4000 CHILDREN ACROSS FOUR REGIONS OF GHANA BENEFIT FROM THREE WEEKS LITERACY PROJECT
Reading with children promotes brain development and imagination, it develops language and emotions and strengthens relationships. It has been said that if you want to keep anything from an African (Ghanaian) write it in a book because they will never read. However, we believe that the narrative can be changed. ReadCamp is an out-of-campus literacy initiative that has come to improve and encourage the habit of reading among children.
Mother of All Nation Foundation a Non-Governmental Organization NGO based in Ghana has undertaken this project for the past 7 years and counting. This year, we have visited 4 regions so far. Our visit took us to 10 communities in the Greater Accra Region, 5 communities in the Northern Region, 3 communities in the Volta Region and 5 communities in the Ashanti Region. It is a known fact that children who read more often have improved language and listening skills, experience stronger emotional connections to their loved ones, and gain a lifelong love of reading.
Children pick a lot of things when they get themselves involved in reading. It has come to our notice that when reading is inculcated in children, they grow to become the best in everything they do. This has become our motivation for embarking on this project. The communities and the children received us with happiness because of what other communities have benefited from the Mother of All Nations project, “ReadCamp”. The program takes place in a school where the children in the area join the team. The professional who volunteered dedicated four hours of their time to read to the children. The children take some moments to ask questions and through that learn how to spell some words and understand the meanings too.
In the Volta Region, some parents came with their children to take part in the “ReadCamp”. This was so encouraging to the team, as the various communities showed high commitment to the project. After the three-week session, reading books were donated to the children so they could also continue to read and read to others.
The Ashanti Region had the largest turnout of children for the project. We believe that our children will reach the top when we give them the needed support, especially in reading. In the Greater Accra Region, the turnout was massive with children coming from several areas to join the “ReadCamp”. The children showed keen understanding and asked intelligent questions after the professional volunteers had finished reading and explaining things to them.
in the Northern Region, some children came with other friends to join in the “ReadCamp Project”. This gave us hope that we have a great future as a country.
the project was a three-week-long initiative that has been segmented into three sections. the first section week one centers on developing self-esteem and boosting the self-confidence of participants. here participants are made to read the poem of affirmation and stories that were drafted purposely to achieve that.
The second section week 2 also took participants through personal hygiene and drug abuse prevention education and had experts from various fields read and discuss with participants on the subject matter. participants were tasked with work that they presented to
Week three was dedicated to talent and career identification. within this week, participants read stories that spoke about how people can turn careers into professions. we also had professionals from all works of life read with participants under the name read with professionals.