Elizabeth Johnson and Kayonza’s Vice-Mayor present a youth with an award for participation in Rwanda Reads events at the Kayonza YEGO Youth Centre Library on Sept. 12.

Grace Rwanda co-founder Elizabeth Johnson is back from a busy and successful trip to Rwanda to participate in the country’s Rwanda Reads campaign. The nationwide, week-long literacy event was held to mark UNESCO’s International Literacy Day in early September. Our participation greatly increased our profile with the country’s literacy leaders and met our mission of spreading a love of reading among Rwandan youth. Check out our Flickr page for more photos of the events!

First off, Grace Rwanda hosted a booth at the main International Literacy Day celebrations at the Kigali Public Library on Sept. 8 where we conducted outreach and awareness. We were delighted when the Minister of Sports and Culture, Joseph Habineza, officially recognized Grace Rwanda for our work. Have a read of this news report to learn more.

We also participated in the official Rwanda Reads symposium on Sept. 10 at Kigali’s Novotel Hotel, hosted by USAID, Save the Children, and the Rwandan Ministry of Education. The theme of the national effort was Stand Up for Literacy: Duhagurukire Gusoma. At this event, we networked and shared strategies with 30 other agencies. We also awarded the 12 winners of the country’s “Andika Rwanda” youth writing competition, with gift packs of school supplies and dictionaries to further their literacy progress.

Later in the week, Grace Rwanda hosted two events at the youth libraries we’ve funded. First at our Muhanga YEGO Centre Library on Sept. 11, and then at the Kayonza branch on Sept. 12. The events included professional storyteller presentations, poem and story writing, literacy plays, and reading competitions. The 25 winners at each site were awarded dictionaries, thanks to donations from the Rotary Clubs of Langley Sunrise and North Delta. Among the distinguished attendees were the vice-mayor of social affairs and a representative from the Rwanda Library.

Elizabeth heard repeatedly from local youth about the difference our two Grace Rwanda-funded libraries made in their lives. “Every child we talked to was very happy that they have a library where they can come and read and do homework using the dictionaries and even access the internet and use e-readers,” she said.

Towards the end of the trip, Elizabeth met with high level government officials, including Rwanda’s Minister of State for the Ministry of Education, Olivier Rwamukwaya, and officials at the Canadian Consulate, working to foster more partnerships and secure local funding. She also continued to raise Grace Rwanda’s profile in the media, giving an interview for Rwanda TV that was broadcast on the local Utuntu n’Utundi show in Kinyarwanda.

In all, it was an exciting trip that furthered our on-the-ground literacy promotion goals and built bridges with officials that should bear fruit for our future projects!