Max and Ezzie ( top ), and
Dave and Caz , passionately serve in South East Asia . Here they share how holistic community transformation is stemming from the Reading Gardens ministry .
In 2017 the team in South East Asia began running minilibraries for economically and socially disadvantaged children in two provinces . We call them ‘ Reading Gardens ’.
In one province the focus is on assisting children living in large cities , on or next to garbage dumps where their families scavenge for recyclables or anything else they can sell . In the other province the focus is on helping children living in remote rural locations . For both communities the children live in rudimentary housing in impoverished communities .
South East Asia ranks as one of the lowest scoring countries in the world for literacy . Around 25 % of children dropout of school and discontinue study after primary school . In the communities where we have set up Reading Gardens , the schools are poorly equipped and under resourced both in terms of teachers and funds .
The schools do not have libraries , and the children do not have access to books at home because their families don ’ t have the means .
Seeing this need , and with the support of the local government departments and community , our team established mini-libraries that give children access to books ! We fill the spaces with colourful and fun books , and children from the community can then visit the Reading Garden after school . Our team members or local colleagues manage the spaces and read stories , play games and help with reading lessons .
But it doesn ’ t end there ...
We have seen that the benefits don ’ t end with reading . In this context , this is what happens when children have access to books :
1 . They stay in school longer
When children can ’ t read they are more likely to drop out of school early . The Reading Gardens help children grow in confidence in reading which provides them with greater confidence and motivation to keep attending school . This gives them greater knowledge and skills , and opens future opportunities , enabling them to break out of cycles of poverty .
In one particularly poor community where we have been for several years the children previously would not progress past grade six . In the past year they have seen the first children graduate from high school as a result of the input and encouragement of some local colleagues .
When we first started one Reading Garden , there were 20-30 children joining in . Year four students came who were not fluent in reading and writing . So , we motivated and helped the children learn to read from the story books that we had in our library in their language . Slowly by slowly , they became more fluent !
At the end of the year , one local teacher came and shared , “ My students who regularly come to the Reading Garden have grown so much in their lessons at school . This is such a blessing to our community .”
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