We Love Reading; An Arab Initiative Making Children into Leaders

Fatima from Irbid  wanted to help spread the idea and the message of the We Love Reading program which is “fostering the love of reading among children”. That’s why she challenged herself and attended a training on how to read aloud to children. And now, she reads to over 40 children in her village!

Nabila is a grandmother from Amman; she believes that the best way to express her unconditional love for her grandchildren is to sit by their sides reading stories aloud. Apparently, Nabila feels responsible towards all children to get them to love reading. After several aloud-reading sessions, Nabila has decided to expand her mission of reading stories to nearby neighborhoods where a lot of children take great pleasure in listening to her amusing and useful stories. Under the auspices of the “We Love Reading” program, both these women Fatima and Nabila and many other women became successful leaders and readers in their communities when sharing their newly acquired knowledge and training another people to become a reader.

Established in 2006 by Rana Dajani, the program aims to raise parents’ attention about the significance and benefits of reading to their children and it helps  the children develop a strong bond towards reading at an early age.

The initiative received a grant from Lit World International to train 20 women in Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan on the art of reading aloud to children and how to open libraries in the camp. Up till now, this great initiative could train about 700 women how to read aloud in Jordan, establish 300 libraries in different areas of Jordan, develop 12 children’s books about energy and water conservation and littering, among many other achievements.

Thanks to their funding from Synergos, We Love Reading is considered one of the Arab World Social Innovators! Their most important mission is to establish a library in every neighborhood in Jordan by training individuals from the neighborhood to read out loud to the children 4-10 years old, reading material that is appropriate for their age, and organizing these storytellers in a network for sustainability.

For our readers in Amman, don’t miss their event coming up on the 14th as part of International Day for Girls.