Partnership with Hope for the Child

Hope for the Child is a fellow 501c3 nonprofit based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Kenyan native Akinyi Williams’s stewardship, Hope for the Child seeks to foster the education, growth, development, and societal leadership of impoverished, orphaned, or otherwise disadvantaged children in the Kisumu region of Kenya. Reading the World established a partnership with two Hope for the Child schools in Nyahera and Nyamila townships in July, 2024. We provided whiteboards for students in the Nyahera preprimary school and infrastructure funds for the new school building site at the Nyamila primary school.

Following a study of the school curriculum and pedagogy, Reading the World further committed to raising funds for professional development around the science of reading, school supplies, and independent school libraries.

· Effective reading instruction is founded in research-based practices called the Science of Reading (SOR). Improving teachers’ knowledge and understanding of SOR coupled with specific pedagogical strategies and materials in the pre-primary to grade 3 range will transform student achievement into high success.

· In classrooms of 40 or more students, children gather around three or four textbooks to meet curricula expectations. We seek to provide each classroom with one-to-one student book sets.

· A school library can be constructed by retrofitting used shipping containers—already waterproof and transportable—with windows, power, and shelving.

Continuing the partnership between these two nonprofit organizations will serve as a model for addressing school deserts throughout Africa by focusing on professional development, instructional materials, and infrastructure support.