Impact Stories
After years of attending school, the door to reading has finally been unlocked for Helen. Despite attending class on a regular basis, she struggled to grasp what was being taught, and she was too shy to approach the teacher to ask for help. So year after year, she went through the motions without ever learning how to read fluently. And as the years passed, it became more and more embarrassing for her to see how far behind she was falling.
But her 6th grade teacher changed it all.
We opened our initial library in 2018, and within the first year of operations, it was already clear that we would need more space. The community interest in our Library was growing each week, and our small room couldn’t accommodate all of the children who would come. We also knew that some day, we would expand our program into more schools and be more serving more children and teachers on a weekly basis.
So the dream for a bigger Center was planted in 2019,
Technology is rarely used in community schools. So when the parents at Joy Grace saw the teachers on tablets and smartphones during class, they thought they were neglecting their children and just playing on social media. They began to complain to the school’s director who had to call a school-wide meeting and explain to the parents that the teachers were using educational apps to help their children learn.
For one parent, that wasn’t the end of the story.
It's easy to tell these two are brothers because they look so much alike. Anthony is the eldest and is a very strong reader. By 5th grade, he was already reading our highest level books, which is rare within community schools. But just a year ago, his younger brother, Emmanuel, could hardly read at all. Their mom noticed that Emmanuel was struggling and she asked Anthony to help teach his younger brother.
When the schools close for term breaks, we get the chance to bring our teachers and school directors together for training events. This month, we facilitated a training for our school directors on how to get parents more involved in their child's learning and the activities of their schools. Research shows us that parental involvement is a key marker to student success.
The highlight of the training was seeing our school directors create skits where they pretended to be the students, parents, and teachers.
Josephine, a compassionate 14 year old student at Joy Grace Community School, remembers what life was like for her before she learned how to read just a few years ago. She attended another school in Ng’ombe where she was never taught how to read, but was often punished for not knowing how. She says her teachers were so mean to her, and twice she was held back a grade. That experience was so traumatic that she lost the desire to learn anything.
When her mother found out about Josephine’s struggles and the school’s poor treatment of her, she transferred her to Joy Grace Community School. When she started 5th grade here, Josephine wouldn’t talk to her classmates for fear that they would laugh at her for not knowing how to read.
When you sit down with Joshua, one of the first things you’ll learn is how much he loves to sing and write music. He will gladly rap for you an original song, and trust us, the boy has talent! When he grows up, he wants to be a gospel singer.
Joshua joined Fountain of Life Community School two years ago as a 4th grader. When he joined, he didn’t know how to read. Unfortunately, this is the reality for most children in Ng’ombe. They may be going to school every day, but never learn how to read while there.
Over the past month, Cynthia, a student from the University of Zambia who is currently studying literacy and languages, has been interning with us. She has helped us create educational resources for our teachers, developed new literacy resources for higher level readers, and conducted many of our annual reading assessments. When reflecting back on her time with us, this is what Cynthia had to say.
“Impact One Initiative is indeed transforming lives through the power of education. As I have come to witness, this is definitely coming to fruition; one school, one teacher and one child at a time.
This month, students began using our new Library for the first time. If I could bottle up the joy here and send it to you, I most certainly would! While at the Library, students have had the opportunity to read books, put together puzzles, and draw pictures. A few things I’ve observed...
Many of our students have never seen a puzzle. It is so much fun to watch them twist and turn each piece, seeing how colors and shapes line up together. This one little activity is growing and shaping their brains in new ways.
Impact One Initiative is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
All donations are 100% tax-deductible.
