Starting picture book reading sessions with new books in hand!

Thank you for your continued warm support.

This is Ishida from the Public Relations and Communications department.

Since March 2022, PLAS has been implementing the HOPE project, which aims to improve the livelihoods of impoverished families, primarily those headed by HIV-positive single mothers, through poultry farming.

In the HOPE project, we are working to foster self-efficacy in children by creating opportunities for them to play an active role in their community by reading picture books to younger children.

In this report, I would like to introduce how the children learned about reading picture books from the Viajenko staff on November 10th.

Re-recognizing the challenges children face

Ten children participated in the activities on this day.

First, they split into two teams. One team discussed the benefits of reading picture books, while the other team discussed the disadvantages of not reading picture books.

For the benefits, opinions such as being able to learn new words and boosting self-esteem were raised. On the other hand, for the disadvantages, there were points like
becoming ill-mannered or failing at things. Among them, when I saw the idea of
dropping out of school or becoming pregnant too early, I couldn't believe my eyes.

At first, I thought it might be overthinking to consider those as disadvantages of not reading picture books. However, thinking about it again, it made me realize that for the children living in this area, these two issues are much more immediate challenges than I had imagined.

Reading a picture book for the first time

The children participating in this activity were reading aloud for the first time. At first, Panbo, a Viajenko staff member, demonstrated how to read a picture book.

Before reading, Panbo checked if the children could see the book, changed his tone of voice for each character, and added inflection, teaching the children the key points of reading aloud one by one.

The children paired up and took on the challenge of reading aloud for the first time. At first, they were so focused on following the text in the books that they couldn't show the pictures to everyone, or their voices were too quiet to be heard; none of the pairs went very smoothly.

After all the pairs finished, Panbo provided feedback. Some children tried to imitate his style, while others took notes on his feedback.

It was an activity where I could feel the children's motivation rising as time passed.

With new picture books in hand

On this day, we distributed Poupelle of Chimney Town, which was donated to the children by CHIMNEY TOWN, to the children.

When we asked the children who received the picture books for their thoughts, they said, "The design is beautiful! I like it." "Is the text in the book Japanese or Chinese? I wonder which. I would like to study Japanese too."
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It is very heartening to see more children becoming interested in Japan.

The children are now using what they have learned to start reading the books aloud.
I look forward to meeting the children who have gained confidence through these reading sessions.

Thank you for reading this far.

We are running our "Winter Donation Drive: Bringing the Joy of Learning to All Children" until January 15, 2024.

Would you consider supporting us so we can bring the joy of learning to all children in Africa?

Please help us reach 45 more children in 2024.