Pilot Project Kenya 2023

In October 2023, three Reading Studios board members visited Nairobi to connect with a befriended London-based charity, Volunteers Foundation. For over a decade, VF has been providing quality education to children from Kibera, growing from a single class of 3-year-olds to a thriving school community.

At the time of our visit, the school was in the process of moving to new premises. Our idea was to transform the spacious entrance of one of the buildings into a quiet reading corner—with sofas and free access to a wide range of books in both Kiswahili and English for schoolchildren.

After several days of meetings and negotiations with local booksellers and publishers, we established a number of collaborations, sourced books, and finally installed the reading corner. As we set up the bookshelves, labeled and arranged the books, the excitement among the students grew. They were curious and impatient—they couldn’t wait for the library to open!

Throughout the week, Reading Studios team led a variety of reading-related activities in collaboration with the school’s teachers. The main goal was to familiarise the children with the stories they might find on the shelves, while also instilling the idea of reading for pleasure—completely dissociated from the obvious educational purpose.

The opening of the library took place on the last day of the school year. The children's joy grew even greater when they learned that each of them would be leaving for the holidays with a reading book in hand.