inspiring them to become changemakers in their communities by practicing empathy.
Both Ashoka and Worldreader have committed to support children and parents who appreciate reading. This will in turn, increase literacy skills and promote change making qualities among young people.
The collection will feature 20 fictional and true stories about children and youth who have made positive changes in their communities. The stories will be captured in English and translated into other languages including Kiswahili. These books will also have activities for parents and teachers.
The stories and activities are designed to not only inspire and equip the reader to identify and solve a problem in their community, but to also start them on a path of practising empathy.
Rebecca, The Maasai Changemaker is one of the stories captured in the collection. Rebecca was launched in Nairobi on Saturday at an event dubbed Books and Changemakers – Trace your reading and change making journey, attended by teachers, parents, students and other players in the education sector.
Rebecca, The Maasai Changemaker is inspired by the true story of a young girl in Kenya who was alarmed by the signs of climate change in her community. Rebecca then proceeds to educate herself about the problem helping her galvanize her community and the government to take action.
The collection will be made available and promoted on all relevant Worldreader apps including the BookSmart App.
Speaking at the launch, Worldreader Regional Director for East Africa Joan Mwachi-Amolo said, “The Ashoka Worldreader Changemaker collection fits very well with our on-going work of promoting digital learning through the Keep Children Reading and our LEAP (Libraries, E-reading, Activities, Partnerships) initiative where we partnered with among others the KNLS to provide library patrons with instantaneous access to a supply of 600,000+ fiction, non-fiction, genre, reference books, storybooks, plus a complete set of Kenyan digital textbooks suitable for patrons of all ages.”
On his part, Ashoka’s Regional Director for East Africa, Vincent Otieno Odhiambo stated, “Ashoka is keen to build a world where everyone is a changemaker through various initiatives and at the moment we are identifying, supporting and connecting young changemakers who are practicing changemaker skills.”