Ready for Reading Inc

Ready for Reading breaks down barriers to literacy and education for preschoolers to grandparents with community-based programs and activities in a resource-rich space where they learn, engage, enjoy and thrive.

RfR believes literacy is a basic human right and the foundation for prosperity and in Rwanda, peace. RfR's aims to provide crucial resources, programs and build community, all important components in bridging the multi-generation education gap that exists in rural Rwanda.

Every day we teach children and adults in rural Rwanda to read and write, use a computer, and through creative storytelling, music, basketball and community events, instill the idea that literacy and reading are a powerful key to life-long learning, the cornerstone for a more productive, healthy, fulfilling and prosperous future; giving them the skills, self-worth and confidence to make sustainable change in their lives.

RfR believes that collaborating with other like-minded organizations with particular areas of expertise allows us to provide high quality, innovative programming. We work with several partners and within the existing and new network of community and education initiatives integrating adaptable, scalable solutions.

Safe Community Space:

Before Ready for Reading opened the Library, there were no structured out-of-school opportunities for community children and youth to learn and play in a safe supervised environment. Now they are engaged by trained staff in story-time, games, book clubs, music, basketball, e-reader and school enrichment programs and school holiday camp and activities; catalysts around youth development.

- Adult Literacy classes in both Kinyarwanda, the mother tongue and English.

- Computer Skills and access to the Internet/Global information: When Ready for Reading arrived in Rwinkwavu there was no access to computers or Internet services. Without these skills, it is challenging for those in rural Rwanda to break the generational cycle of poverty and compete in the emerging job market, even on a local level. Now, Ready for Reading provides computer skills classes and access to global information in our computer lab. We work with community members seeking jobs and educational opportunities. Many of our graduates have gone on to get jobs locally and nationally and university scholarships in-country and internationally.

- School Enrichment: give Primary School kids the English, computers and STEM skills to compete to pass the National Exam and have the opportunity to attend the top Secondary Schools in the country.

- Preschool/Early Childhood Development: Curriculum is based on International Best Practices's Learning Through Play Philosophy. Our children are thriving in a hands-on book-rich environment. We incorporate this methodology and curriculum in our children's programs and activities.

Girls/Boys Clubs: – cultivates a new generation of leaders, storytellers, academic achievers, effecting change for themselves, their communities, and their world.

Women's Clubs: Through literacy and IT classes music, basketball, women build social networks, loan groups, share business skills, supporting one another and the rising generation of girls.

Community Outreach:

Ready for Reading not only provides the fundamentals of reading, writing, computer and life skills; we bring families and communities together as they bond through celebration days, literacy events and activities, music, dance and community performances in our 300 seat amphitheater. We lead literacy and reading events in schools and villages throughout the Eastern Province.

RfR consults large and small organizations, institutions and communities. It shares programming methodology and management, library set up, trains staff, establishes literacy programs and strategies, reading activities.

The Ready for Reading Team

The Ready for Reading Team is passionate about literacy, working tirelessly to level the playing field in underserved rural Rwanda. Without them the Library/Learning Center would be no more than a building with books and computers. Their dedication, compassion and commitment are the absolute key to our success as they continually strive to grow, find new ways to engage the community and reach more people.

Our all-Rwandan Team lives in the Community they serve and over half have been employed at RfR since the opening of the Library/Learning Center in 2012.

Ready for Reading is the Chair of the Rwanda National Community Libraries Forum under which 54 libraries national-wide work together with other libraries/librarians to promote reading culture and literacy and implement literacy and education programs for all ages. From this position we have the opportunity to build a strong library network with one voice advocating at the local and federal level of the Rw government to recognize the important role libraries play in contributing to the SDG goals. That supporting them is a wise long-term investment.

Our Model:

Our original vision was to give the people in the Rwinkwavu a while at the same time create a model that can be replicated by other organizations and institutions across Rwanda. We have consulted with local libraries, Youth Centers and social impact companies, locally as well as in other areas of Rwanda.

RfR's Rwinkwavu/Library Learning Center is recognized as a country-wide model and instrumental in their development in Rwanda.

In 2009, Ready for Reading set out to bring literacy and learning opportunities to the 32,225 children and adults in remote, rural Rwinkwavu. 10 years later we have built an 8,000-sq. ft. Library/Learning Center, stocked with 10,000 books, 50 e-readers and 25 computers and become a country-wide model.

• Through our literacy programs 916 adults have learned to read and write.
• 120 children a day thrive in a book rich learning environment, enjoying story time, games, youth clubs, music and basketball.
• Reading times have increased from 10 minutes in 2013 to 45 minutes in 2018.
• 596 people have graduated from our computer skills classes.
• 60 people use our computer lab each day.
• Sunday School Enrichment Program: Supports Primary 4,5, and 6 students in mastering English Literacy and IT skills - National Exams scores have improved from 0 /75 pass rate in 2012 to 65/72 in 2018.
• We estimate that for every new reader 4-7 people are positively affected
Become a country-wide model for Library/Learning Centers in Rwanda


In 2019 Ready for Reading was chosen as 1 of 15 Best Practices Honoree by the David Rubenstein Library of Congress Literacy Awards, given to organizations doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work for universal literacy. We are honored to be recognized from a world-wide field of nominees. It is a testament to the hard work and commitment everyone at Ready for Reading brings to their community and their country.

Ready for Reading consults with both large and small organizations, institutions and communities. For the past 2 years we have worked with Kate Spade’s “On Purpose Foundation” advising them in setting up a Sports and Learning Center in a rural area similar to Rwinkwavu, designed around around our national model.

As Ready for Reading heads into the next 10 years, we are energized to bring literacy and computer skills and the joy of reading to more people in the many underserved communities in Rwanda. We are growing our model of literacy education, working with the Rwandan government, social impact companies and other like-minded partners to continue to integrate adaptable, scalable solutions and empower Rwandans to be the authors of their own lives.