By BITEBO GOGO | Volunteer Executive Director
“Many African children grow up without having seen, let alone owned, beautiful, well-illustrated books that inspire them to a life of reading, beauty, learning, and curiosity for the world.” – Bibi Bakare of Cassava Republic Publishers
Bibi is quite right because this is the reality for about 95% of children like Joyce and her little friends in public/community primary schools in the most populous country in Africa: Nigeria.
Most of the parents of the children that we serve, like that of Joyce, a primary three pupil in Mubi North Local Government Area of Adamawa State, cannot afford textbooks for their children, let alone storybooks that will inspire them to become lifelong learners. When we started supporting the schools in 2017, the children had never seen a storybook before, and the last time they got a donation of textbooks was in 2010.
The schools are located in the remote villages of Adamawa State without any form of social amenities/infrastructure (power, roads, hospitals, internet, schools). The schools that we work with are the only access that these children and their families have to civilization. Therefore, storybooks are extremely important because through the stories that the children read, they can travel to places in their imaginations, beyond the confines of their limiting environment, and dream of a better future.
According to Kate DiCamillo, “Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or a duty. It should be offered as a gift." We strongly believe that although textbooks are vital for literacy, and with your investment, we have donated more than 2,542 textbooks, they can be a chore or duty for children to read, especially those in remote villages. Thanks to the generosity of our GlobalGiving donors, in June 2025, we donated 214 books, and 72 of them were storybooks. Storybooks improve the creativity, critical thinking skills, imagination, communication, and overall literacy skills of children.
Also, because the schools are resuming on the 15th of September 2025, we have embarked on targeted fundraising to buy writing materials for at least 360 children in Mubi Hills. According to Global Citizen, “Lack of educational supplies such as books and writing materials is the 4th barrier to quality education."
There are several barriers to quality education, and the lack of writing materials is ranked 4th. Quality Education is a major key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Parents in the communities where the schools are located are peasant farmers who cannot afford the prohibitive cost of textbooks and writing, especially now that Nigeria is going through a recession.
Studies have shown that taking good notes in class is an important part of academic success in school because good note-taking improves students' active listening, comprehension of materials, and retention. After class, good notes are crucial for reviewing and studying class materials for better understanding and to prepare appropriately for assessment tests or exams. When children in rural communities do not have writing materials, learning is ineffective, and it impacts negatively on the quality of education. Your gift of $7 or more will give children like Joyce the learning materials to get a heard start in school and remain in school until the end of the new academic session.
We especially thank our recurring donors, whose relentless support has helped us to provide the storybooks for Joyce and her peers so they can dream beyond the confines of their environment! Our goal is to complete this project this year. However, we still need $2,919 to ensure that girls like her, Joyce, continue to go to school.
CDM Primary School Lainde still needs flooring and windows, CDM Primary School Gilmari needs desks and bookshelves, and all the schools need educational materials (writing materials, textbooks, and storybooks) and about 100 desks. Kindly consider becoming a recurring donor and donate to our project: http://bit.ly/2TLI6Bm
Please encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to invest in more girls like Joyce and their peers to make learning easier for them!
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